hello , a few mths ago I bought a coop online from hayneedle and the coop is great easy to put together my 4 hens and rooster love it but I have a feeling it might be alittle small and the wife wants a silkie and in the spring I would like to try my hand at hatching a few eggs so my daughter can watch the progression of life, we really are tight on cash at this point and buying a bigger coop is out of the question since the one i bought cost $350 . does anyone have an idea on what we could due to help me out and as far as $$$$ we have some extra but I kinda freak out every week over bills and gas $$$ so craigs list is out too, and I dont care to throw some eye sore up to fix the issue since I like to have very clean and upkept yard and house!!!
Pallets are free, as are construction scraps (usually,) and if you have some leftover paint you can do a lot with them. Or buy "goof" paint (wrong color was mixed.) I once built a brooder out of discarded stuff I picked up behind a furniture store.
I would also suggest pallets. Factories often leave them stacked up in their parking lots, near the road, and offer them for free. In fact, I just bought a nice coop of of CL, for only $100, that is made from pallets. It looks kind of cute. Let me find the pic for you......