Vent - I am terrible at coop making

[paintedChix]

Well I'll be darn.....didn't even know about "playsets converted to coops". I am SO NOT a creative person. I see a playset and guess what I see? A playset . I cannot "imagine" anything which is why Pinterest is such a blessing for people like me. I'll betcha there's 15,000 pictures on Pinterest of "playsets converted to coops"....how in the world did I miss those????

So I just went out and checked. YEP! Lots and some are really, really cool conversions! I'd heard about using the "old style" aluminum a-frame swing sets for a coop or tractor. I went looking for some and never found any when I was looking, so just went with what I had (hooped cattle panels)...

 

[junebuggena]

That's CUTE! It would make a great brooder or if put on wheels, maybe a good tractor w/i a movable poultry net fence. I have a hard time bending, so would have to make sure it sat on the ground and was movable.

But for the same price, you can have an 8x8 coop that you can walk into standing up and still be able to move it (mine w/ a vehicle of some sort or a team of shetland ponies - I couldn't pull it by myself). For a little more $$, you could have the same project "beefed up" and prettier than mine is... Our 1st one was less than $100 because we had materials on hand that we re-purposed - the used bucket w/ the cracked bottom removed is the "pop" door. We always have cracked buckets available - more so now than 20 yrs ago since they aren't made the same. The standing up bucket with lid, stores 25# of feed that we then put into the feed tubs - again re-purposed from ponies... There are many of this type of coop/run/tractor here on BYC.

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I could not rip 2x4s down, so opted to purchase pre-cut 2x2's for some of the wood and used 2x4s for other areas. It DOES work! We have 3 of these and plan on building more (much longer!) along with some different style of actual movable tractor that will work...

Cyneswithv - do you have any pictures of what you've built so far?

Hoop coops are impractical for around here. We get tarp shredding winds here 9 months out of the year.

 

[aart]

Hoop coops are impractical for around here. We get tarp shredding winds here 9 months out of the year.

Could use a corrugated roofing instead of tarps,
but then you might have to tie the whole coop down!

 

[junebuggena]

Could use a corrugated roofing instead of tarps,
but then you might have to tie the whole coop down!

Exactly. Then there's the issue of blowing rain. They are a great idea, but not practical for Pacific Northwest, coastal weather.

 

[wvchics]

I agree. We tried the tarp buildings for storage, and the wind destroyed it. If it's a windy area something more sturdy is necessary.

 

[User395221]

OP, do you know what you need? MINIONS. I have a girl come and help clean my animal houses. During one school holidays, she came over and motivated me to get the run done on my big girls's house. Her folks got "free babysitting", she got something to do, and with a helper I got around to doing something for a change. Do you have any community groups that might be able to help you out in "blitzing it"? We have a thing called "Men's Shed". It's for guys to go and socialise and they make things. I think you can sort of "hire" somebody for this or that.

As for using playhouses (we call them cubby houses over here) for animals, my bunnies are in converted cubbies and my big girls' house is a kids' cubby I got for free. I paid a "guy" to pull it down, transport it to my house and put it back up. It cost a fraction of what it would cost to pay for materials and have it built (and I don't have the energy to build something that large by myself). I built the run with the assistance of my "bunny girl". The cubby's seen better days, but it is better timber than the thin fir wood they use in the imported coops/small animal houses.

It can be better value making something IF you've already got the tools. If you haven't, getting what you need shoves that price up into the stratosphere.

 

[Rob Tof]

Don't feel so bad. I got my chicks in early April I started on my coop in march. Finished my first draft at the end of May. Now every weekend I tweek it a little to make it better for me or my now almost ready to lay chickens. You have to have fun with it. Don't be so hard on your self. My goals were easy safe house for the chickens. Recycle as much as I can. Keep it green. No cookie cutter house. I wanted a different coop/pen.
Bonus I'm not sitting on the couch any more. Bonus I have involved the whole family for most of it. Chicken tv when it gets to tuff. Relax have a beer. It took me three days to build and put up my pen roof with out it bonking me in the head. I had a idea. I did my research, made a good plan. Took 5 times to get it right but it's up and strong and looks good I think.

 

[andreanar]

OP, lets see some photos of what you have done so far. Chickens don't care if everything isn't perfectly straight!

 

[Leighe]

View attachment 1102051 View attachment 1102052 View attachment 1102053 View attachment 1102055 View attachment 1102055 Don't feel so bad. I got my chicks in early April I started on my coop in march. Finished my first draft at the end of May. Now every weekend I tweek it a little to make it better for me or my now almost ready to lay chickens. You have to have fun with it. Don't be so hard on your self. My goals were easy safe house for the chickens. Recycle as much as I can. Keep it green. No cookie cutter house. I wanted a different coop/pen.
Bonus I'm not sitting on the couch any more. Bonus I have involved the whole family for most of it. Chicken tv when it gets to tuff. Relax have a beer. It took me three days to build and put up my pen roof with out it bonking me in the head. I had a idea. I did my research, made a good plan. Took 5 times to get it right but it's up and strong and looks good I think.

LOVE IT!!!! I need to get off my butt and pull the trigger and get some things on my list done. Have been avoiding heat (makes me sick) but cooler mornings, a little at a time, on the other hand....I don't think there's an end to my list, lol

 

[Rob Tof]

LOVE IT!!!! I need to get off my butt and pull the trigger and get some things on my list done. Have been avoiding heat (makes me sick) but cooler mornings, a little at a time, on the other hand....I don't think there's an end to my list, lol

I make my to do list once a week. I work on my coop after work and on weekends. The more your out side the less the heat bothers you. When making your list make a realistic list. When said list isn't completed crumple it up and make a new one the next week. As long as the birds are fed watered and housed they don't complain much. When all else fails have a beer and chair ready side down and enjoy chicken TV