Not sure if this qualifies but thinking backward from the topic here, we re-purposed the entire coop and run. We had made a hoop run and a tall, walk in shed type setup. Last year I had to rehome my chickens and get out the "chicken business". But we originally designed our setup with that eventuality in mind. We were already kinda sorta old when we started and each of us had some disabilities, so the reality was that there may come a time when we simply couldn't give them the care they deserved and we'd have to do the right thing by them. So the thought was, "What if we have this stuff in the yard and find out chickens aren't for us? We can either tear the thing down and waste that investment, try sell it and hope that they can get it out of here, or reuse it."
So the hoop run is now a greenhouse and the shed coop is a garden shed for tools. I am so glad that we built with this possibility in mind, because all of this transformation from one purpose to another required absolutely NO additional building or modification. Plans went slightly awry this year and we didn't get it done because of scheduling - way to much traveling for hubby's position in his fraternal organization - but we only have a year of this hectic travel before we get to stay home and enjoy what we've built. In the meantime, all that lovely compost out there is breaking down and will be fabulous for planting.
So I guess my advice for new builders, regardless of materials used, would be to think of how you could reuse what you are building should you lose your entire flock or, like us, find that you can no longer maintain a flock. That way not one penny and not one bit of the work goes to waste later.
So the hoop run is now a greenhouse and the shed coop is a garden shed for tools. I am so glad that we built with this possibility in mind, because all of this transformation from one purpose to another required absolutely NO additional building or modification. Plans went slightly awry this year and we didn't get it done because of scheduling - way to much traveling for hubby's position in his fraternal organization - but we only have a year of this hectic travel before we get to stay home and enjoy what we've built. In the meantime, all that lovely compost out there is breaking down and will be fabulous for planting.
So I guess my advice for new builders, regardless of materials used, would be to think of how you could reuse what you are building should you lose your entire flock or, like us, find that you can no longer maintain a flock. That way not one penny and not one bit of the work goes to waste later.
Hey Beer, can you make me one?
