What have you repurposed while building ?

[RustyBucketFarmGirl]

Gathered up some left over wood from our deck and random pallet pieces to make a bench to raise my nesting boxes.

 

[RaZ]

This goes back a few weeks ago to when I scored the wagon load of slab wood.
I'm using some of the better pieces to shore up and stabilize the garage walls being built.
One has to use the materials at hand.
The bench in the first photo is just one of several that I built for various purposes.
The tractor, truck and engine lift are all being used in this construction project.
I call it "Homestead Engineering".

 

[Orgoniter]

I thought this would be an interesting thread for everybody could share what they have repurposed While building a coop and run or just anything for their chickens. Great way to gather and share ideas for less waste in the world, way to save money and a way to get the imagination flowing. I am huge on re-purposing anything. I’ll see something just sitting on the side of the road or at a job site in my imagination goes wild. I’m bringing home stuff all the time. I’ve been called a scavenger once or twice.
So share what you have reused or re-purposed. Added pictures are great but if you’re anything like me you have a hard time loading them

 

[Spartan22]

Repurposed swing set frame and pallets slabs

 

[chickisoup]

Hmmm, let's see. What "didn't" I repurpose for my coop? For starters I repurposed our friend's sturdy old hunting shack. We drug it out of the woods and went to work. Already had sound outer walls and a thick, bear proof door. Put it up on a foundation of "rescued" concrete block and for more security we added steel siding on outside and roof and sunk the scraps into the ground all around. The steel siding was all leftover pieces that were being tossed from a factory that builds outdoor wood furnaces. Really nice double pane sliding windows salvaged from our local dump. (at our dump the "good stuff" is set beside the dumpsters just in case someone else might have a need).

The left side is a later addition of mostly salvaged materials, waiting scoop up more steel to cover this as well, tho those are thick double walls and smooth to make it more difficult for bear to get a claw under.

This is the right (south) side of the coop. My second greatest repurpose. A greenhouse given us (had fun hauling it home) as a thank you (long sad story). We created a breezeway between the coop and GH with clear panel roof that we later enclosed after "rescuing" two old doors which DH cut in half turning them into dutch doors for air flow control. One side opens into their run, the other out into the larger "play" area and herb garden. The nestboxes and original pophole are located on that south wall which makes it super nice when the snow gets deep. The largest sliding window is also on that wall. the roof vent from the GH opens up into this area as well. This entire design acts as a passive solar heating system for the coop in our northern winters. Oh, and I cut another pophole into the side of the GH so the girls can scoot into there in the winter for dust bath session in the sandy floor or a bit of napping in the warm sun on the haybales.

Larger view. The greenhouse section is behind the chicken infirmary/workshop built 100% of salvaged materials except for the southern facing roof which is also clear panel roofing which also makes this a very toasty work space in the dead of winter.
(ignore that date on the last pic, it was actually taken last fall. forgot to reset the camera)

 

[wattachicken]

Lovin’ this thread! For the coop (8’x16’, the size of 4 pallets): I used old cinderblocks from the garden for the footings. I work at a garden center so I have access to as many pallets as I want. So, pallets for the floor and walls of the coop. I used thin pallet strips as strapping. We used pallets to make the nest box supports...my husband cut out openings the perfect size to set dish pans into...easy to remove and clean whenever we need to. I currently use small pallets as the steps to enter both the coop and run (have had to replace them a couple of times, but no problem).

I used leftover and repurposed vinyl for the floor. A friend gave us some wood cabinet panels that we used for the doors to the supply cabinet. Used old insulation that was going to the trash from a local house renovation. Saw a going-out-of-business sale at a hallmarks card store and got three shatterproof clear glass shelves to use for windows. We used asphalt roofing shingles that were left over from when we shingled our house. The coop’s front door, which looks directly into our glass garden door in the family room, is an old glass storm door that we took off of our house....the girls love watching us thru the windows, and vice versa! It faces south, so in the winter they can also bask in the sun.

Since the coop is close to the house and I wanted it to look like a shed to match the house and the “real shed”, we purchased cedar shingles to match the house and the real shed. We also purchased hardware cloth to cover window and ventilation openings, some plywood, as well as some 4x8 panels for the interior walls.

For the run: we bought lumber and hardware cloth. After enduring a season of horrible rain and mud, my garden center was replacing clear corrugated fiberglass panels on the greenhouse, and I brought home plenty to cover the run - so no more muddy eggs! Finally, I used two more cinder blocks to support a holly tree trunk as a perch. I hung another holly tree trunk near the roof.

All in all, in spite of some new purchases, I’m pretty proud of how much I was able to reuse and recycle!

 

[Spartan22]

@wattachicken, post some pics so we can see and appreciate some of your great ideas.

 

[Leaguinea]

Lovin’ this thread! For the coop (8’x16’, the size of 4 pallets): I used old cinderblocks from the garden for the footings. I work at a garden center so I have access to as many pallets as I want. So, pallets for the floor and walls of the coop. I used thin pallet strips as strapping. We used pallets to make the nest box supports...my husband cut out openings the perfect size to set dish pans into...easy to remove and clean whenever we need to. I currently use small pallets as the steps to enter both the coop and run (have had to replace them a couple of times, but no problem).

I used leftover and repurposed vinyl for the floor. A friend gave us some wood cabinet panels that we used for the doors to the supply cabinet. Used old insulation that was going to the trash from a local house renovation. Saw a going-out-of-business sale at a hallmarks card store and got three shatterproof clear glass shelves to use for windows. We used asphalt roofing shingles that were left over from when we shingled our house. The coop’s front door, which looks directly into our glass garden door in the family room, is an old glass storm door that we took off of our house....the girls love watching us thru the windows, and vice versa! It faces south, so in the winter they can also bask in the sun.

Since the coop is close to the house and I wanted it to look like a shed to match the house and the “real shed”, we purchased cedar shingles to match the house and the real shed. We also purchased hardware cloth to cover window and ventilation openings, some plywood, as well as some 4x8 panels for the interior walls.

For the run: we bought lumber and hardware cloth. After enduring a season of horrible rain and mud, my garden center was replacing clear corrugated fiberglass panels on the greenhouse, and I brought home plenty to cover the run - so no more muddy eggs! Finally, I used two more cinder blocks to support a holly tree trunk as a perch. I hung another holly tree trunk near the roof.

All in all, in spite of some new purchases, I’m pretty proud of how much I was able to reuse and recycle!

Pictures Please

 

[culturalinfidel]

We repurposed an old fence to build all of the walls on our coop.

 

[TearDucks]

I used a baby gate I connected to plywood to devide my coop. Boys on the right, girls on left. I've since redone the floor by adding hw cloth on top of existing floor, then some subfloor over that. To protect the subfloor I used house wrap bc its a moisture barrier. Then rubber mats then straw. It's ugly as hell but works good. They like being able to see each other.

When I was closing gaps between the pen fence and roof, I used the little green fence you get for chicks to give them playtime. It worked really well perfect size.