Why All The "Junk"?

[Uncle Marc]

Being frugal I get. Being resourceful I get. But is there some other reason so many coop projects proudly tout the use of used, re-cycled or free materials?

 

[turbodog]

Sorry, if you get the part about frugal and resourceful, what don't you understand about folks taking a little pride in not being wastefull in today's "use it up and toss it out" disposable society?

 

[aoxa]

Being resourceful like that is something to be proud of! Why wouldn't you boast about it?

 

[teach1rusl]

I think a lot of folks new to chickens see some of the fancier coops out there and feel rather pressured to "keep up with the Jones'" with their coops; and that can be pretty self-defeating, thinking you have to spend several hundred up to a few thousand for a coop.
So some people come up with pretty unique and interesting ways of recycling and/or reusing materials to create safe, low cost, "perfectly fine for chickens" coops instead. I think it's cool make good use of used/discarded materials.

However, I'm partial to "cute" coops myself, so I'd like to see the "pretty" coops that are made mostly from used/salvaged materials.

 

[Rosaleen]

I'm proud of the fact that my coop and run cost less than $60. I had all the makings and equipment, so why not? I truly enjoy looking at all the wonderful coops and runs and all the great ideas on BYC.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Quote:
VERY well said!

I totally agree with turbodog.

I am one of those people that you are talking about and I always will "tout" the fact that I recycle materials. It's what I do. It's a hobby. I have literally saved thousands of $$$$$$$$$$$$ by NOT making lumber yards, Lowe's, Home Depot and other businesses rich on my dime.

I LOVE looking at the beautiful coops here on BYC. One of the threads that I always check out. It is so wonderful to see the beautifully painted coops, with brand new wood used, brand new chicken wire bought and cute pics as decorations inside and outside the coops.

I'm proud of all of the "touters" on BYC. I also tout on my BYC page and website.

 

[mamabigbird]

Is the OP kidding? Maybe just wanted to get us frugalites stirred up.
But then my cozy little cabin used to be a two car garage ... and I'll be durned if my chickens are gonna live in a prettier house than me.
Their coop used to be a storage shed and the run used to be a chain link dog run.
Home is what you make of it.

 

[georgiagail]

I've been very impressed with the innovative way some folks have "recycled" items into coops and runs.

Old swing sets. Childrens play houses. Trampolines. Satellite dishes. Amazing!

Just today when we were out on the back deck sweeping off the leaves and I "uncovered" a 2 foot wide by 8 foot long by 3 1/2 foot high PVC stand a friend had given us (he used it to hold his canary cages; we had been using it to hold plants that have now been brought inside for the winter)....I suggested to Bill that we might consider extending the width a bit, running hardware cloth around it and perhaps using it as a run for a pair of bantams..

Gail

 

[BrattishTaz]

I think one of the other reasons we boast about our coops de salvage is that we take pride in the fact that we hunted down materials and used a good bit of creativity figuring out how to put them all together.

 

[Time-Out]

All these frugal BYCers are inspirational. They don't see junk, they see chicken coops! I've begun hoarding every bit of wood that isn't rotten. No idea what I'll do with it yet, but I kinda fancy a deck chair for the garden...