Yay for my hand built coop!

[jsullivan704]

I currently have a goose and a duck that are around 12 weeks old! We built them a coop instead of buying one, because we had a specific design in mind. My boyfriend wanted an opening roof, so he could reach in there, or air it out. I wanted a big door on the side so it was easy access for me to clean it out, and scrape all the bedding out. We also decided to lift it off the ground and provide them with a ramp (not their favorite thing but they are getting more and more used to it). It is made out of really good materials, and took a good week to build (working for a few + hours every day). I still have to stain the front the same color as the sides, but its treated wood already. I am very proud of it, and maybe just because I built it by hand, but I also think it looks very good. Maybe its not perfect or meets all the standards, but they are happy, and I am happy. We are also getting another goose and duck to be their friends (they are currently growing up at a close friends home with her other waterfowl). I don't think thats going to be enough room for them all, so we might just have to build another or a bigger one. But for now it works. Also don't mind the messy bedding I took this right before I cleaned it all out .

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

What a beautiful coop!

 

[TheYLWFlock]

Yay! Go hand-built coop team! We went the same direction, made our own plans, built it by hand with no help whatsoever. It’s not perfect by any means, but it fits our needs and size perfectly. $500 on a coop and run that can ACTUALLY fit 5 chickens, as opposed to $500 for a pretty chicken dollhouse. Here’s what it looked like before painting vs after:

The grass has really been depleted by free ranging chickens! And we switched from flowers to succulents in the pots because we get a lot of dry heat around here!


Also super great coop! You did a really Good job!

 

[jsullivan704]

Yay! Go hand-built coop team! We went the same direction, made our own plans, built it by hand with no help whatsoever. It’s not perfect by any means, but it fits our needs and size perfectly. $500 on a coop and run that can ACTUALLY fit 5 chickens, as opposed to $500 for a pretty chicken dollhouse. Here’s what it looked like before painting vs after:
View attachment 1491550 View attachment 1491554 View attachment 1491555
The grass has really been depleted by free ranging chickens! And we switched from flowers to succulents in the pots because we get a lot of dry heat around here!


Also super great coop! You did a really Good job!

Wow!! I love that, it is so nice looking. Once we get chickens I would love to build something similar to that! I also love the succulents idea. You did such an amazing job, I think it looks great. We also felt the same way, why spend lots of money on one that is tiny and would fall apart easily when we could build one for the same amount with better materials, exactly the way we wanted it. So worth it!

 

[llombardo]

I went the same direction with duck house. I am going to build ones for the chickens next. I have ideas in my head. Trying to go for simple but effective.

Good Job on yours!! Mind don't even use the ramp, it is there but laying flat and they step right in.

Here is my duck house. They love it. I'm going to add metal vents on the sides, so hardware cloth and the vents make me feel it's safer

 

[Folly's place]

I do see one problem; your hardware cloth is not securely fastened to the framing. Add wood boards, screwed into the framing, and maybe add sturdier framing too. I think that raccoons could tear that apart!
Mary

 

[CannedMonster]

I went the same direction with duck house. I am going to build ones for the chickens next. I have ideas in my head. Trying to go for simple but effective.

Good Job on yours!! Mind don't even use the ramp, it is there but laying flat and they step right in.

Here is my duck house. They love it. I'm going to add metal vents on the sides, so hardware cloth and the vents make me feel it's safer

View attachment 1491631 View attachment 1491633

Good ventilation there llombardo!

 

[llombardo]

Good ventilation there llombardo!

Thank you. We actually built that for around $100. Most of the wood came from the garbage. Good wood.

I just added vents on the inside of one of those sides. Extra layer of protection hopefully because raccoons are out in full blown mode. I think the actual ventilation is the same. The raccoons--at least 4 woke me up last night buckering with each other, literally 25 feet from the chicken/duck area. Almost gave me a heart attack. German Shepherd was on duty the remainder of last night and will be every night weather permitting. I might even add another layer of hardware cloth on the outside.

 

[TheYLWFlock]

Wow!! I love that, it is so nice looking. Once we get chickens I would love to build something similar to that! I also love the succulents idea. You did such an amazing job, I think it looks great. We also felt the same way, why spend lots of money on one that is tiny and would fall apart easily when we could build one for the same amount with better materials, exactly the way we wanted it. So worth it!

Thank you! We love it! Not perfect, but totally does the job! I see little coops that are like $1000 dollars and they say “is good for 8 chickens”. Good rule of thumb is to half that for actual amount of chickens. Why pay $1000 for a coop that fits 4 chicken, when you can pay half that or even less (if using scrap materials) for a coop that can fit more birds?