# Coop ideas?



## WitchHazel (May 5, 2015)

I have six pullets between 4 and 5 weeks old, and three more who are roughly 1 1/2 weeks. Eventually they will all share a coop, but for now the little ones are in the brooder still. I put the six older girls in a small prefab coop that could hold about 4 adult hens. Don't ask how I got from four to nine.....

Anyway, it obviously won't be large enough for all my girls when they're grown. Does anyone have any ideas for building a coop? I have very little money (though I intend to earn some) and zero carpentry skills. I have a shed which my ducks and geese sleep in, which I can use if necessary, but it has poor ventilation and the idea of cleaning it out that much more often does not appeal to me!

I have read about making straw bale coops, playhouse coops, bottomless coops, greenhouse coops, cinder block coops..... I know there are plans online for coops you can make out of scrap wood, but like I said: I have _no_ building skills. As in, I can't even make a box! Nor do I have anyone handy or crafty to help me. Any ideas? My birds free-range, so it doesn't have to be gigantic or have a run. Help!


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Look on Craigslist for inexpensive or free things you could convert.


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## Frosty (Feb 13, 2010)

Look for free pallets and convert them into a coop for your hens. The trouble with putting them in with ducks and geese is you can't keep clean water for them. I finally got out of ducks to messy.


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## FloatnRockRanch (Feb 7, 2015)

Make one with pvc. Plans can be found online. Super light weight so u can move it around. Use a tarp to cover it. All you need is glue and maybe drill a hole. I made one using zip ties this spring before we had the chicken coop done. Home Depot will cut your pvc any size you need for free. Amazon has the fittings cheap.


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## AncientBlue (Dec 21, 2014)

We built ours and both myself and my husband have reasonable carpentry skills. So my build is of no help.

A friend of ours has his milk crates as his laying boxes. They are on top of a table with just small wooden sides and roof. So few cuts, you could probably get Lowes/Home Depot to make the cuts for you. Actually you could use whatever you have laying around for it and cover with a tarp on 3 sides.
For a nesting area, an old upside down table with wooden beams across the legs would do fine. Just have to find a way to cover it (tarp, wood, old shingles). I know we that 'sanford & sons' thing going on in certain areas and I guess I'm assuming you do too.


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## WitchHazel (May 5, 2015)

I have been scouring craigslist. So far nothing, but I'll keep looking. One thing I though of was going to the Goodwill bins to find an old table or something-- I think even I could attach sides or something!

The PVC idea is interesting. If I can't find a table, I might try it. Whatever I do, though, has to be coyote-proof. We've got a problem animal hanging around-- losing it's fear of humans. I have already lost a duck to it, and I saw it chasing one of our cats across the yard. Blasted thing. We are trying to take care of the problem, but in the meantime I have to be careful.


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## Karen (Jun 22, 2010)

WitchHazel said:


> I have been scouring craigslist. So far nothing, but I'll keep looking. One thing I though of was going to the Goodwill bins to find an old table or something-- I think even I could attach sides or something!
> 
> The PVC idea is interesting. If I can't find a table, I might try it. Whatever I do, though, has to be coyote-proof. We've got a problem animal hanging around-- losing it's fear of humans. I have already lost a duck to it, and I saw it chasing one of our cats across the yard. Blasted thing. We are trying to take care of the problem, but in the meantime I have to be careful.


Also, if you drive around and notice any construction sites, you can ask if they have any scrap lumber, and explain what you need it for! Does your town have a dump or how is trash handled? Have you tried freecycle.com as well?


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## WitchHazel (May 5, 2015)

We have a dump, but you're not allowed to take stuff from it. Which doesn't make sense to me; they keep complaining about landfills and telling us to recycle, but they won't let us reuse the stuff that nobody wants! Lol... pet peeve of mine. I've never heard of the site you mention. I'll have to look into it.


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## Lstein (Oct 2, 2014)

I always liked the cattle panel hoop coop. You make a square out of 2 x 4 's (cant' remember the dimensions), bend two cattle panels and nail them to the wood square, cover the whole thing with a tarp. Though that method does take a couple purchases.....

I thing hunting at rummage sales and looking for playhouses would be a good alternative too, the straw bale one sounds good too until the straw gets old.


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## WitchHazel (May 5, 2015)

Lstein said:


> I always liked the cattle panel hoop coop. You make a square out of 2 x 4 's (cant' remember the dimensions), bend two cattle panels and nail them to the wood square, cover the whole thing with a tarp. Though that method does take a couple purchases.....
> 
> I thing hunting at rummage sales and looking for playhouses would be a good alternative too, the straw bale one sounds good too until the straw gets old.


A friend of ours uses something like the cattle panel thing you describe. I might be able to put something together based on that idea. Have to earn som money first, though.


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## milk and honey (Oct 31, 2010)

While at goodwill, look at the children's play houses..like little tykes. I've always wanted a playhouse for a coop or even an old car


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## rachelseden (Dec 8, 2013)

Old truck campers can be gutted and easily transformed into a coop. You might want to go to a couple junk yards and see what they have. Just make sure whatever you use that it's predator proof.


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## Wispysmile (Oct 5, 2014)

We have been using an old camper shell for three years now. Just gutted it and installed a roost on one side and stacked plastic pails on the other side for nest boxes. We use a metal waterer on a warming bottom in the winter and hang a round metal poultry feeder from the roof. We cut a small door on the side for the pop door with a ramp. This gets closed every night. Haven't lost a bird yet. We have 18 layers in there.


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## WitchHazel (May 5, 2015)

I love the old camper idea, but our landlord is a Chicago guy. He has very antiseptic ideas of what a farm should look like. He barely tolerates the tarps we use to shelter the goats! So whatever I use has to look "nice" and be obviously impermanent. Grrr...

I may not end up with nine hens, after all; I am increasingly suspicious of the feathers on one of my wyandottes. I really hopes she's not a he! I have been given an ultimatum: no roosters!! So I'd have to find him a home. Or a nice quick death.


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## fivemoremiles (Jan 19, 2010)

we used 6x6 concrete wire two 7'x20' panels make a 12 x14 hoop that you can walk in.it takes one more 7 x20 panel to close in the ends. the wire will need to be braced so it will not collapse with snow. we covered the hoop with truck tarps. I have three. Well had three one was totaled in a 70 mph wind we had last month. no chickens were in it so we only lost the hoop house. the total cost was under $300.00


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