The only accurate word to describe this build is "Rednecked" -- but that's fine because while I was born a Yankee, rural North Carolina is where I really belong.
I was given a group of 4-week-old chicks who came with some equipment, including a coop that was a repurposed temporary run from before my friend's husband had built the huge permanent run. It had seen rough use and we had to take some of the battered tarps off in order to get it secured to the trailer to bring it home.
I stripped away all the tarps, took off the metal sides, and removed the roost assembly, leaving a roughly 4'x8', chicken-wire-covered structure built lightly but strongly from 2"x2"s.
This got wrapped in scrap hardware cloth, with seams as necessary.
Since it was just a bit too tall for the 48" wire I used scrap metal siding around the base, which has the added benefit of helping to contain the bedding.
I decided that it had to have a pop door so the chicks could come out into a pen and to enhance the later usability for other purposes. This is one of the redneckiest parts of the whole deal, but I do think it's not that bad for the first time I ever worked with sheet metal.
Then I wrapped it in heavy-duty tarp, leaving an 8" vent all the way around the top, rigging a vent in the door, and rigging another vent on the other end. The props for the "porch" are OK in calm weather but might take some more support on a windy day.
Clothespins hold the vents closed when not wanted -- making the airflow completely adjustable. The permanent ventilation is approximately 16 square feet. The supplemental vents add about 10 additional square feet.
Lack of roof overhangs means more scrap metal siding tacked up as awnings to keep the rain out. With one end pierced to allow the pop door to operate.
Unfortunately, it does interfere with the door a bit, but that's unavoidable (roof overhangs, people!). But it has a drip edge so I can go out in the rain without it dumping all down my neck. At this point I also put on the new door latches, two of them since the door closes a little crooked.
Since I was going to use it as a brooder I needed to make an opening for the heavy-duty, outdoor-rated extension cord. I cut out a 2 square by 3 square section of the wire, the smallest hole that would pass the plug, and wrapped the wire in a triple layer of black tape.
I then repurposed the old swivel latch to help close the door and to run the cord over wood instead of wire for less chafing. It's tied down with wire to hold it in place and I used literal baling twine to tether my carabiners.
The anti-dig skirt isn't attached, just stapled to the ground. Not the best, but I'm using the scrap hardware cloth I had available.
Here it is, an outdoor brooder with a dozen happy chicks in it. I'm leaving the cardboard barrier across the middle for a week or so to keep them close at hand and to prevent drafts when I have the end vent open.
Even with all that venting it needed some shade from our brutal NC summer sun (it's 89 degrees on May 23), so we put up the ratty, old picnic pavilion for some shade.
We're planning to eventually see about putting wheels on this structure and using it as a tractor to get the chickens to weed the orchard. I'll edit the article when that happens.
Update June 28, 2022
After raising multiple batches of chicks in here, all happy and in good health, we lost 7 out of 12 from one batch to blacksnakes. Having blocked up what I thought was the access point after the initial loss of 5 then losing 2 more about 2 weeks later, I decided that the only way to make my chicks safe was to add a floor (which we hadn't had because the brooder was sitting on a packed gravel pad so hard we can barely get a pickaxe through it).
When we rolled it onto it's side I found what was probably the issue -- a corner of the door jam that protruded nearly an inch below the frame, leaving a gap that I hadn't detected from the outside with the bedding in place.
Once I trimmed that off, putting a floor in *should* have been as easily said as done -- one piece of plywood for a 4x8 structure. But the original builder was casual about his measurements so instead of being 48" wide it was 52" wide.
After a lot of texting with my DH about what lumber we had, what was available for use, etc. I fastened the plywood in place then use fence pickets to fill the 2" gap, screwing all the wood to the perimeter then fastening the plywood to the fence panels once the brooder was rightside up again.
After that, I added a door jam, since the door had warped and left a gap large enough for me to slide my fingers into it.
Bye-bye my easy cleaning by rolling it on it's side and forking the bedding off the ground but also bye-bye blacksnakes. The chicks due to hatch this Sunday should be safe now with no gap anywhere larger than the openings of the hardware cloth.
I was given a group of 4-week-old chicks who came with some equipment, including a coop that was a repurposed temporary run from before my friend's husband had built the huge permanent run. It had seen rough use and we had to take some of the battered tarps off in order to get it secured to the trailer to bring it home.
I stripped away all the tarps, took off the metal sides, and removed the roost assembly, leaving a roughly 4'x8', chicken-wire-covered structure built lightly but strongly from 2"x2"s.
This got wrapped in scrap hardware cloth, with seams as necessary.
Since it was just a bit too tall for the 48" wire I used scrap metal siding around the base, which has the added benefit of helping to contain the bedding.
I decided that it had to have a pop door so the chicks could come out into a pen and to enhance the later usability for other purposes. This is one of the redneckiest parts of the whole deal, but I do think it's not that bad for the first time I ever worked with sheet metal.
Then I wrapped it in heavy-duty tarp, leaving an 8" vent all the way around the top, rigging a vent in the door, and rigging another vent on the other end. The props for the "porch" are OK in calm weather but might take some more support on a windy day.
Clothespins hold the vents closed when not wanted -- making the airflow completely adjustable. The permanent ventilation is approximately 16 square feet. The supplemental vents add about 10 additional square feet.
Lack of roof overhangs means more scrap metal siding tacked up as awnings to keep the rain out. With one end pierced to allow the pop door to operate.
Unfortunately, it does interfere with the door a bit, but that's unavoidable (roof overhangs, people!). But it has a drip edge so I can go out in the rain without it dumping all down my neck. At this point I also put on the new door latches, two of them since the door closes a little crooked.
Since I was going to use it as a brooder I needed to make an opening for the heavy-duty, outdoor-rated extension cord. I cut out a 2 square by 3 square section of the wire, the smallest hole that would pass the plug, and wrapped the wire in a triple layer of black tape.
I then repurposed the old swivel latch to help close the door and to run the cord over wood instead of wire for less chafing. It's tied down with wire to hold it in place and I used literal baling twine to tether my carabiners.
The anti-dig skirt isn't attached, just stapled to the ground. Not the best, but I'm using the scrap hardware cloth I had available.
Here it is, an outdoor brooder with a dozen happy chicks in it. I'm leaving the cardboard barrier across the middle for a week or so to keep them close at hand and to prevent drafts when I have the end vent open.
Even with all that venting it needed some shade from our brutal NC summer sun (it's 89 degrees on May 23), so we put up the ratty, old picnic pavilion for some shade.
We're planning to eventually see about putting wheels on this structure and using it as a tractor to get the chickens to weed the orchard. I'll edit the article when that happens.
Update June 28, 2022
After raising multiple batches of chicks in here, all happy and in good health, we lost 7 out of 12 from one batch to blacksnakes. Having blocked up what I thought was the access point after the initial loss of 5 then losing 2 more about 2 weeks later, I decided that the only way to make my chicks safe was to add a floor (which we hadn't had because the brooder was sitting on a packed gravel pad so hard we can barely get a pickaxe through it).
When we rolled it onto it's side I found what was probably the issue -- a corner of the door jam that protruded nearly an inch below the frame, leaving a gap that I hadn't detected from the outside with the bedding in place.
Once I trimmed that off, putting a floor in *should* have been as easily said as done -- one piece of plywood for a 4x8 structure. But the original builder was casual about his measurements so instead of being 48" wide it was 52" wide.
After a lot of texting with my DH about what lumber we had, what was available for use, etc. I fastened the plywood in place then use fence pickets to fill the 2" gap, screwing all the wood to the perimeter then fastening the plywood to the fence panels once the brooder was rightside up again.
After that, I added a door jam, since the door had warped and left a gap large enough for me to slide my fingers into it.
Bye-bye my easy cleaning by rolling it on it's side and forking the bedding off the ground but also bye-bye blacksnakes. The chicks due to hatch this Sunday should be safe now with no gap anywhere larger than the openings of the hardware cloth.
