Got empty wire spools? Here's an idea!

greenfamilyfarms said:

Here is a picture of it without the doors installed. These are recycled wire spools (FREE!) from the electric company. We used 5 foot biddy wire, but I think it would work out better if you can find the 6 foot wire. That way, the middle section will be larger. If interested, I will post pictures of the final product.

We've made two of these so far and still have wire left over. I plan to put pigeons and small bantams in the pens.

Spools = Free
Scrap wood = Free
5' Roll of wire = $45.00

Click to expand...

Little chick chick said:

Hi, I would like to see finished product if you can. If you took pictures of the assembly, that would help me a lot. Sorry if I'm asking for too much . Thank you. Maureen

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greenfamilyfarms said:

I feel like I need to give an update on this project since it has been revived on Pinterest and Facebook. It's been about 4 years since we made these. Since then, we have discovered:

(1) Since spools are not treated wood, they decay very, very quickly. Right now, the pens are a pile of trash waiting to go to the landfill. We are going to strip the wire from them and dispose of them.

(2) These are WAY too small for people to raise standard chickens, rabbits, pets, or larger bantams in on a constant basis. *IF* you use them just as coops, they work well for pigeons (like we used them for) or for small bantams like seramas. Our roller pigeons used these as nesting areas and we let them out on a daily basis to train them. I would not recommend them to keep poultry penned up without access to roam/fly.

(3) The chicken wire works to keep pigeons in, but is not very secure if you have predator problems. We are fortunate to not have a huge number of bad-to-the-bone predators, so this type of wire worked well for us.

(4) Would I make these again? No. They were too much work for just a short time of use.

Click to expand...

greenfamilyfarms said:

Here is a picture of it without the doors installed. These are recycled wire spools (FREE!) from the electric company. We used 5 foot biddy wire, but I think it would work out better if you can find the 6 foot wire. That way, the middle section will be larger. If interested, I will post pictures of the final product.

We've made two of these so far and still have wire left over. I plan to put pigeons and small bantams in the pens.

Spools = Free
Scrap wood = Free
5' Roll of wire = $45.00

Click to expand...

1stTimeGAChick said:

Highly interested! Please share more pics.

Click to expand...

greenfamilyfarms said:

I feel like I need to give an update on this project since it has been revived on Pinterest and Facebook. It's been about 4 years since we made these. Since then, we have discovered:

(1) Since spools are not treated wood, they decay very, very quickly. Right now, the pens are a pile of trash waiting to go to the landfill. We are going to strip the wire from them and dispose of them.

(2) These are WAY too small for people to raise standard chickens, rabbits, pets, or larger bantams in on a constant basis. *IF* you use them just as coops, they work well for pigeons (like we used them for) or for small bantams like seramas. Our roller pigeons used these as nesting areas and we let them out on a daily basis to train them. I would not recommend them to keep poultry penned up without access to roam/fly.

(3) The chicken wire works to keep pigeons in, but is not very secure if you have predator problems. We are fortunate to not have a huge number of bad-to-the-bone predators, so this type of wire worked well for us.

(4) Would I make these again? No. They were too much work for just a short time of use.

Click to expand...