Melissa67137
Songster
Call me crazy but I am new to having chickens, and with fall and winter coming soon I knew I would need something other than a simple pet taxi to shut my rescue chicken Henryetta up in. I did lots of research on those prefab coop kits and even had a couple picked out but I just couldn't place the order. After all the ones I seen in the stores looked like a stiff wind would blow them apart.
So being a creative person and on a very fixed income I got to thinking of ways to build a coop myself that was budget friendly. This lead me to the thought of 'I wonder if an old kitchen cabinet would work'.....I knew for it to hold up it would need to be solid wood not that pressed wood stuff. I priced new wooden cabinets and then got the bright idea to go see what the habitat resale store had. Well I found the perfect base cabinet as it had already had a piece of plywood put over the one door hole, I also grabbed a gallon of exterior paint to seal and help protect the wood. I hauled it home and my Pastor helped me cut the cabinet toe kick off so it set flat, he also helped me put a piece of scrap plywood on the back and we used the old shelf to heighten the front a bit to cause a roof slope, and we also put a perch into the far end.
Another church member had a piece of plywood that I could have for the roof. I painted it all with the exterior paint, I did 3 coats to protect it well. I then put hardware cloth over the hole where the drawer was supposed to go, and in the angles eves on each end. I put brackets I already had on the roof and the actual coop was finished.
Now to get it up off the ground......so I took an old shipping pallet, cut it down to size, and put legs on it and set it up on old edger bricks. A neighbor helped me set the coop up on the stand and put the roof on. I then for the final touch I took the part I had cut off the pallet and screwed pieces of old trim boards to it to make a ramp for my chicken.
And walla a chicken coop for $60 bucks and some sweat equity. Not bad if I do say so myself. Where there is a will, there is a way!!!!
So being a creative person and on a very fixed income I got to thinking of ways to build a coop myself that was budget friendly. This lead me to the thought of 'I wonder if an old kitchen cabinet would work'.....I knew for it to hold up it would need to be solid wood not that pressed wood stuff. I priced new wooden cabinets and then got the bright idea to go see what the habitat resale store had. Well I found the perfect base cabinet as it had already had a piece of plywood put over the one door hole, I also grabbed a gallon of exterior paint to seal and help protect the wood. I hauled it home and my Pastor helped me cut the cabinet toe kick off so it set flat, he also helped me put a piece of scrap plywood on the back and we used the old shelf to heighten the front a bit to cause a roof slope, and we also put a perch into the far end.
Another church member had a piece of plywood that I could have for the roof. I painted it all with the exterior paint, I did 3 coats to protect it well. I then put hardware cloth over the hole where the drawer was supposed to go, and in the angles eves on each end. I put brackets I already had on the roof and the actual coop was finished.
Now to get it up off the ground......so I took an old shipping pallet, cut it down to size, and put legs on it and set it up on old edger bricks. A neighbor helped me set the coop up on the stand and put the roof on. I then for the final touch I took the part I had cut off the pallet and screwed pieces of old trim boards to it to make a ramp for my chicken.
And walla a chicken coop for $60 bucks and some sweat equity. Not bad if I do say so myself. Where there is a will, there is a way!!!!
