So I got interested in
keeping chickens. I did a LOT of reading. I studied and then
I drew up my very own plans for what I wanted! I also collected some pallets. Every time I read a site where someone used re-purposed materials, they had something from a spouse's job or some other personal connection. My coop is no different, but I hope what you take from this is that
there are materials in your area that can be gathered and re-purposed for minimal (if any) expense. As I gathered my materials, my husband worried what a hunk of junk I was going to erect in our back yard. I promised him it wouldn't be junky...
Without further ado,
Day 1 (September 7th):
My neighbor is a
contractor. He had this long pallet (for holding siding) laying around. He also had scraps of 4x4 long enough for what I wanted: elevate coop 3' off the ground.
We wanted to keep the coop small enough that we could roof it as easily as we did the floor in it. So he cut it down to about 7½' long. My friendly neighbor also bought the floor piece of OSB, which cost about $8 (but was free to me).
Floor is attached, hole in floor cut for door.
Sasha provides our
first chicken test... she likes it!
Walls going up with a slope for the roof. Its
starting to look like something!
Brent built out a
nesting box on one end. I had not even dared to dream of a nesting box because I felt too clueless to figure out how to build one!
This is what our coop looked like at the end of the day;
five hours of work.
Sasha was very excited with the progress and can't wait to share it with chickens!
That lovely neighbor? He recognized that with no experience and no tools... I was going to be at it for a very long time! He is a good guy, so he volunteered to help me with the project. I think I'd be lost on this thing without him! He actually did
all the work on Day 1. I got to hold some boards steady, that's it.
Stay tuned for Part II!
