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- This is the old cart that I used as the base. I stripped everything except the plywood on the bottom and laid another sheet on top of it so the floor is more than an inch thick. I tried to use stuff that I had laying around, and this cart, though no longer square, worked quite well. Nice trailer hitch and everything.
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- Ed helping out. I used plywood for the ends and then screwed the pine boards to the edges of the plywood. The plywood came from a built-in bunk bed that I removed from my cabin.
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- First side, with no door. I cut each board as I added it. It took forever. But at least the lumber was just laying around. Different widths and thicknesses, but it gives a little character to the coop.
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- Second side, with door to nesting boxes. This side I put all the boards up and then sawed them off on the ends. Much faster.
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- It’s coming together.
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- Almost done with the exterior.
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- All sawed off and evened up. This was when it really started to look like a decent coop. I was pumped with how it was turning out. The only thing I had to buy was a box of screws.
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- The nesting boxes. Single shelf with three dividers to make four nesting boxes.
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- Interior. The cart is 48″ by 40″, making the square footage a little less than 16 square feet. Plenty of room for four chickens. Could even do six or seven chickens in this setup.
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- Perch added.
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- Then the roof. Old metal I found laying around, no need to cut or measure. I just overlapped two sheets and screwed them down.
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- Flap door for the nesting box access.
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- All ready for some eggs! Except at this point, the chicks were only like four weeks old.
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- After adding the pine siding to the ends. I added a window and put one-inch chicken wire between the plywood and siding.
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- Main access door for the chickens and me. It’s a foot high and two feet wide so I can easily rake it out and clean it in the spring. Heavy duty latch too. The upright boards hit the ground so that the door makes a nice ramp for them to get in and out.
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- Moved into their new home, they seemed to like the extra space and the perch.
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- Getting comfortable in the coop. The run is right there, and I have to shepherd them into every morning, but they hop right back into the coop in the evening.
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- Growing up, but they’re still really happy in the new digs.
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- First eggs, several months after moving into the coop. Only the white chicken is laying, but she uses the nesting boxes and gives me an egg every day. Not too long before the other two girls start laying. One of the gold chickens turned out to be a rooster, so no eggs from him.
You did a great job on your coop! So nice that you could use all scrap items other than the screws. The girls really look happy in their new digs. Obviously, they are if you’re getting eggs :).
Love reading about your adventures and your life off the grid. Creativity goes a long way. Look forward to each posting.
I did not get the message on the coop
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