First adventure outside!

OE was the adventures one this time. Josie enjoyed the window. 

Looks like they found a "mama"

Hobby = Chickens (Building the coop)

I could not find a cheap way to do a roof.. So I went bought a pack of shingles for $18 and roofing nails for $2. I used a hand saw to cut them. (Youtube roofing a dog house for some good videos)

Im rebuilding the run... I did not like how I did it the first time 

This is the back. The two hinge doors ($.49 per hinge!) will make for easy access to eggs, food and water. 

The left side for food at water.

Notice the extra slots at the bottom! Its a pallet with most of the boards taken out! I covered the floor and the very bottom with wire mesh. The extra feed and chicken poo will fall into roasting pans for easy cleaning and composting!

 The right side for eggs.

This is the nest box... I have two that are stack able. The also come out of the coop and the bottoms pull out for easy cleaning. (They are 12x12

Hobby = Chickens (Building the coop)

Breaking apart the pallets was more difficult than I thought... A hammer claw breaks the wood... Some with a screw driver and hammer... 

But I found the secret must have weapon... at around $8 is the wonder bar by stanley. 

This thing is amazing... Its still a lot of work but this beauty is worth the cost.

After getting really good and stripping the pallets I used the already framed pallet and put 2x4s as the legs. I did not want to bed over every time I had to get eggs or clean the coop so it was a must for it to be off the ground. I also did not want it to be so high that it would stick over my privacy fence.

Since I am recycling the wood some of it had to be doctored with wood glue and clamps.

Hobby = Chickens (Building the coop)

First things first... My goals:

I want a low maintenance easy to clean coop. 

Less poop more coop.

I want it to look halfway decent. 

I wanted to get a few chickens but don't want to spend much money... 

So I employed child labor tactics! 

I also saved money by finding most of the wood to build my coop. 

The hot spots for finding free pallets include: Paint stores, local hardware stores and home building sites. (our lowes and home depot keep their pallets locked up) I recommend getting permission before nabbing the free wood... 

I found a great pallet that was already framed out! Less work for me! It also helped me add a cool feature that every chicken coop should have. More on that later.