Bigger Coop On A Dime, In Far Less Time

Now that you have all your chicks that you want to raise into hens, it's time to start thinking about your coop! You won't need to build it for awhile, since the chicks are so little and need hands on care in their first months, but you might want to plan ahead! You could build one out of pallets and scrap wood as we did here, but we are a rescue home for hens, and our latest addition overpopulated our quaint coop without so much as the peeps from baby chicks, warning you they will be full grown soon! So we needed a speedy solution, that didn't cost as much as a Rainbow Play System! This is the gem we found!

The total price was less than 100, delivered within a week, and assembled in less than 2 hours by this lone lady! Plus, it comes with built-in shelves, or shall we say "roosting beds" that cover with hay and straw quite nicely! Additionally, it gave us a convenient place to hang the water dispensary, while providing dry shelter for extra hay (because why build a hay box when you don't have to?! We used to store ours in trash cans, resulted in Blister Beetles...OUCH!), not to mention a convenient door to let myself in and out, and easy access to all of the lovely eggs! But wait, it gets better, it's a greenhouse...so...it heats itself! It has an easy spot to hang my heat lamps, should I want them, but most days it's unnecessary! (PS, I know that heat lamps are controversial. My stance is DO NOT strain your hens! Hens were bred for unnatural amounts of production, which is strain enough already. So if your girls continue to produce eggs in 18 degree weather, then by golly, give them the cozy comfort of a heat lamp! Just don't introduce it if production is dropping off in defense to the weather.)

The only thing we added to the coop was some shelving. We had roosting boxes already made from the last coop we had, so we stuck 'em in there! We added plywood shelves to top the mesh ones that came with it, hello free pile! Just add a 2 inch lip around the piece of plywood, extending the front and rear edges to 3 inches and offsetting them so they reach below the base of the shelf, this way they will nestle onto the shelving and "hook" themselves there. Secure, and able to hold that fluffy straw that slips through the mesh shelves!

The instructions consist of a picture of the completed product, so I thought I'd show you the steps!

Now just tie on the tarp to complete the greenhouse chicken coop!

The ladder is SUPER easy and free to make! Just pallet wood, cut it into 1x1x6 strips, then nail the rungs with a nail gun! 

Our 4x4 spans the width of the coop and rests on the shelving, so everyone has easy access to water!

Just remember to open her up when it gets sunny, because it gets toasty in there, quickly! You can see my heatlamp, but I just put it in for picture purposes, it was warm enough to take it out shortly after! We also used pallets to make a mini deck for the whole thing to sit on, so that when it rains it doesn't soak up through the floor (wet feet is terrible for hen health!!) and after slipping on the tarping, we nailed on a wood surround as a sort of sleeve to keep the sides down an intruders out!

And if you zip it ALMOST all the way closed, they can slip in and out easily!

How's that for some inventive henning solutions?!

Chicken Water Dispensary

Chick Day is coming to our local feed store (March 8th) so I imagine the chicks are coming to your area too! Be prepared with this quick and economical water dispensary for your brood...

First start with those lovely 5 gallon buckets I'm such a fan of! Then drill six or so holes in the bottom of the bucket, with a 3/8" drill bit.

Purchase a bag of chicken nipples, and use the threading tool included to make threads for the nipples to screw into your holes. Now wrap PTFE Thread Seal Tape around the ends. Screw the tip into the drilled hole, the tape will act as a water-tight seal. And presto!

Now all you have to do is find a place to hang it! We took a 4x4 and straddled pre-existing fence posts to start, screwing in a large 100lb rated hook for security! That board is easily relocated to their new coop, which has built-in nesting boxes, for easy access. 

You can also purchase chain link by the foot at your local hardware store, the pound rating will be on the tags of the chain, to lower the height of your water dispenser. 

It will take a couple days for the hens to figure out that's where the water comes from, but for 13 hens, it lasts 2 weeks! You can leave the top open to collect rainwater in the rainy season, or you can drill a hole in the lid with a hole saw, lid it, and stick a water heater in the hole for those icy months when water freezes quickly. The option of mostly lidding it also keeps dirt and feces out, because they will want to roost on it...silly hens!