Hey.... Lets keep Chickens..!

Gigervamp

A wendy house will be fine. You'll need to put in a couple of roosting bars, (a piece of 2x1 with the edges rounded) a pop hole and a couple of nesting boxes (I've seen buckets turned on their sides being used as nesting boxes).

janibrown

Hi I am really wanting to keep chickens in my back garden and have been
looking into it for around a year so I would not just go rushing into it.
The price of chicken coops to buy are so expensive and I was wondering if anyone has built their own ?
My husband can get a load of wooden pallets for free and I was thinking at having a go at building one myself
If you have built your own could you please share any tips with me please I am not too bad at woodwork as I fit all our own doors, skirting etc etc but never built a house for an animal/bird before and would want it to be right as it would be outside It would need to be water tight, I would need to buy some ashfelt for the roof and some preservative for the wood, which kind would I need
Any tips would be Great
Many Thanks
Janice

mardatha

I know there's sites telling you how to do it Jani, and I bet somebody will have done it themselves and come in and tell you how

Gigervamp

The problem with roofing felt is that it makes a great hiding place for red mite, so it's best to avoid using it. You can buy Onduline which is a corrugated roofing material often used on chicken coops, or you can use external or marine ply.

I've never made a coop, but there are loads of sites online with plans and instructions, especially American sites. The Americans also call chicken coops chicken tractors, so a search using those terms will bring up more.

littlechezza

Gigervamp wrote: »

A wendy house will be fine. You'll need to put in a couple of roosting bars, (a piece of 2x1 with the edges rounded) a pop hole and a couple of nesting boxes (I've seen buckets turned on their sides being used as nesting boxes).

Thanks for that, just wanted to ask what is the pop hole

steady__eddie

I have used this corrugated kit before and it does exactly what it says on the tin. I have also recycled a metal length of corrugated sheeting which I liberated from an Anderson shelter, (oops that's given my age away) and used it as the roof on the run. I hinged it at the roost end which enabled me to prop it up when I felt energetic enough to dig the run over. It made a bit of a racket though during heavy rainfall.
With hindsight, I shudder to think how many sleepness nights the fowl suffered during the rainy season.

Gigervamp

littlechezza wrote: »

Thanks for that, just wanted to ask what is the pop hole

It's the little door that the chickens use. Here's a picture.

Gigervamp

Here's an article on converting a basic garden shed into a chicken coop. I'll be doing this when we move the chickens into the field.

Mojisola

It doesn't have to be a pop hole - you can make a hinged door with a catch on it.

If you google - plans chicken coop, you'll get plenty of ideas. Decide how many girls you're going to have and make a house of the appropriate size.

mardatha

This is a really nice friendly thread. People are alway so helpful