Have you thought about building a chicken coop, but held off because you didn’t know anything about what kind of material to use, how to put the material together to make the coop or because you thought it might cost more than you wanted to spend? Here are some free chicken coop instructions!
Building a chicken coop doesn’t have to dent your bank account at all and some of the best things in life are still free. To keep down the cost of building a coop, the material you use can be anything that will provide shelter. We actually built one of our coops with materials that we salvaged by tearing down someones coop for them.
Go to a lumberyard or an area where new homes are being built. Ask if you can have the scrap pieces of lumber they’re not going to use. Yes, many lumberyards and home construction companies actually throw unused wood away. Not only could you get the material free, but you’d help keep the scrap wood out of the landfills.
While you’re at the home construction site, ask if you can have any leftover shingles, too. Most of these end up in the garbage as well. Some cities have a waste exchange program where members can exchange or buy good, secondhand items that would normally end up as trash.
For the chicken roosts, you can either nail up wood such as a two by four or two by two or use small tree branches nailed in place. Don’t build the roosting perches directly above where you’ll need to reach in to gather eggs (for smaller coops) or where you’ll walk in (for larger coops). We have some bunk bed ladders as extra roosting areas in our coops. Just put them at an angle.
For the windows, you can find old windows that aren’t suitable for a house but are perfect for a coop at some thrift stores. The first thing you need to do is to build the frame for the walls and floor.
The frame and size of the walls depend on how large or small you want your chicken coop. The front and back wall of the coop are usually longer and the sides smaller. Secure the walls and frame to the flooring.
The materials used to build coop can be old wood boards or plywood if you don’t have enough boards. Once the building is complete and the perches are in place, install the nesting boxes. Inside the boxes, place straw for the eggs. With these free chicken coop instructions, you’ll be on your way to enjoying your new chickens fast!
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Great idea! It works in my neighborhood, right in the heart of the ‘burb!