Cheap Chicken Coop from Bed; part 3.

So hot--it was 101 degrees over Labor Day weekend.
Back to more chicken house construction! Another door from the dump was cut down and used for the back wall of the chicken house....all this while, I've been wondering if I should have made a small chicken door on the back side, but that was where I wanted to place nest boxes--along the low back wall. I painted and caulked this back wall piece, then topped it off with 2 x 4 scrap.

 I drug that pale aqua shelf thingy out the shed, (laying there in the grass), but it really didn't fit anywhere...Back it goes!  (I found it in the neighbors trash and painted it. I guess I'll use it in the garage.)

Next, pieces of old Masonite were tacked to the sides—I used the papery cloth I tore from the mattress support for a pattern before I actually sawed these boards. I still sorta messed up the sides—wishing I would have leveled off the entire head and footboard and gotten rid of those curves. I should have just sawed them straight across when the whole bed frame was apart and the entire project would of been much easier. 2 x 4 side supports are added at the top to support the roof and the Masonite.

 There's door framing scrap board (nails removed!) across the top front and a 2 x 2 behind it. This seems pretty sturdy. Did I mention that the original bunk bed was not ‘square’ at all?! Some of the wood pieces were slightly warped—right out of the kit. That always irritated me…I didn’t even bother using a level for this chicken house—I mean it’s just for chickens, right? So all parts are ‘eyeballed’!  More 2 x 4s were attached from the high front to the low back--I needed something to attach that Masonite to, plus it will support the roof. I did remember to cut the angles at each end before I screwed it in place! I guess I already mentioned that, huh!? Here's a piece of the outer wall plywood, which I added the next day.
More to come!

I next decided to make some shutters to hide the  hardware cloth windows. I used the free hinges, scrap wood/old thick paneling scrapwood pilfered at the dump. They raise up and I plan on using eye hooks or bungee cord to hold them up on hot summer days and nights. These were also painted, then screwed on.

Twin Bed Chicken Coop--Nearly Free!

Alright folks, I am a scrounger. A finder of treasures and a keeper of assorted junk. Out on a walk one day, I had a friend slap a rusty washer out of my hand because I “didn’t need any more crap”! Now, I’ve been inside a hoarder’s home years ago, so I do my best to NOT get myself into that state. But I’m also an art teacher and I appreciate a good find, recycled objects, and anything with an old texture. It’s fun to make something from nothing!

Here’s a brief ‘tutorial’ on how to make a (nearly) free chicken coop…

My son had the bottom half of a wooden bunk bed upstairs AND a wooden futon. Needing to get rid of one (in order to store 2 recently acquired dressers!), I opted to take apart the twin wooden bed. Once apart, I hauled the pieces to the back yard.

First, I decided to staple in some hail screen. I'd bought a couple items at a garage sale across the street and the nice lady threw in a partial roll of hardware cloth for free. I also had some window screen in the garage, but it wasn't as coon-proof or sturdy.

 

Thinking that the length of a twin bed might be too long for my yard, 16” were cut off the side pieces and then I screwed it back together; pre-drilling seems to work better for me, so I pre-drilled almost everything. I had a box of long screws and a box of drywall screws from other projects.  I then screwed the left-over pieces to the ‘back’ of my envisioned chicken house, standing them on end to form a low wall.

More to come! http://diederichtrashcraft.blogspot.com/2015/09/chicken-house-from-twin-bed-diy.html