Upcycled/repurposed projects (MANY)

frustratedearthmother said:

That's cool! But, forgive me because I'm gonna be a girl and ask this question. I know it says it's "fossil fuel free" so is that a battery system that turns the sprocket and chain to help propel it?

Click to expand...

That's a legit question (for girl or boy). I originally dashed-off the post saying it was "non-motorized" but actually the minimal verbal description on the page says it's non fossil-fuel. I'd say, the chain and sprockets may indicate a power assist - or a power brake mechanism, useful if it was parked on inclined ground.

I've wondered if it's maybe compressed-air assisted (there's what appears to be a tank there)? Electric is a possibility, but wouldn't account for that tank.

In any case, it's the overall design - adventurous in itself - that impressed me.

This year I tweaked my coop to be bigger, more easily battened down for cold weather and also to have more light in the winter months. Last year's severe weather taught me a lot about the short comings of my original design of my hoop coop~it was too dark, too dank, too small. I also changed the nest boxes so that I had more and so they were on the interior of the coop. With the addition of another hoop, I also had to brace the roof in case of heavy snows, so door frames were changed from 2x2 to 2x4, a 2x4 runs the length of the coop under the arch of the roof and I have bracing on each end and left the original bracing in the middle.

I also added a dog house on the back using pallets and the scrap lumber, as well as the old tin. The pallets are stuffed to the max with old hay for insulation.

I bought minimal materials..a few 2x4s, another cattle panel, more zip ties, and a clear tarp. The rest of the build was found here on the place or scrounged for free other places. Hinges, old tin and wood scraps from homes we owned more than 25 yrs ago. I even used an antique glass door knob I had been saving for many a long year, that I had bought at a yard sale. I bought little glass drawer pulls for the nest boxes to match the doorknob.

All the wood was old, tough, small lengths and different sizes from old packing crates, old fences, etc, so the coop has a hodge podge look to it...but I love that! It was like putting together a puzzle to try and fit them all in and also accommodate the curve of the hoop framework.

Here's the before....



And the after..... I left strategic little gaps here and there at all levels to make up some of my ventilation. Other areas of ventilation are adjustable to the max. With the roosting at the back now and my open areas in the front, this coop sort of works like a Wood's style coop now, so even with half the front door left open to air and some spaces over the shutters, it stays warm and toasty in there.



The other tarps were here already and were cut to fit certain areas of the coop. The feed bag rain flaps are a repurpose I especially like..they keep the rain from blowing into the access doors of my nest boxes. I still need to sew the curtain for the top half of the front door.



The new roosts can all be accessed by standing in the middle...I can reach any bird from there. The back windows can be opened for more ventilation in the summer and the clear tarp will be changed out for a shadier one come spring and the flaps will still be lifted then. Directly behind the roosts is a large window that can be opened as well, so the roosting area has three large windows that will be open in the warmer months.



The clear tarp lets in natural light and sun and changed the whole feel of the coop...wish I had done this all along! This pic shows the new scrapped up nest boxes with cedar logs helping the birds get into the nests, a new work station and tool box on top of the nest boxes, along with a light that I repurposed from an old heat lamp wire and a new ceramic light fixture..even the chain pull on that light was repurposed from an old ceiling fan we had. The areas directly above the nest boxes can be opened further to let in air.



The shutters over the nest boxes are hinged and drop open, held in place with 550 cord, as were the nest box doors.



This pic is far away, but you can see the additional hoop on the back has windows that can be propped open and I've used the short scraps of lumber to make lap siding on the hoop to comprise solid walls. You can just see the corner of the dog house porch that extends out over the back pop door. The windows are just frames of wood with clear heavy mil plastic stapled in.



I love the new atmosphere in the coop and I love the cheery new color. The dog house is wonderful as well...I can open the back of it up completely, as I hinged the pallet to swing open for cleaning of the house. It's so warm in there that some temporarily new chickens were sleeping in there instead of the coop(they've since been butchered, so Jake got his house back).

His house is insulated with tightly packed hay in the floor, the ceiling and all walls, except the wall that he shares with the coop. He has a wind block wall on his porch so the wind doesn't blow into his house or into the coop through the pop door there. The house was then filled with a cedar shavings floor covered with a lot of straw for making a cozy nest. The door was covered with a thick flap of material and it also has a solid wood door I can close when he doesn't use the house in the summer months...this will keep the hens from laying eggs in there.

This is a pic of his new house before we painted the coop and doghouse roof. We bent the edges of the old tin roof down with a hammer so that no sharp edges could harm anyone walking by and brushing up against it.



The back wall of the dog house is hinged and fastens tightly closed when shut.




So...there you have it. My big fat coop tweak of the year using repurposed items, scraps of this or that from many years of collecting and saving useful things.

Oh...and I also built a broody/mating/brood/holding pen using pallets and the old nest boxes taken out of the coop during the tweak. This is where I now brood chicks, keep broodies, mating trios, and keep birds awaiting processing.





None of it's pretty, but it didn't cost anything either, so that makes it pretty to me.

That old tire in the pic keeps my communal water pan up out of the dust and litter, makes it a good height for the dog, the chickens can stand on the tire and get a drink...even the little ones, and it seems to keep my water cooler also. It also helps me level the pan on a slanted surface, so I can fill it more full. Another neat repurpose!

I'm sure I missed something...I repurpose so many things. Oh...remembered one more... I made a feed trough from Dad's old miter box and some scrap lumber for the feet. Also made a mini feeder from scrap lumber and covered it with some fencing attached with zip ties to make a chick feeder for FF.



I'm sure there is more but that's all I can remember tonight. Been doing construction all year on this or that, using mostly repurposed things...that's sort of my "thing"~to try and make something without spending any money to make it.

Looks nice.

That is a great re-purposing project! It looks like you addressed a lot of the shortcomings I've seen in pre-made coops around here, as well.

Wow! Quite an accomplishment. "big fat coop tweak" LOL

Experience, imagination, rolled-up-sleeves effort... all those ingredients work magic on repurposed and basic materials. What do you mean it's not pretty? Stepping back a little bit for a view or a pic - looks good to me.

Thanks for posting this, Bee.

YW! I'm loving this coop now, though there are some things I am going to change in the spring when I change out the tarp for warm weather. I lost some head room when I put the extra bracing under the arch, so I'm going to change that bracing to give me back my head space.

Also changing the feed and water platform and making it higher.

I guess coop tweaks never stop, do they? For now, this is my favorite one of all and the red of the paint has calmed down and mellowed out to look like a little mini barn, which is what I wanted.

I also have to work on the spare pen to increase efficiency by adding a way to divide it into two brooders, to add more roosting and to make a door that can open from the outside so I can fill the feeder without going inside. Also need to work on the net window above the gate to make it more secure than it currently is.

Always something to do that can make things better!

This guy made a generator from a small single-cylinder engine and an alternator, that tested-out as delivering 39 amps of power. The essential components were all re-used (lawnmower engine, GM car alternator, auto battery, pulleys, cables, etc). He tells how he built it and tested it, and he gives wiring diagrams. He says it can power home entertainment, lighting, and cooking.

http://theepicenter.com/tow082099.html

DH says the tricky part would be getting a useable alternator? I've already put this on his honeydew list.

Here's a simple project, well described and illustrated. The guy made a useful mallet from parts of an old hardwood chair.

https://atelierdubricoleur.wordpres...ir-leg-to-mallet-de-pied-de-chaise-a-maillet/

That's pretty cool! Some people just have a knack for looking at one thing and seeing how to turn it into something totally different.