Simple straw bale meat bird coop...

[big brown horse]

I got the idea from a book that I just got from the library on building chicken coops. I'm just going to stack straw bales into a 10 x 10-ish ft square, probably two bales high with wire mesh between them to keep the predators out. When I need to change the water or add feed I will just pull off a bale and lift the mesh up. This keeps me from having to make a door. I'm thinking it should last at least three years before becoming garden food. It can be dismantled after each batch of meaties to clean the deep litter out. (I will have to toss them grass to make up for not tractoring them around.)

I will also tarp one end for shelter from sun and rain.

The predators I have to worry about mainly are bald eagles, my yard is completely fenced in 5 foot fencing and I have dogs.


Any thoughts? (This is for 25 meat birds.)

 

[Wifezilla]

I use straw bales to keep the wind and snow out of the duck pen in the winter. You might not get three years out of a bale, but you can get two. How much do you think this would cost you?

 

[big brown horse]

I was thinking of checking freecycle and craigslist for unwanted/old/weathered bales first, straw or hay.

Also thinking about cutting costs by making it just one bale high and draping the wire mesh cover over the entire structure and tucking the ends under each bale to hold it down. If the bales are turned on their side, they are about 1 1/2 feet high. Is that high enough to keep them from stressing?

New straw bales are about 10 bucks each, I would need 8 min.

We have very mild weather here, do you think that would help with longevity? I also thought about lining them with thick plastic if I like the idea of raising meat birds. (I can even move them to a covered area after the dry season is over.)

I really don't want to have to make a structure out of wood if I don't have to.

 

[big brown horse]

Here I found it at $1 per bale! The drive isn't too far either. http://seattle.craigslist.org/oly/grd/2486605007.html

 

[TanksHill]

That's a great idea!!!

 

[big brown horse]

YEA!! Thanks!

 

[Beekissed]

How much are cattle or hog panels? You could construct a shelter from those for about 30-45 bucks that you could move easily to fresh grass. You could hang nipple waterers off them and even feeders more easily than you could with straw bale~also would make a sturdier structure. Cattle panels and zip ties are just the best inventions ever! They cut easily with a sawsall and bend easily into appropriate shapes, can be broke down quickly and stored flat for later use around the farm.

 

[Marianne]

I posted this on another thread, so sorry for the repeat, but! It might inspire some other thoughts.

I saw the coolest winter run that a gal made for her birds. She had the bales just one layer high, then arched sections of 2 x 4 welded wire fencing over the span between the bales. That gave a lot more headspace for the hens. Now I kind of remember that she bent the fencing so it went under the bales for support, too. She had plastic over the arch part so it was like a mini greenhouse in the winter for the hens. Unfortunately she didn't have much of a description of how she did it, but the picture from the inside was pretty cool.

Wouldn't something like that, minus the plastic, work? You could tarp part of it for shade. Might have to put some chicken wire over it depending on predators in your area (like weasels or something small that could walk through the fencing).

 

[TanksHill]

Hey Bee!!

Marianne what you just described is basically the perfect blend of Bee's livestock panel coop and the bale coop BBH wants to build. I can picture them both. If you were to arch the hog panel and then surround the bottom with the straw. It surly would add some insulation value.

what cool ideas you all have.

g

 

[freemotion]

How much are cattle or hog panels? You could construct a shelter from those for about 30-45 bucks that you could move easily to fresh grass. You could hang nipple waterers off them and even feeders more easily than you could with straw bale~also would make a sturdier structure. Cattle panels and zip ties are just the best inventions ever! They cut easily with a sawsall and bend easily into appropriate shapes, can be broke down quickly and stored flat for later use around the farm.

If you don't have a sawzall, bolt cutters work great! I love cattle panels. Most of my new gates are made with sections of them, lined with smaller-spaced fencing to keep the chickens out or to keep the goats from getting their silly heads stuck. I made a chicken tractor with two arched panels, with sections of panel cut for the front and back with a door. Lined with chicken netting. Worked great until a weasel dug in and massacred 7 of the 19. :/ It was great being able to move it every other day or so. I just put screw eyes in each corner of the bottom frame so I could snap a leadrope to it and give it a tug. I just put the leadrope around my butt and backed up slowly, watching for stuck chicks. I'd go back and forth between the two corners and it took me about two minutes to advance it to fresh grass. The chicks learned very quickly that there were bugs in the new grass and it was not a problem having chicks at the back of the tractor, getting squished, which was my initial worry.

If you cut cattle panels, though, get a file to smooth the cut edges. I was slicing my hands daily and didn't even know how, as it was like a paper cut, I didn't really feel it happening. Then I realized it was always when I went through the new gate in the goat weaning pasture. Five minutes with a file and the problem was solved.