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The Outhouse Coop

May 14th, 2013

We had this little outhouse in the new triangle garden area. Since we decided to get Dailon his own flock of laying hens, we needed a coop for them. We also wanted to use the chickens to work up the soil in that area.
Triangle Garden 3
Dailon got to work turning the outhouse into a little coop. He gutted the building, rebuilt the back wall with salvaged lumber and built exterior nesting boxes with outside access.
new outhouse coop 2
new outhouse coop 5
new outhouse coop 1
The inside was whitewashed to freshen it up and roosts were made from trees and a new coop was born, for only a few dollars.  It’s not posh and polished like many coops you see, but for the money we spent it’s a bargain – and it certainly has it’s own charm and history!
new outhouse coop 4
outhouse coop 2
outhouse coop 1
At the moment, we’ve putting our main flock of chickens in the fenced in area to keep them out of the edible gardens until my new fence arrives. They’re doing a great job of working up the soil already. No doubt, Dailon’s flock of Golden Comets will be happy hens in this new rustic coop.

Have you repurposed anything in the garden recently?

15 Comments to “The Outhouse Coop”
  1. Marina C on May 14, 2013 at 6:38 am

    My old mail box!
    My friend Pat gave me the idea to attach it at the end of a raised bed. It is a perfect place to keep a few hand tools, and to keep one’s phone, if like me you have kids or an older Mom for whom you should be available.
    This way, the phone won’t be watered by accident… I have done that before!

    Reply to Marina C's comment

  2. Grannie M on May 14, 2013 at 6:59 am

    Do you have to clip the chickens’ wings to keep them from flying over electric poultry fencing?

    Reply to Grannie M's comment

    • Susy on May 14, 2013 at 4:18 pm

      Our chickens stay inside the fence without issue. Every now and then they accidentally pop out under the fence if they create a dust bathing area too near the edge.

      Reply to Susy's comment

  3. Adelina Anderson on May 14, 2013 at 7:11 am

    That looks so far off into the wooded area. Do you have problems with any preditors going after your chickens?

    I think that is the one thing that is really stopping me from getting chickens. I certainly wouldn’t want to tangle with the foxes or bobcats.

    Reply to Adelina Anderson's comment

  4. Adriana on May 14, 2013 at 7:40 am

    We are replacing our little hoop house with a bigger one, so we turned the little one into the new chicken tractor for the meat chickens. We also have an old truck cap that will house the new layer chicks when they are ready to go outside. Make do with what you have :)

    Reply to Adriana's comment

    • Henry Bush on May 14, 2013 at 8:33 am

      Repurposing seems to be theme around our house. In addition to those mentioned by Adriana above we repurposed an old galvanized sap tank from a neighbor (recieved in trade for chainsaw work) as out brooder. Our new duck house is entirely constructed from salvaged lumber (Dunnage planks from where I work and old hemlock siding from the house). The tank that we soak our mushroom logs in is the bottom half of an old manure spreader that was first used as a sistern to catch rain water. I always find it very rewarding to build something from the cast offs from a previous project.

      Reply to Henry Bush's comment

  5. Annie on May 14, 2013 at 7:47 am

    Oh I build with a lot of reclaimed stuff! A good bit of my chicken coop is reclaimed; the framing, some siding, the windows etc. and the metal gates to my garden are all reclaimed materials and the cold frame. I consider it a challenge to find old crap and turn it into something nice.

    Reply to Annie's comment

  6. Robin on May 14, 2013 at 7:49 am

    My old mailbox is going to be placed on a stand in the veggie garden as storage for my hand tools.

    My first coop was a repurposed outhouse. The chickens don’t know the difference, they’re just happy to have a place to roost and lay eggs. Our current coop was a cabin no longer being used by friends. I might have a “real” coop next time.

    Reply to Robin's comment

  7. judym on May 14, 2013 at 9:09 am

    Good job, Dailon! And Golden comets no less! They are fun. We’ve repurposed & reused a lot of things. Just recently, we put some railing on the front porch of the chicken house. We used pallet wood (free) and old wood windows for both sections ($5 ea). Turned out nice (be even better when the whole thing’s painted!) and for $10 you just can’t beat that price. Next, we will salvage the back of our broken bench. Hoping to hang that up and use it and use it for hanging plants. Special thanks to our 10 yr old grandson for helping build the second section for the porch. He had a blast!

    Reply to judym's comment

  8. Sierra N Hampl on May 14, 2013 at 11:11 am

    I love it! As long as we can convince my father-in-law to clear his junk out of one of our out-buildings, we will convert that into a chicken coop.

    Reply to Sierra N Hampl's comment

  9. Margie Clyde on May 14, 2013 at 12:31 pm

    Golden Comets- a good choice! I have a flock of 19 and am extremely happy with them-they even laid good through the winter. Have Fun! I enjoy reading your blog-thanks.

    Reply to Margie Clyde's comment

  10. Joan on May 14, 2013 at 6:11 pm

    My chicken coop is a twice-repurposed tool shed that belonged to my grandfather, so it’s special to me. First it was his toolshed. He was a beekeeper and when he got too old to garden he put a window in the shed right next to the beehive, and would sit in there watching his bees. The window space is now our outside door into the nest box.

    Reply to Joan's comment

  11. Jay on May 14, 2013 at 6:50 pm

    Ha – that is great. My in-laws raise chickens and love doing it. My only question is – if the chickens live in the outhouse, where do they use the restroom?

    Reply to Jay's comment

  12. ANdrea on May 15, 2013 at 9:19 am

    So cute!! And a bargain :)

    Reply to ANdrea's comment

  13. Erin M on June 2, 2013 at 11:52 pm

    Your chickens and the new coop are so beautiful!! Just found your blog. I’m loving it.

    Reply to Erin M's comment

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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