Chicken Coop Finished with 100% Recycled Materials

I know it seems crazy that it would take me so many months to post completed coop photos, but it's been really icy and snowy and wet in Northern Texas until this past week. So without further adieu, here is our 100% recycled chicken coop, designed and built by my friend, and super talented artist James Curvan!

Below is the original drawing I gave to James as he began hunting down all of the recycled wood, tin, hardware and accessories for the coop. The structure is 5 feet deep and 10 feet wide. The coop, which houses the roosting bars and nesting boxes is 3'x5', and is located on the left side of the structure. The floor of the coop was installed as a drawer that pulls out for easy clean up. The entire front side of the coop opens up for easy access to the hens, their food and for cleaning.

Every piece of this coop was found and pieced together by James. He did a brilliant job puzzle-piecing the structure together. The nesting boxes have a drop down drawer so that my children can easily find our eggs. There is also storage below the boxes for feed, bedding and tools. 

The pen is comprised of old frames and screen doors that James backed with chicken wire and hardware cloth. The cupola on top of the roof is open to the coop and provides good ventilation for the birds at night. He also tucked some self-contained bird houses in the top!

One of my favorite parts about the run is that James faced them with interlinking film canisters. James' father-in-law was a producer for an old Dallas-based children's show called Mr. Peppermint. They used to show cartoons on the show and these are the film canisters from those reels! Again - totally brilliant. 

Next week, I'll have more photos for you because they'll be published as part of a coop tour for Houzz.com. So until then, here is a sweet shot of my son, Charlie, socializing with three of our hens.