Log cabin for chickens?

fishhead · #1 09/27/12, 11:03 AM

I was thinking yesterday that given the high price of plywood now it might be good to look at alternative methods of building a secure and insulated chicken coop.

Has anyone here ever built a coop out of small logs?

It's easy to come by small (4-6") aspen or pine here and they are light enough to handle easily so though why not use them to build a coop. If a person wanted you could build it double walled and insulate between the walls with blown in cellulose or packed cattail leaves. If you were really ambitious you could use cattail fluff but that could leave you looking like a ball of fluff.

7thswan · #2 09/27/12, 11:29 AM

Not a coop, but an addition out of logs on a log cabin. Chickens would pick at catail fluff. You could use a mix of sawdust and cement to make chinking.

meanwhile · #3 09/27/12, 11:55 AM

We built a small dog/cat house out of "slabs" or some people call them "skins" - it is the cut off part when they saw a log. We had a huge pile of the slabs and we used them to make a small house that was for the dogs and cats. It has a heat bulb inside a clay flue to heat it. The dogs used the bottom part and the cats were in the loft. I will try to find a photo. It held up good for about 7 years.

fishhead · #4 09/27/12, 12:06 PM

The fluff or other insulation would be between the two walls and sealed away from chickens or mice.

I've seen a few building and fences made from slabs.

FarmboyBill · #5 09/27/12, 12:37 PM

How u gonna seal anything away from mice made outa logs?

Why not build your double wall and fill the inside with dirt. Make a good insulator. maybe do the roof with logs tight together and dirt/sod ontop of that?. If single roofed, id make it longer than wide.

fishhead · #6 09/27/12, 01:00 PM

The logs would have to be squared up on 2 sides. I thought that could be done by running a chain saw between them once they are in place with the space left by the cut kept separated as the saw made it's cut with some wedges. That would be done once you had them roughed into shape by eyeball.

Bearfootfarm · #7 09/27/12, 03:02 PM

It's really sort of pointless to insulate a coop since ventilation is more important than warmth.
Chickens WEAR their insulation

goatlady · #8 09/27/12, 03:06 PM

All depends of where your chickens live BFF. In Western SD it would be -20 for days and days not counting wind chill, so you betcha my chicken coop was insulated and when really cold, slightly heated! Same with the goat barn. No insulation = dead or stressed animals.

fishhead · #9 09/27/12, 03:41 PM

We've kept them in an uninsulated coop at -45 F but there were enough chickens in the coop to keep it abover 0 F. The eggs would freeze by afternoon if we missed any.

ai731 · #10 09/27/12, 05:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FarmboyBill

How u gonna seal anything away from mice made outa logs?

My chickens EAT mice!

Ravenlost · #11 09/27/12, 08:27 PM

I don't see why it wouldn't work. My chickens lived in an oversized cardboard TV box that sat on a pallet and was topped with an old kiddie pool for over a year...even weathered two heavy snows (which were unusual for my area) the winter they lived in it.

nc_mtn · #12 09/28/12, 09:02 AM

I've seen some old 19 century farms that had log chicken coops. They weren't chinked and didn't look like they ever were. Most were pretty small compared to a building. Only 6' long or so, and every one of them I would have had to duck to get into.

unregistered168043 · #13 09/28/12, 09:07 AM

Of course it will work...its a shelter, they're chickens. They need very little beyond basic secure housing and a little food/water.

Nette · #14 09/28/12, 01:41 PM

My chickens are in a log building that's over 100 years old. Has worked pretty well.

Log cabin for chickens? - Homesteading Questions

This used to be the old biddy house. There are windows (or what's left of windows!) on the other side. I knocked out the rock where the flue used to be and that's the door to the run you can see at the rear.

Plowpoint · #15 09/28/12, 05:43 PM

I think it would work as well.

The one thing about log buildings are their thermal mass. They only have an R-Factor of 1 per inch of thickness, BUT once heated, they retain that heat. For a 4 inch log, you would get a R-Factor of only 4 (roughly) but with a heat lamp or a incandescent bulb, you could keep it heated pretty easily.

Another form of insulation is sheeps wool. With the current prices it is worthless and for the second straight year I have dumped mine out in the woods, and I talked to many others who have as well. You can mix that with borax (Mule Team 20) and make the wool resistant to mice.

I have done a lot of things over the years that people said I could not do and got away with it. Go for it...

fireweed farm · #16 09/29/12, 01:34 AM

Something to consider is mites and possibly other parasites. More nooks/crannies means more hiding places for them, it would be tough doing a thorough cleaning.

solidwoods · #17 09/29/12, 07:32 AM

Cordwood construction is easy, uses light weight pieces and the thick walls are good insulation. Whichever I built, I'd build it on a concrete slab and keep the bottom course far from the ground. Maybe slab with 1 concrete block on top, then wall on top of that.
If you really want to spoil the chickens you could use a treated wood on the bottom of the wall.
jim

fishhead · #18 09/29/12, 07:52 AM

Wool must be the only thing to have gone down in price. That's too bad. I would think there must be some kind of market.

I thought a person could spray the walls with something to seal it and protect it from rot. Maybe a whitewash?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Plowpoint

I think it would work as well.

The one thing about log buildings are their thermal mass. They only have an R-Factor of 1 per inch of thickness, BUT once heated, they retain that heat. For a 4 inch log, you would get a R-Factor of only 4 (roughly) but with a heat lamp or a incandescent bulb, you could keep it heated pretty easily.

Another form of insulation is sheeps wool. With the current prices it is worthless and for the second straight year I have dumped mine out in the woods, and I talked to many others who have as well. You can mix that with borax (Mule Team 20) and make the wool resistant to mice.

I have done a lot of things over the years that people said I could not do and got away with it. Go for it...

charged · #19 09/29/12, 08:55 AM

Why not make a coop out of straw bales. Insulating qualities inherent in them. Plus cheap. Put a couple of 2 by 4's over the top and slap a tarp on it and you're good to go.

fishhead · #20 09/29/12, 11:18 AM

I was just daydreaming the other day and was trying to think of building materials that could be collected on my future property.

I would expect that the chickens would spend many satisfying hours picking the bales apart.