Gypsy chicken coop – The build
I have a habit of making projects bigger then they need be. The gypsy wagon coop is probably one of the best examples. But like everything else it was fun I learned some important lessons.
Draw up your coop and be detailed
I model up things all the time a good percentage of my job is drawing, and I know the value of good plans. If you cannot draw it you are unlikely to be able to build it. Take time and be detailed. Some people can build anything right out of their head but most people can’t so draw it up. I actually printed cutting patterns and over lays. People pay big bucks for good plans so put in the time.
Dream big but not too big.
I did not do this so well this time. Your plans need to match your budget and the materials you plan to use. My budget was 300$. I came in at about that but used a lot of left over materials and cut back my design to fit my budge. Two of biggest problems for me on this build were warped wood and bad tires. They were two areas that I cut back on and both cost me huge in time and quality. If I do another one I will budget more for better quality lumber, and get the nice tires.
The build itself
It was AWSOME even with the warped lumber. I learned some new tools like the nail gun, I love the nail gun. Over all though I had good plans so everything built pretty fast. I ended up stopping short of my grand design, but that was fine with me. I have good working coop that is fun and attractive. Also towards the end I got the entire family in on it and that was fun.
It has been a season now, and the coop has done great
erieforage 