Tag Archives: building a turkey coop

Completion of a Turkey Coop!

1 Reply

Cassie and I worked all day yesterday to get the turkey coop painted using up the existing paint we had on hand, framing/cutting out the windows and putting up the final touches including the trim.  It was a pretty long day, we started working ~9am and didn’t finish until around 4 in the afternoon.

Again, a lot of time working on the coop has been spent reusing old materials which adds a lot of work but saves a lot of money.  In the end it is worth it to us.

Turkey Coop Finished (2)

We built this coop to have a similar design to our chicken coop as that design has worked out well.  This coop has a screen door to add a bit more airflow and we didn’t have an extra door laying around. There is also a trap door on the floor of this coop so that we can someday enclose the base with chicken wire and have the turkeys raise their poults underneath without fear of the hawks.  They will still need to sleep in the coop due to rats, but they will have space to dust bathe in and peck around.

We used materials from the wood house’s deck as that deck will be replaced with new lumber, and I even grabbed T-111 sheets from the upstairs bedroom.  The paint for the turkey coop was leftover from painting our cabana and the blue trim leftover from the chicken coop.  All in all we spent less than $100 on the new coop.  In new materials we estimate it would have cost close to $1000 which would have been waaayyy too much for us to spend on a coop.

Paint makes such a difference.  We know this as we have done many a remodel project but yet it still amazes us.  Before painting the coop it looked like a true to life hillbilly shack complete with a hillbilly.
BK Turkey Coop

The Turkeys are now moved in which is great because they are growing fast and have outgrown the turkey cage/tractor we had them in.  They were having to crouch to get around and there wasn’t adequate space to keep a full size feeder and waterer so we were having to check on them multiple times a day.  The coop will not only make the turkeys happier but also will be less work.

Turkey Coop Chicken Coop
Space Between (click to enlarge)

We left quite a bit of tree nursery space between the two coops.  We haven’t ever raised turkeys so we actually weren’t too sure how much space if any was needed.  It is possible to have them co-exist in the same coop but there are chicken to turkey diseases that can be transmitted.

We are happy with the results and figure for a turkey coop, the turkeys have a pretty nice crib.
Turkey Coop Finished

What do you think of this post?
  • WOW (2)
  • Awesome (5)
  • Interesting (1)
  • Useful (0)
  • Bummer (0)
  • Whoa (0)

Progression of a Turkey Coop

Leave a reply

The turkeys are getting bigger and bigger and definitely outgrowing the little turkey/chicken tractor. It is a lot more work to repurpose materials than it is to just go out and buy them, so it has taken a bit longer than we anticipated to finish.

Turkeys
Turkeys watching as the coop walls are being made

First Britton pulled the boards off the deck, then he had to powerwash them and sort which ones were usable. He had to take out all the old nails and saw off any bad parts and chop them to the proper size.

Turkey Coop
Britton and a turkey coop wall

We still had to buy a few pieces of wood as well as the roofing material. Then we were able to build the walls and the roof. Today, we are working on sourcing some of the old T-111 siding from the wood house. Then we will be installing it, building a door, putting on the wire as well as building a trap door and under area. So we still have a ways to go, but our goal is to finish it by this weekend if possible.

Turkey Coop (2)

In other news, the egg machine has started production! Just when our spirits were the lowest after the dog attack on the chickens, we found our first little white egg and then the next day a green egg! We are super excited to eat our own eggs. After the trials and tribulations of getting all these birds to adulthood, it tastes like victory.

First Egg

What do you think of this post?
  • WOW (0)
  • Awesome (7)
  • Interesting (1)
  • Useful (0)
  • Bummer (0)
  • Whoa (0)

Start of a Turkey Coop and End of a Deck

1 Reply

We had wavered a little on whether or not to build a turkey coop. After all, we have a pretty kickass chicken coop that is about 70 square feet. A few turkeys should be able to fit pretty well, right?

Turkey face
Hey, where’s my coop?

Well, we have learned a lot more about raising birds and we have found that they are rather territorial and since these birds weren’t raised together, it could be quite the task to try and cohabitate them. Plus, there are some diseases that chickens can transmit to turkeys, so we decided to go ahead and build them a coop.

Another factor in our wavering was the cost. To build a coop similar to the chickens’ from new wood would probably cost a good thousand dollars. We didn’t have another deck bathroom to remove so what should we do? We talked about bamboo, a hoop house, just a covered run until they were bigger and could sleep in the trees…None of these choices sounded like the right one.

House before

Then one day as we were discussing it, I looked up at the wood house and said, “Well, aren’t we planning on removing the deck and building a new one anyway? If we are going to spend $1000+ on wood shouldn’t it be on OUR structure instead of the turkeys?” And so that is when the turkey coop decision was finally made.

Britton started by removing the bars from the window on the part of the deck that he would be dismantling. From the inside it is pretty hard to get at because it is right over the stairwell. There is a little hatch that folds over to stand on over the stairs in order to reach the window. Sometimes we feel like the house is more a big boat than a house!

Window board over stair

Next, he started to take apart the deck itself. This process took a bit of time, but wasn’t too complicated.

BK on Deck
Removing the deck on a gorgeous day

Once the wood was on the ground we were able to sort out which pieces would work and which were too far gone. Some of them are aesthetically worn down, but will still function in a coop. It is pretty amazing, actually how well this deck has stood up to the time and weather. It is probably about 25 years old and hasn’t had any maintenance done on it in at least 15! And yet, here it still stood! At least until we got our hands on it!

Britton and pile o wood
Cleaning and powerwashing the boards

The next phase was choosing a site and starting the base once more. The turkey coop will be similar in style and construction to the chicken coop, but just down the hill a ways more.

Cassie at the coop site 1At the coop site!

Another end brings yet another beginning. We are looking forward to saying, “So long, deck and hello, turkey coop!”

House without a deck
The house with half its deck removed

What do you think of this post?
  • WOW (1)
  • Awesome (6)
  • Interesting (2)
  • Useful (0)
  • Bummer (0)
  • Whoa (0)