We have built a good many things with the free lumber we received and have already shown the $30 shed, but before that we built two A-frame chicken coops. One was to keep and one to sell, though we ended up keeping them both!
And now one is for our male rabbit and one for a rooster.
As far as roosters go we have had two, not counting ones we have butchered.
The first was a wonderful bird. Extremely pretty, well behaved, crowing no more then was necessary.. Alas.. he got murdered by coons.. It was graphic, but not nearly as much so as the hen we lost the night before...
The second rooster was the firsts' son and it was horrible.
Constantly crowing. Nonstop.
And unlike the first, who had a type of mellow sweet crow, this one was like nails on a chalkboard. Never ceasing, even at night! But as we had hatched him ourselves, we tried our best to come to terms with it. Though it was not easy..
This one too is no longer with us. As time went on he became aggressive, until my wife could no longer get to his food and water safely. This too I tried to work with, caring for his food and water myself, until one morning he kicked me pretty good...
I couldn't believe this bird! We had incubated him, raised him with love and care, reluctantly put up with his ceaseless crowing night and day, only for him to turn on us like a rabid dog!! We had finally had enough... After which he got the bad end of a 38spl.
All this is but a back story into why we don't have a rooster right now even though we have a coop ready. I think next spring we will try raising a few more chickens with the hope of another well tempered rooster.
However the other A-Frame is going to be receiving a new inhabitant very soon.
Our rabbits are ready to breed, so its going to be a love shack for our male rabbit, once a few modifications are made.
In my free lumber pile (see 'Buried in Wood') was a great many 4x4s, so they comprise the majority of the frame.
I ripped them in half for both the bottom boards and top board. Then I ripped some into 1 1/2's for the ribs.
The rest is pallet wood. They're not super large, but the plan is to move them often, basically a chicken tractor. I believe we have around $15 in each and they're holding up well.
-'Digger'