Western Belle Repurposed Truck Chicken Coop

As part of this cool coop design series I’m always on the hunt for folks who have used their imagination and the materials at hand to come up with something creative and economical.

Taylor and her husband Brandon are 4th generation farmers. In Maryland, they took over her family’s 450 acre farm of row crops and a pumpkin patch business.  Recently relocated to small town West, Texas, they now have 78 acres with three tiny Airbnb rental homes and offer Sunflower and Pumpkin Festivals to the public.

---

We left our coop and chickens at our old farm for the buyers as it was easier than moving them across the country. We currently only have 10 birds: eight Cinnamon Queens and two Silkies. Our goal is to add some Easter Eggers soon.

As a part of our festival business, we are always trying to be creative when adding something to our farm. We originally had plans for a simple shed style coop that allowed visitors to walk into a portion to see inside the coop and learn about the chickens and the purpose of a coop. The whole concept grew when we got this old 1957 Chevy 6400 truck by chance.  

A customer was at the farm and mentioned he would sell it to us, but by the time we called he had already sold the farm. The new owner said we could have it if we came to drag it out of the woods. We lucked out as we have two other old trucks that, unfortunately, we had to pay a pretty penny for.

We honestly didn’t have plans or really anything to work from other than a simple sketch I drew based on what I envisioned in my head. Brandon had the challenging job of finding the design flaws and bringing my initial concept to life. He, and my brother Hunter, built the coop over the period of a week.

We probably spent around $3,000 in materials and that does NOT include the cost of the truck. It was free believe it or not, but wasn’t easy to get because it was buried in the woods. We had to cut down multiple trees and drag it out, which took them a solid day.

The coop is about 7’ x 5’ and the run on the bed of the truck is the same. Their outdoor run is 15’x15’

Features

• Automatic door (don’t cheap out on one. We did and lost three chickens due to malfunctions)
• Four nest boxes
• Tree branches used as roost bars

We plan to spruce up the space with some landscaping.

---

Thanks to Taylor and Brandon Huffman for sharing their story and photos, used with permission. Good luck with Western Belle Farm.