So excited to be starting off on my first chicken adventure. Just finished the coop and got the girls out of the house for this unseasonably warm spring weather. When designing and building my coop my main goals were to make it cute, to make it cheap, and to be functional. I got most of my materials from used material places, craigslist, dumpsters (they're building a new house 2 doors down), junk piles, etc.
The whole coop ended up costing about $65.
Budget breakdown:
Lumber: $12 - I had some 2X4's, salvaged some from the construction dumpster, hit up the Home Depot Cull lumber bin (discounted 60% due to damage or warping), and the Lowe's scrap cans (they sell already cut pieces for $.25/ea)
Hinges: $10 - Got the 4 large hinges from ebay. Others I had laying around.
Latches: $12 - Lowes. Probably the only thing I didn't get discounted or free
Chicken wire: Free from my mother-in-law's stash. We don't have many predators around here, and others who have used chicken wire instead of hardware cloth in this area have been fine.
Roof: $2 Habitat for humanity Re-Store. I think its actually industrial shelves.
Caulking: $5 Lowes
Screws: $10 Home Depot
Shed Siding: $12 Lowes - One corner was damaged so it was marked down from $25 to $12
Ropes: Free, had around
Glass for windows: $2 - $1/each Dollar store picture frames
Floor: Free- we had some extra vinyl fencing so I hooked 4 panels together and cut them to shape for the floor. Should make for easy clean out.
I grabbed a few pictures for inspiration and then drew out plans in Adobe Illustrator. I'm a graphic designer, so I'm most familiar with that program.
The frame. I used a kreg jig for most of the joints. It was much easier to paint it before adding the chicken wire or walls.
And… the finished product!
The egg box door opens on the end for easy cleaning. There is a removable lip so the bedding doesn't fall out every time you open it.
The entire back of the coop opens for easy cleaning. The entire lower section also opens and latches up for free roaming during the day.
They're still young so I'm turning on the heat lamp for them at night.
The two windows have a pane of glass that slides out. Sunlight but cozy during the winter, and light and veneration during the summer.
The side roof by the egg box opens up to access the food and water easily.
The ramp has a rope pull to close up the ramp if we ever need to move the coop around or keep the girls upstairs for any other reason. It hooks down below to keep it up. I also added rope handles for moving the coop around. Its quite heavy, but can be moved by two adults.
The girls are growing up so fast!
Message me if you'd like a high res version of the plans or have any questions.
