better to buy or build?

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NCChickLovers

NCChickLovers

In the Brooder
6 Years
Apr 7, 2013
47
5
24
We've been debating on if it's better to buy a coop or build one. our girls are very little right now and obviously don't need one, yet, but we need to get to work on it soon. We also need to know which is more cost effective, as this will also effect what we do. We currently have a nice big 12x12 shed we were planning on turning into a coop. We currently don't use it for anything and it's been sitting back there empty since we bought the house over 2 years ago. Would it be better for us to just turn that into a coop with a run? or should we buy one?

The shed is in a well shaded area, so it won't get too hot during the hotter months here in NC, though we do have to worry about all the nasty critters that will try and eat our girls, but DH has a pretty solid sounding plan to keep them away.

Either way we do this, it won't all get done right away. Unfortunately, I didn't really plan before I picked them up. I just got excited when I saw them at the store and bought them. :)
 
We compared the price of materials and are building ours. It was around $700 to buy one I wanted and my husband figured he could build something better for around $500.
 
I'd say building you own is the way to go. Even if I wanted to, I could not have just went out and bought my coop. There is a lot of satisfaction in building your own. And a lot of those pre- made coops leave much be desired too. From the sound of it, you have a good building to start with. But you better get out there and get it ready. Those chicks grown fast. As far as predator proofing goes. I would recommend surrounding the coop with Premier's electrified poultry netting.You can enclose a much bigger area for less than it would cost to build a wood framed, wire covered run a fraction of the size. I using 600' of it protecting my coop now. That makes for a biiiig area for them to run around in.
Jack
 
Where can we get this electrified poultry netting?

As for the coos, I've seen some really nice stuff, but It just seems like more fun and better family time to turn our shed into a coop, but I figured we'd get the opinion of some people who had been doing this longer than we have.

The other question I have is, should I insulate my shed?
 
How many chickens? If you have the building then it will be way cheaper to modify it yourself instead of buying.
 
Use the building you have. So many of those pre-fab coops are made of cheap, flimsy wood that just doesn't stand up to weather like they claim it will. And besides that most of them are really cramped for space and the number of chickens they can house is usually overstated. I'd put the money into setting up your existing shed.
 
We currently have 6 little girls (at least we think they're all girls). We may get more, but I don't want to overstep our boundaries until we know how the neighbors will react to them (the city law states that you can have them, as long as they don't bother the neighbors due to noise and smell...)

It is a metal shed, so I'm worried it will still get hot in there for them, so we were planning on lining the inside with some plywood and possibly some insulation, though we aren't really sure what kind of insulation would be best.

http://www.premier1supplies.com/detail.php?prod_id=44094 This is the link I found for the Electric Poultry Netting, for others who want to look into it, as well.

I'm really looking forward to starting this project.
 
I would build before I bought, In this case you are not building so much as retrofitting a current building to meet it's new needs, You should be able to do this cheap, 12x12 is a nice size. I am not a fan of Metal buildings how ever, I build all of my buildings and coops to look like barns to try and stay with the theme around here on my Homestead.

With the metal building I would make sure you have plenty of vents and that it is in the shade.
 

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