Am I the only one?

[Gallo del Cielo]

I think you're probably right about average coop-building speed, so you're in good company! You're probably ahead of me, I started mine in Mar. and I'm still not completely done. Good luck finishing.

 

[Ema]

Agree 100%, been working on my run forever so it seems. I am finally on the last few details such a door latch and a few strips or chickens wire here and there that need to go up. seems like everytime I find a spot that needs reinforcement I find 3 or 4 more. when its done we can all breathe easy, so keep on trooping along!!

 

[JustDawn]

LOL Ranchhand!

My coop has been "done" so many times... then... I keep adding....

 

[Marshmallow Man]

I finally got mine done. It's real nice. 8x16. Looks like a pro built it. Took me 1.5 years. I hurt my back and had to really limit it. Looks great now. I wanted something that would add a little bit to my home value. If the next owners don't want poultry, it will convert to a real nice shed.

 

[In His Service]

It seems to be taking us forever also. (Having older kids is not necessarily a plus.) We are working on a tight budget...only what I can scrimp out of "grocery money", but we have been fairly lucky about finding stuff cheap/free. We are working on 3 main coops/runs with 2 small temporary/grow-out coops. The goal is to have everyone in their coops before the snow flies...

Getting lots of practice in patience.

 

[SGM]

My coops still in progress. We haven't officially really started yet. But the planning has turned into the worse part thus far. As soon as we know what we want to do, we think of a better way to do it and then we're undecided etc. I think our new plan consists of using a metal carport frame that we'll cover with wood and pallets. We are trying to build ours with the absolute least amount of money possible. We've built pens, coops, tractors etc before and frankly this go around I don't want to buy materials. So that's the plan. I figure it'll take us a month or so to do it so we better get busy since our chicks are almost a week old!

 

[VioletandBodie]

i feel really lazy i saw a add on Cl for a free coop and picked it up with in the hour and you guys have spent years working on them

 

[write2caroline]

Think of it this way.....If you want quality then you cannot compromise on the steps. Nothing worth anything comes quickly. Sure you can buy a coop, spend a ton of money and that will be fine - but the builder hopefully, if it is a quality coop, spent time on that coop and didn't just bang it together. But then the price is high because you are not just paying for materials but the builders time as well.

Set yourself a goal. So many hours each day or an hour each day - give up a favorite TV show and spend the time building the coop. If you disapline yourself to do it, the job will get done in good order.

Sometimes building fast and taking short cuts means problems later. And sometimes someone is a skilled builder and has worked out the system of building so the job goes more quickly. My second coop went up way faster than my first. I also took a few liberties and made some mistakes because I was cocky. My first coop was better built because I followed the directions carefully measured twice cut once and then cut again - got another piece of lumber had to cut it again.....It was my first time building anything from plans.....

My third coop was built from Pallets - everything was Free including the nails. Added some paint - It was spiffier than the other coops!

Don't beat yourself up
All in good order
Caroline

 

[BWKatz]

Quote:
Spent 3 years on mine (See my BYC page) spent a year reading and planning, next year planted the Illinois everybearing mulberry trees and digging out the footing and laying up a double layer of salvage bricks. Third year to build the coop with as much salvaged material as possible, windows and some lumber. I had read in Mother Earth News an article about long lasting buildings and incorporated those design features. Ordered Chicks the fourth year and finished off the original run while the juveniles were still in the coop getting their feathers. After 15 years in use, extended the run and planted more "chicken food" trees plus fenced off my garden with a chicken gate to let the chickens into the garden in the fall/winter to clean and till and fertilize it. (Should of done that years ago--works great)

What was the purpose of double layer bricks? I think ur whole setup is fantastic. BTW it has taken 3months and I still have to secure my door to coop(inside garage)My chicksa go out everyday to whereever I have moved their pen and go back to coop at night.

 

[eds500]

Broke ground on mine 5/29. Still weeks away. I've had more time to work on it recently. The first 8 weeks was slow going. I got stuck on trying to find and use re-use and re-claimed material. Now I am to point where I'm done with waiting on freebies and onto buying material to finish it. Plus some of the material I'm getting into now is hard to come by on the cheap.