Building a chicken coop inexpensively

[mammat]

Our cheap coop was a middies dog house I got for free on freecycle

 

[Mickevinwilson]

I live in southern indiana, about 15 min. away from holiday world..

 

[Tdub4chiks]

I went to the local hardware store and asked for the cover sheets from their metal roofing. They gave it to me for free. I also went to a flooring store and paid $5 for a piece of vinyl flooring. You can make nest boxes out of almost anything. I used an old bench.

 

[nikki1]

We are in the middle of a "cheap" build, too. I'm the architecht, hubby is the engineer/contractor, and the kids are the decorators in charge of paint. Here are some things we've done to cut costs:

1. We've made several trips to the Habitat for Humanity Restore Store. Basically a builder's Goodwill. They have oodles (don't get to use that word enough!) of doors, windows, hinges, knobs, and even a selection of used kitchen sinks if you want them. I have a stack of really nice vents, knobs, and hinges from them, but my real find was the paint. I got a 5 gallon bucket of Sherwin Williams' top of the line exterior paint in a color that's not ugly for $20. Even oops paint at Home Depot would run about $100! They are a great cause and a great resource. Google "Restore Store" to see if you have one nearby.

2. We're using 2 sides of an existing fence for part of our run.

3. A friend finally talked her husband into cleaning out the shed, and we hauled away a bunch of lumber...even some nice 4x4's and a door with a built-in window, which we've cut down to be our henhouse door. Let people at work know what you're doing, and you can help them out by hauling away stuff they want to get rid of , and you can help yourself out by getting free materials.

4. Shop around. Our 1/2 inch mesh was our priciest outlay, and we didn't want to go cheap on protection from predators, as we are overrun with carnivorous critters at our place, but we saved a modest chunk by checking all the local sources.

5. Lumber stores sell their slightly damaged lumber at a huge discount. I figure the chickens don't care about knotholes or rough edges, and paint covers up a lot of ugly.

6. Instead of real windows, we're making prop-open hatces with mesh over the opening. In hot weather we can open them up to cool things down, and in cold weather we can bolt them shut. Even with cheap windows from Restore, I had no idea how to install them, so we decided to skip it.

You understand our coop is only half-finished, so I can't say for sure we know what we're doing as far as building, but I am a master at penny-pinching. I hope these scavenging ideas help.

Happy building!
--Nikki

 

[Mickevinwilson]

so, do you think i could make a big rectangle box, with a door, ventalation, roof and nests inside? What i thought was i could make a wooden box with a tin roof, cut holes on the sides and put vents over it, cut a hole to make a door then put 10- 5 gallon buckets on the inside of it filled with straw. we want to have about 10 hens, so the coop would probably be 9/10 ft. long and 5/6 ft. wide with a 12/ 13 ft. run. predators would probably not be a problem... we live in a small town but we dont live in the woods. if you could let me know if my idea is fine, thatabe great. thanks, mickevin

 

[BigdaddySean]

My cheap build has escalated a little....
I promise I had every intention of being frugal, but the more I read on BYC, I convinced myself I needed a Fort Knox.
I am planning on building a couple makeshift tractors soon. I scored on a truckload of plywood and lumber from a
theater that was tearing down a stage after a performance.
The coop was my kids playhouse when they were little. Needs a little more TLC. 1/2" Hardware Cloth was my biggest expense.
I found that buying it online was the cheapest versus HD or Lowe's

 

[Beekissed]

That's prettier than any house I've ever stayed in....I can't post pics of my coop now!

I also wanted to be frugal and I wanted the coop to be portable...but with each new design feature, it got heavier and I spent more money. I've used a lot of scrap lumber also and other recycled scraps but it will never look as good as your chicken palace...ever!

I'm over $200 on this darn thing and it will hold 20 chickens according to square footage rules, but it will only be housing 50 meaties that will free range outside of it and will then house 6-10 hens who will also free range and not be confined to the coop, so they will have a lot of space in the end. But it has been like a monster that grows and grows....I never meant for it to be this involved or to cost this much money, nor did I mean for it to be so heavy that only the truck can move it!