Building coops to sell.....good or bad idea?

[dftkarin]

I think there might be a great market for well build smaller coops. I would have bought one if I could have found one for a reasonable price. There a guy near me who sells via Craigslist - $400 delivered for a super simple, extremely basic tractor. I know someone who bought from him and asked to upgrade from chicken wire to hardware cloth and maybe a few other upgrades. Since there are so many people into self-sufficiency these days and backyard flocks are often 2-4 chickens - I think that size would be most practical.

 

[Pullet Pimp]

Great feedback everyone. That is exactly the comments that I was looking for.

orcasislandchickens - I think I will start with building and delivering the smaller coops to my local area and see how that goes. Although, pre-building a larger kit to assemble on site in the area may be do-able, I wouldn't want to even think of how to ship something that large. Plus, the costs and hassle of shipping would take the fun out of it for me. Oh, and attractive is one of the top priorities for the project along with security and ease of maintenance.

dftkarin - I think the 2-4 hen is the market that I would target and hardware cloth would be standard. I've talked to several people who live in the city who would love to have some chickens but have a bad impression or rumor rather of what it takes to maintain a small flock.

That's it...I am going to draw up some plans this weekend for a couple coops and get an idea of what it would cost to make them.

 

[Jenski]

Pullet Pimp, I have seen your coop and I am ready to have you come out and build me my very own Chicken City. Hey, since the cost of shipping is so high, why don't you contract out to come and build onsite for wealthy chicken enthusiasts!

. . . and if you enjoy building this much, maybe you could even come on out for the not-so-wealthy chicken enthusiasts!

Either way, I think it's a fantastic idea. Designing and building the coop was the hardest part of the whole thing for me (spatially-challenged), and I imagine there are many folks who get discouraged and just give up.

Please let us know how this develops! I am glad to hear you're thinking about this.

 

[Pullet Pimp]

Careful what you wish for Jenski, Middle Tennessee is some of the prettiest country there is IMO. I'd be southbound and down on I-75 in a heartbeat. I almost didn't come home from Lynchburg once. Man I loved that area.

I'd hate to see anyone give up on owning chickens for being design and construction challenged. That's why I'd do what I can to keep costs down but maintain quality of construction and not be in it for the profit. I quickly found out that Chickens are some of the funniest, easiest to keep, child friendly pets around. And they give back to the family with eggs. More than I can say for the lazy cat that resides here.

 

[poultrylady]

I think it is a good idea also. There is a guy on the Atlanta Craigslist selling small coops, they look well made and cute, anyway he sells the whole package, the coop, a waterer, feeder and 4 laying hens. $750. Now I don't know if he is selling alot of them but his ad is on there alot.

 

[dftkarin]

You know, I don't know if its possible - but I would have bought a coop if I could have found one in the $200 range - my local tractor builder makes a $400 that seemed kind of dismal for the chickens - essentially a rectangle with an small enclosed area on one end, no windows, you need to lean down to reach any of it, no vents. Could you build a simple coop/run for under $250 and still make money?