Coop costs total- areas for cutting/saving?

[gottadance]

Thanks - yes, I'd rather someone over tell me something than have me miss it and then have to fix what I didn't do right!

I was actually going to put the kilz on it and then paint it the same color as my garage.

I found a dog Kennel for a good price - thinking of going that route for the run, which would be cheaper than lumber/hardware cloth, although I'll still have to run the hardware cloth around the bottom couple feet and into the ground. It'll also save me builder costs - one less thing for me to have to pay for someone to build.

 

[crzychickenlady]

You definitely have to think outside the box when planning a coop and it's always good to plan, plan and then plan again. That is what I did when I built my little coop last summer. I drew out plans, but ended up with an entirely different finished product.

I bought all my stuff from Lowe's when I built this one, just because I was too lazy to shop around. However, I have used Habitat ReStore and gotten lots of goodies there before. They usually have a ton of lumber in the spring, from people doing projects and such. You can check out their estimated pricing online and see what they sometimes carry.

Roofing your run, I would suggest using greenhouse panels, that is what I used on mine, and roofing on the coop is flashing panels.

Continue to do some browsing around for supplies and check out the coop design section here as well. You can get ideas on other ways you can do things with your plan.

AND, you CAN build it yourself!

I have never built anything in my life until I built this little coop last summer. I did get help getting the supplies unloaded, but the rest I did all by myself!
Here's a link that shows the coop I built. If I can do it, I'm sure you guys can! It only took me a little over a week, barring bad weather and taking a few days off to rest.

Mine is a 4X4 cop with 4x8 run. Total cost of supplies cost me around $300.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=474990

 

[lfreem2]

I agree with your assessment on cost. I was veritably shocked with the end price of mine and I had an old 10x12 shed on the property already to convert! Unfortunately, the roof was shot after 20 years and I needed to fully replace it, so that sent the whole project cost to hell in a handbasket.

I have a 35 foot run on the back of mine, and I could have saved money by making it smaller but didn't want to. I mean, the cost of the hardwire cloth alone was completely insane!

At the end, when I was trying to skim stuff off I was sacrificing in places I didn't want to and I was only ending up saving $100-$200 bucks in total. And that's nothing to sneeze at, but it wasn't worth giving up on stuff I really wanted. So I sucked it up and built it the way I wanted to make myself happy.

I did have some paid help on mine, but I helped the person that did it so that I could reduce costs in that manner.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Well, any number of BYCers with zero building skills have made very nice looking coops -- and in fact it is an excellent way to *correct* the problem of having zero building skills, as you will gain wonderful experience for doing FUTURE work yourself and at the end of the day this is "just a coop" (i.e. you can fix most problems cosmetically and their structural ramifications are not a problem the way they would be if you were building kitchen cabinets or something like that!)

But, if you are determined not to learn anything outta this experience LOL then may I suggest that by FAR the most budget-friendly option is to get a secondhand shed. Off craigslist or wherever. (Or in the fall, Home Depot etc often have deeply discounted floor models... this is the wrong time of year for that tho)

If you do not have time to "hang out" and wait til one comes along -- tho don't stick ONLY to craigslist and freecycle, ask everyone you know, check church and grocery store bulletin boards, and the classifieds in the back of any local paper that tends to ahve good classifieds for that kind of thing, maybe even post "shed wanted" ads/flyers of your own! -- then sure, go buy a prefab or kit.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[Dixiedoodle]

I agree, if you call in someone to build it--It will almost double your cost.

IF I had NO building skills at all, I would consider getting a pre-made building and modifying it. It would be easy to add a roost, dropping board, nest boxes.. Remember nest boxes do not have to be wood-- When I went on a chicken tour --they had tons of ideas.. an old sink, milk crates, old metal and plastic dish pans, old drawers from a dresser/chest, covered cat littler pans, dog crates, 1/2 bushel veggie baskets.. same thing w/ roosts and dropping boards--they had old wooden ladders modified, a limb w/ the bark stripped off, a old cedar tree cut down w/ the limbs left on it and the bark stripped off of it stood from the floor to the ceiling--the chickens sat on the limbs, I used a 2x4 turned wide side up cut to the full length of my coop and plywood under neath for the dropping board and it works great.. runs were dog lots, chain link fencing, welded wire, hardware-were short , med and tall in height.

So, think out side the box.. IMHO the only thing that is a 'must' is that the coop and run are secure and large enough to handle the number of bird you want/need!

 

[dsqard]

I will be honest and admit I did not read all the posts on this thread. I will say a few things. Yes your cost for materials for building the coop is about right for the size. Yes you can get a wood shed for just a few hundred dollars more but it will not be built to the same standard as what you would have built. I built my own coop and I put in two windows. It did not cost $120 dollars. I believe it was maybe $30 for each window. I got "shed windows". They are easy to install and they came with screens. Now, I know you said that you and your BF have no building skills. I thought the same about myself. I wouldn't let a dog sleep in a doghouse that I built for fear of killing my pet.

That being said, with the Building Chicken Coops for Dummies book, I was able to build this:

pretty much by myself. The only thing DH had to help me with was erecting the walls and putting on the roof. If I can do it, believe me when I say so can you!

 

[gottadance]

You guys have some great suggestions - and thanks so much for the encouragement. I have been striking out all over. Someone was giving away windows today on CL - someone already got them; this guy was selling a dog kennel - the size I wanted for a very good prices, already sold it; went to HD, their scrap wood was minimal; I've realized that I will not be able to move an existing shed into my yard due to the proximity of my pond to my garage and my fence. No vehicle could get back there to place a shed (and I even saw a FREE shed being offered on CL today); called ReStore to check on the stuff I wanted - they had almost nothing at all that I needed. ARGH!

Well, tomorrow is another day and who knows what the tide will bring. I'm going to keep looking...I've been to a lot of estate sales and sometimes those garages or basements are packed full of lumber. Going to check out those this weekend...fingers crossed.

 

[gottadance]

Quote:
That is pretty darn nifty! Wow - you did that! Well, I may give it a try - but first, must find materials!