Cost Of Coop ($5K!?)

[Whitewater]

Thanks, everybody!!! I always appreciate the honest opinions and so on that I receive around here, it's really nice to be able to trust your experiences

My brother often blows smoke when confronted by something new, and I should have remembered that. Also, he still tends to think of his big sister (me) as a traditional 'girl' and doesn't quite realize that I'm not a typical girly type girl

He's never seen me build a set or any props, or whatever, so he has an excuse. I am more than capable of building this coop myself, LOL, but he obviously doesn't know that that's what I'm planning on doing! (In fact, quite frankly, I'm more handy than my husband! Which he loves, because he knows he can depend on me to help him out with stuff around the house, ha ha. Our arrangement works pretty well).

And a big thank you and shout out (THANK YOU!!!) to merryberry for suggesting Ebay, that will save a TON of money!!! Just checked it out and am amazed at some of the deals. Though I've bought from Ebay here and there for years, I never thought to check there for coop building supplies! But I just did and wow, you weren't kidding.


Whitewater

 

[Woodcutterron]

Dang, that's one fancy Chickenhouse! Heck . . . I'd move in with those chickens if they have a Coffeemaker!

 

[SillyChicken]

sounds like it'd have a coffee maker and kitchen sink!

Let me know when you get the satalite hooked up, I'll be over!

5k is a little excessive.. we built a large shed for less than that... 12x 16 shed with a 12/12 pitch roof and overhang.... with a garage door on the end and cement work, and it was cheaper! I think we have 800 in our coop (red) that we are almost done with (working on my BYC page with the details) and thats with all new materials (except the windows), 30 yr dimensional shingles and solid wood siding...

 

[Intheswamp]

Whitewater, $5k sounds wrong.....around $7.5k sounds much more in line.

BUT...if you act now in the next 15 minutes and PAYPAL the $5k to me (I'll pm the PP address to) I *think* I can get it done for you for the measley $5k. If you want actual wire over the windows it might run a *tad* over that...maybe around $6k...OK, you drive a hard bargain, for the $6k you get chicken wire, too! My oh my you are a hard horsetrader!! Oh, and do you *really* need the coop area that big?...we could cut it down to a 2'x2' area and save you some BIG BUCKS..something like $20 or so!!!

You've gotta act quick though as this kind of deal can't last for ever!!!!
I'm sitting here watching my inbox for that PayPal notification so hurry!!!

 

[Whitewater]

Quote:
LOL!!! Ah, humor

Where would we all be without it?



Whitewater

 

[midget_farms]

I built my first coop using new lumber - 4ft x 6 ft - bout 4 ft tall. I think I had close to $500 in it when it was done. Treated plywood floor, paint, roofing etc.

My new one is 8x10 bout 8ft tall - pre-built shed from the store for $500 + a treated lumber floor $150. I figure I couldn't build one myself for less than that Heck the floor cost $150 I would expect the roof to cost that or more not to mention the sides.

Best of all for me though is it is all pre-cut. Just like building a model - follow the instructions etc.


& 8x10 is large enough for me to store my extra food (in sealed barrels) and wood shavings & tools.

 

[lavacaw]

(Tongue in Cheek) Maybe he is referring to the fact that you won't stop with "just a chicken coop". Next come the birds you just have to have....then you need more space because you found some others you just gotta add to your flock. Then the run isn't big enough...then you want to separate out some of the breeds to a breeding coop...oops! you gotta build a breeding coop/pen. Then you gotta have an incubator for those purebred eggs...then a brooder for the hatchlings...maybe $5K is a little cheap?

 

[Woodcutterron]

Well one thing we can't forget is that labor and planning isn't free. Sure I do things like that myself, but if someone wants me to build it, it's gonna cost more than materials, and almost always a lot more. The pre- engineered buildings really are hard to compete with on price points. They buy the wood by the truckload, and have some fairly complex albeit efficient building processes to keep costs down too. But the reality is that my little tiny coop I just build is WAY better built. I could drop my tiny coop on pretty much any 10 x 12 pre-engineered building . . .and smash that building . Now drop a ten by twelve P.E. building on my tiny coop . . .and the 10 x 12 would bust all around my little coop, and it likely wouldn't even disturb the chickens that much. Not all buildings, or coops, are the same.

That being said, a pre-engineered building is likely plenty strong enough to get the job done as for a coop. It's all in what we like, and accept. Some folks are perfectly satisfied with a coffee table from Walmart that cost $59 bucks, some don't mind spending 40 hours building a nice one, and some folks don't mind spending 4 thousand on a nice coffee table that is custom built.

All hold coffee perfectly fine, and both will prop my feet up . . .until my baby yells at me anyway. But I worry when I see folks saying such and such a price is a rip off . . .which isn't necessarily so. As a cabinet maker myself, this is an issue close to home for me. I just think it's a bit unfair to imply that buying a pre-built purpose-built coop is some sort of ripoff . . . .that simply isn't true.

 

[LittleMamaBigPapa]

Woodcutterron,

EGG-cellent, relevant and perfectly illustrated view point on the subject. A fun read!!! Goes back to the VERY basic rule of thumb: something is only worth what someone else is willing to pay for it.

Just because my neighbor would not spend $600 bucks on a lame chicken coop doesn't mean it's not worth it. Its worth every smashed finger, splinter and memory made to me!!

Cheers!

 

[patandchickens]

If you walked up to a custom carpenter, or a small contractor who had plenty of business already and was in no particular need of yours, and showed them a pic of the coop and said "how much would you charge to build me this?" they might well quote you something *towards* $5k.

That doesnt mean it actually costs anything like that to build it, though.

Unless you want a gold-plated waterer and a plasma tv for the chickens, lol

Good luck, have fun,

Pat