Costly Coops

[Chickweed9]

I want to build my own coop and my Dad, who is an house builder, has been working on plans for me and pricing supplies. I want 6 larger breed hens with plenty of room to be able to stay in the coop without problems in case of severe weather and an enclosed run for when no one is home during the day. He came up with $800 for everything.. of course nothing for labor. Is it just me or is that really steep??? Just the coop he said would be 4 x 8, size of a sheet of plywood. Making it 4 x 4 only saved $60.
I have perused the coop forum and see lots of good data and ideas which we included in the plans.
Any ideas??

 

[DobieLover]

I want to build my own coop and my Dad, who is an house builder, has been working on plans for me and pricing supplies. I want 6 larger breed hens with plenty of room to be able to stay in the coop without problems in case of severe weather and an enclosed run for when no one is home during the day. He came up with $800 for everything.. of course nothing for labor. Is it just me or is that really steep??? Just the coop he said would be 4 x 8, size of a sheet of plywood. Making it 4 x 4 only saved $60.
I have perused the coop forum and see lots of good data and ideas which we included in the plans.
Any ideas??

$800 is cheap for a coop that size with a run.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

If you use all new materials (like a home builder does) it can be pricey but if you find repurposed lumber, free stuff on Craigslist and look at the cull pallets at Lowes or Home Depot you may be able to drop the cost.. After all, it is a chicken coop so the supporting structure doesn't have to be absolutely perfect. I've built some large coops by bringing home several pallets of cull lumber from Lowe's. I spent about 1/3 the cost of what the wood would have cost off the shelf. It was new but when building a coop, warped or split lumber can be worked around. I miss that opportunity. Lowe's was only a little over a mile from my house but they closed that store. There were always racks of lumber out there that had been marked down 50%. If it sat there more than a month, you could offer the store manager a ridiculously low amount that they would usually accept.
The hardware like hinges, latches, screws and hardware cloth will still run the price up and unless you are a good scrounger at garage sales or places like Habitat for Humanity I recommend buying new.

 

[rosemarythyme]

That's actually a pretty good price IMO, a shed of the same size would probably cost you close to that. Yes you can cut some of the cost by salvaging materials. Since your dad works on houses, could he possibly salvage some free scraps off one of his jobs?

 

[NewBoots]

I want to build my own coop and my Dad, who is an house builder, has been working on plans for me and pricing supplies. I want 6 larger breed hens with plenty of room to be able to stay in the coop without problems in case of severe weather and an enclosed run for when no one is home during the day. He came up with $800 for everything.. of course nothing for labor. Is it just me or is that really steep??? Just the coop he said would be 4 x 8, size of a sheet of plywood. Making it 4 x 4 only saved $60.
I have perused the coop forum and see lots of good data and ideas which we included in the plans.
Any ideas??

It depends on the materials and the amount of windows, trim and hardware cloth. But really that sounds like a very good price. I'd jump at it myself. What size will the run be?

 

[Chickweed9]

It depends on the materials and the amount of windows, trim and hardware cloth. But really that sounds like a very good price. I'd jump at it myself. What size will the run be?

12 x 12

 

[wamtazlady]

This is really not a bad price. Mine cost about that 5 years ago for a 6 by 8. My neighbor donated the siding he had left over from a project.

 

[NewBoots]

12 x 12

That price is excellent. Make sure there is plenty of ventilation in the coop and that there is a minimum skirting of a foot, better with more. Grats on your good fortune!

 

[easterbun]

I'm currently planning out and getting ready to build a 6x10 raised coop in a 10x22' (covered) run, and my total budget is close to $1600... so $800 doesn't really seem so bad in comparison

Just the hardware cloth (I opted for PVC coated) for the entire thing including the predator apron is about $420 of that budget... lumber and plywood about $800, roofing (metal) about $150, and the rest is paint, screws, and other hardware... the little stuff definitely adds up with these projects.

 

[crowber]

I'm building a 6x12 coop/run in the style of Carolina Coops and I'm already over $1000 just in lumber/hardware cloth/roofing/latches,hinges,fasteners.