Back in Feb we got our first run of birds, I got 12 Delaware chickens for our egg layers and 22 meat birds known as Pioneers or Dixie rainbows, I've kept records of all the costs, of course for building the coop/tractor even with my scrounging still cost more than I would have liked. Looking back I should have just bought a small trailer frame from harbor freight and built it on that. I built it from the ground up, I lost a bunch of the pictures when my phone got stolen so there are some here of the build and then all finished up.
This isn't our first time having chickens and I found if using the coop just for at night they don't need much of a coop, It's only for roosting and laying eggs... BTW get some of the chicken nipples for watering...a life saver. I won't ever use a normal watering can again. I should have made the coop only 4x8 really instead I made it 4x10 but they don't really need the extra space. I'm also using the deep litter method in the coop.
I started with 2x4x10 for the main frame work, pressure treated on the bottom, 4' wide to make using the T1-11 siding easy to work with. Here is some detail on the extra supports for where the wheels will be. I used 5/8 grounding rod for the axle, and 4 wheels from HF.
I wanted to build it light and also to fit in the back of my pickup if I sell it.
I used marine grade 1/2" plywood for the bottom deck, a bit more costly but will last longer.
Here is my fancy template for making the truss/wall supports, only 2x2 mostly there to hold everything together, the siding itself is the more of the support for the structure itself. Built only 4, spaced evenly on the base. Was a bit wobbly until I got a cross support up as seen in this picture.
Here is where I lost the rest of build pics, I sided it with T1-11 siding to match our house, I still need to paint it to match and finish a bit more trim. The 4x8 sheets were cut 44" and 52" for the two long sides. I didn't have much scrap left over. The doors are made from the siding, and overall I guess it weighs only 200-250lbs. The roofing is 10' lengths cut in half, with no waste. It's easy to pull and push around by myself. The bottom cattle panels have hardware cloth over the bottom 24", they are held onto the coop via screws with washers, and must be removed to move the coop, in the future I may omit this and just run the electric fence all around. I do like it as I can enclose them in this entirely if need be to move the electric fence or work in the area.
A look inside the egg access hole, I used the premade nesting boxes and the girls seem to be enjoying them. My kids really like getting the eggs and the little egg holes make it easy for them to check the bottom nesting boxes.
Access doors are held in place by home made latches out of the 2x2 material, used 1/2" hardware cloth on the top for vent area, the center is always open the the two sides can be removed in really hot weather, as there is hardware cloth underneath, along with an open area under the gutter. The roof does have 1/2" plywood underneath it too. The fencing is Premier1; PermaNet Plus 100'-12/48/3. I'm using a Patriot Solar Guard 50 and 2 grounding rods, one is the Premier1 36" rod, but I found I was only getting 3100 Volts but when I added the second ground post, a copper one 3-4' deep I was getting 5-6K Volts. That makes the Coyotes Howl!
Here's a list of my materials and costs.
Coop:
12 - 2x4x10' 46.20
6 - 2x4x8' 17.94
8 - 2x2x10' 11.36
2 - 2x4x10' TRT 14.70
2 - 4'x8' MG 5PLY 48.78
4 - 4'x8' T1-11 188.23
4 - 3'x10' Roof 114.40
1 - 5/8" G Rod 8.62
4 - 15" Wheels 55.96
4 - Nest Boxes 79.96
Hardware/Screws 26.40
sub total 612.55
tax 8.7% 53.29
Total: 665.84
fencing materials;
100' fence/ground rod and power clamps 169.50
Patriot Solar Guard 50 (new ebay) 82.00
4 - Cattle panels 72.60
75' 1/2" Hardware cloth 38.50
Misc Chicken Wire/hardware (freebie)
Total: 362.60
Now for the chickens and feed bill as of 6/23/15; Using GMO/corn/soy free locally processed organic feed. I ordered it direct by the ton to save big $$ and had it dropped off by the pallet at our place, they mix and match so that made it easy. I sold off locally the extra to help pay for everything.
Already had the feeders/heat lamps etc. Used the barley for sprouting/fodder. This is what I've used so far, +/- a few #
34 Chicks 125.65
100# chick starter 59.61
250# Barley $14 ea 70.00
250# Broiler $16 ea 105.00
100# scratch $15 ea 30.00
total 390.26
I sold the 50# bags for about a 25% mark up, I also ordered layer ration as well but our birds just started laying this week so I'll switch to the layer feed next.
I did a post about the chicken plucker I made and also the first batch of birds we butchered. We lost only 4 birds in all, 1 in transit, 1 to culling (bad leg) and 2 to predators before I got the electric fence.
The first batch of birds was 40.29 lbs for 8 birds, or 5.03 as an average.
And then our first egg; my daughter is holding proudly and made sure her little brother didn't get to as she said "he'll just break it daddy"
This isn't our first time having chickens and I found if using the coop just for at night they don't need much of a coop, It's only for roosting and laying eggs... BTW get some of the chicken nipples for watering...a life saver. I won't ever use a normal watering can again. I should have made the coop only 4x8 really instead I made it 4x10 but they don't really need the extra space. I'm also using the deep litter method in the coop.
I started with 2x4x10 for the main frame work, pressure treated on the bottom, 4' wide to make using the T1-11 siding easy to work with. Here is some detail on the extra supports for where the wheels will be. I used 5/8 grounding rod for the axle, and 4 wheels from HF.
I wanted to build it light and also to fit in the back of my pickup if I sell it.
I used marine grade 1/2" plywood for the bottom deck, a bit more costly but will last longer.
Here is my fancy template for making the truss/wall supports, only 2x2 mostly there to hold everything together, the siding itself is the more of the support for the structure itself. Built only 4, spaced evenly on the base. Was a bit wobbly until I got a cross support up as seen in this picture.
Here is where I lost the rest of build pics, I sided it with T1-11 siding to match our house, I still need to paint it to match and finish a bit more trim. The 4x8 sheets were cut 44" and 52" for the two long sides. I didn't have much scrap left over. The doors are made from the siding, and overall I guess it weighs only 200-250lbs. The roofing is 10' lengths cut in half, with no waste. It's easy to pull and push around by myself. The bottom cattle panels have hardware cloth over the bottom 24", they are held onto the coop via screws with washers, and must be removed to move the coop, in the future I may omit this and just run the electric fence all around. I do like it as I can enclose them in this entirely if need be to move the electric fence or work in the area.
A look inside the egg access hole, I used the premade nesting boxes and the girls seem to be enjoying them. My kids really like getting the eggs and the little egg holes make it easy for them to check the bottom nesting boxes.
Access doors are held in place by home made latches out of the 2x2 material, used 1/2" hardware cloth on the top for vent area, the center is always open the the two sides can be removed in really hot weather, as there is hardware cloth underneath, along with an open area under the gutter. The roof does have 1/2" plywood underneath it too. The fencing is Premier1; PermaNet Plus 100'-12/48/3. I'm using a Patriot Solar Guard 50 and 2 grounding rods, one is the Premier1 36" rod, but I found I was only getting 3100 Volts but when I added the second ground post, a copper one 3-4' deep I was getting 5-6K Volts. That makes the Coyotes Howl!
Here's a list of my materials and costs.
Coop:
12 - 2x4x10' 46.20
6 - 2x4x8' 17.94
8 - 2x2x10' 11.36
2 - 2x4x10' TRT 14.70
2 - 4'x8' MG 5PLY 48.78
4 - 4'x8' T1-11 188.23
4 - 3'x10' Roof 114.40
1 - 5/8" G Rod 8.62
4 - 15" Wheels 55.96
4 - Nest Boxes 79.96
Hardware/Screws 26.40
sub total 612.55
tax 8.7% 53.29
Total: 665.84
fencing materials;
100' fence/ground rod and power clamps 169.50
Patriot Solar Guard 50 (new ebay) 82.00
4 - Cattle panels 72.60
75' 1/2" Hardware cloth 38.50
Misc Chicken Wire/hardware (freebie)
Total: 362.60
Now for the chickens and feed bill as of 6/23/15; Using GMO/corn/soy free locally processed organic feed. I ordered it direct by the ton to save big $$ and had it dropped off by the pallet at our place, they mix and match so that made it easy. I sold off locally the extra to help pay for everything.
Already had the feeders/heat lamps etc. Used the barley for sprouting/fodder. This is what I've used so far, +/- a few #
34 Chicks 125.65
100# chick starter 59.61
250# Barley $14 ea 70.00
250# Broiler $16 ea 105.00
100# scratch $15 ea 30.00
total 390.26
I sold the 50# bags for about a 25% mark up, I also ordered layer ration as well but our birds just started laying this week so I'll switch to the layer feed next.
I did a post about the chicken plucker I made and also the first batch of birds we butchered. We lost only 4 birds in all, 1 in transit, 1 to culling (bad leg) and 2 to predators before I got the electric fence.
The first batch of birds was 40.29 lbs for 8 birds, or 5.03 as an average.
And then our first egg; my daughter is holding proudly and made sure her little brother didn't get to as she said "he'll just break it daddy"
