Help in building a coop

You forgot, "self cleaning".

 

A lot to ask? You might add eradicating world hunger and an overnight cure to the common cold to that list. The “won’t cost me much” is the one that really makes it challenging.

Wood is probably the most used material for coops. If you build it right it will withstand weather and predators. If you don’t build it right, no material will work. Metal, some plastics, concrete, cinder blocks, or brick will work a lot of the time, depending on your climate and location of the coop.

There are a lot of coop designs in the Learning Center at the top of this page. Many of those have some building details with them. Find something you like or design something on your own after studying those for ideas.

I don’t know how many chickens you plan on, your expected management techniques, or how much room you have to work with, but your options are pretty limitless. The simplest way is to build two separate coops and runs and never let them mingle, but many people let them all roam together and just separate out the breeding stock during a breeding season.

The least expensive way to get material is probably through Craigslist. You might be able to find a building you can relocate or maybe just inexpensive material. Most building material comes in 4’ or 8’ dimensions so you can often save a lot of cutting and waste if you use this dimensions in your design, but if you get free material you can certainly consider that.

Another way to find cheap or free material is to visit a construction site and ask if they have any waste wood or other materials you can have. Sometimes they’d rather give it away instead of paying to haul it to the dump.

Of course, to keep costs down, you have to do most of the work yourself.

 

Wouldn't that be awesome!