How much did you spend building your coop/run?

[Chick_In_The_Burbs]

I went with an Eglu Cube. $1500 w/ the 9 ft run. I wouldn't recommend it for you as you definantly want more space, but I do recommend prefab. There were three big things for me were the assembly time, ease of cleaning/accessability and astetics(everyone can see into everyone elses yards in my neighborhood). I don't have a whole lot of free time to build, and neither myself or my hubby are all that handy, so the higher price is made up for by the time saved. Two hours seems to be the average assembly time for a prefab, where it seems to be several weeks before most self designed/built coops are complete (judging from some photo gallaries of stages). And with cleaning, prefabs are *hopefully* designed by someone who has a very good grasp of how to keep things simple and *hopefully* save you more time on cleaning down the road.

Also, just because you get their coop doesn't mean you have to get their run, so you could get your prefab and then save some money on the quick-and-simple run.

 

[The Chicken Lady]

We ordered our coop this past weekend from an Amish builder who does custom-made barns. Our coop is going to be a 10'x20' gambrel-style barn with two entrances and a dividing wall separating it into two different, unconnected rooms. One side of the barn will be lawn equipment/storage and the other side will be the coop. So far, the price for construction and delivery is a little over $3,000. We also needed permits from the township to be able to have the coop, and paying the various offices amounted to about $100.

We will still need to finish the interior of the coop and build a run. We also will need a load of gravel trucked in to put the coop on. I am betting that the chicken coop/barn project will be about $5,000 by the time we are finished with everything.

We are not especially handy in terms of building construction and we wanted a well-made coop, so the cost of having someone else do the majority of the work is worth it to us.

 

[Tigerjane]

Oh no, these prices seem really high!

 

[ChickenToes]

Our first coop (4 x 6) was build from the remnants of an old shed and from pallets. Including the run, it cost us about $40 total, and most of that was for fencing.

Our 2nd (4 x 4) coop was built from salvaged lumber. Including the run, the total cost was again about $40.

To build coops cheaply, you really need to scrounge for materials. Old barnboards and pallets are great to build coops with, leftover shingles from a roofing job or even tin from an old camper or truck topper will work for roofing. Hinges and locks can be found pretty easily in junk shops or junkyards. People throw out old windows all the time, check your local dump. Check your local hardware or paint store for mis-tinted gallons of paint, they discount them. A gallon of paint for our 2nd coop was $10. Sometimes even a dollar store will have gallon of white semi-gloss for $5 or $10.

The most expensive part is the fencing, you can't get around spending good money on hardware cloth. However, we found some old posts for free, so we only had to pay for the fencing itself.

 

[sonew123]

8 x8 coop 8 x 20 run 600$ so far-

 

[CalebtheChicken]

We spent around $1500 on our new coop.
Our first coop was free because it was made from leftover materials from when my cousin made a porch.

 

[Schultz]

We have spent way too much, yet not enough!

Honestly we stopped counting 2 years ago, we're always adding something new but we have also received a lot of great lumber and fencing from craigslist, either free or close to it. I would at least look if you have a materials list in mind or even place a want ad!
(I know not everyone has had a great experience with craigslist but for us it has been great.)

 

[sewchick]

My coop is 4x8 and 8ft high. 750.00. The run will be fairly cheap. Maybe 100.00 or so. Depending on the chicken wire. This was about 2 or so years ago on the coop.

 

[turbokev]

Total enclosure is 11.5' by 7.5' and the coop inside is 4' x 7.5'

Lumber, roof material, R13 insulation, hardware cloth, paint, screws etc and I'm just around $650 total as you see it.
Still need to finish exterior landscaping around it so it looks nicer.

I budgeted $400 - $450 and 1 week to build..
Don't know what I was thinking.. over budget and WAY over on time

note.. exterior grade hardware is expensive, and whatever you think you'll accomplish in a day, lower that expectation by 2/3rds and you'll be fine

All worth it in the end, it's nothing spectacular, but I'm happy with it~

 

[ScaredOfShadows]

4.5' x 4.5' Coop 5X7' run = 50$ range. I salvaged in some respect almost all the material. I bought new the hinges, a wrongly mixed red can of paint, and something else I can't remember XD but rest of everything I bought from other people - scrap lumber, brand new plyboard left over from someone roofing a house, hardware cloth, etc... Salvaged a large crate off the side of the road (the frame for my coop), and had other materials on hand already from various other projects and my dad's pack rat nature

- but I think my little coop looks very nice and cute. I had someone offer me 500$ for it the other day

needless to say I told them I'd build them one if they could give me a month and pay up front for materials I had to buy. SO I seem to have a new little project to do for a cousin of my neighbor's.