How much did your coop cost?

[vtara16]

$375

 

[Terri]

Our is 6x10 and made with recycled stuff, the hardware cloth was the biggest expense. So we have like 250 in it.

 

[MaterMan]

My coop cost about $50. It is 9' x 12' with a used metal roof. It ain't fancy but it keeps 'em dry and warm. I don't have a run because they free range during the day. I have had a couple attacked by wild animals but seem to have pretty good luck. I want to build another hen house for hatching and raising chicks, but when I look at the cost I keep putting it off. Maybe one day I can have a big, nice fancy coop with automatic everything and room to seperate chickens inside. I would like to have 100+ chickens running everywhere but my wife says no. Anyway, for all you out there that are poverty stricken like me, chickens can survive without all that fanciness. It just takes a little more work.

Good luck to all who are thinking about getting chickens.

 

[bufforp89]

My step-dad is a contractor and roofer so he had most of the materials here. He said he used about $500 worth of lumber, shingles ect. Its 12X12 with one 8X8 coop for the ducks and a 8X4 coop for the chickies and a large storage area 12X4 running along the front. It has worked really well for me.

 

[lnm03]

We have about $75.00 in ours. We found a 8x16 box of off an old box truck that my husbands boss gave to us for free and we went to lowes and bought wood for the floors and sides. It already had electricity to it and it already had wall that left us a storage area in the front. We found two free doors from a dumpster down the road from us and we got all the free wood palates we could find and thats what we used for our nest boxes and for our run. We are actually going to add on to it in a couple of weeks we were on craigs list and found free wood and its enough to frame the outside for a 12x20 addition. I will have about another 75 - 80 in this one.

 

[NGT ANGL]

So far (did I really just write that?), I have purchased a "potting shed" and a "tool shed" from Home Depot plus a house/run from another company. DH has built a run for the potting shed and tool shed. I shudder to think what I have spent total - the chickens could start laying 14 carat eggs and it probably wouldn't cover it. DH could have built coops and saved a ton of $$ but we both work full time and I felt it was unfair to take up so much of his free time by asking him to build the two for me. Craigslist always has listings for coops and runs locally and they cost a lot less - wish I had know that sooner.........

 

[shelleyd2008]

My materials so far have been $364, so about twice what I was figuring to start with. This is just for 35 sheets of OSB, 2 10' 1x4's (for roosts), and 2 rolls of roofing paper (cause all of our tin is used). I still need to get the hardware (hinges, locks, nails/screws, etc.), and the blocks to set it on, so the dog can get underneath to keep the rats out.

I've decided to go with a 12x12, but this will have 8-3 1/2' x 4' 'pens' on one side (at least), and 6 3 1/2'x4, and 6 3 1/2'x4'x1' quail/chick pens on the other side. These are figuring each as 4' high, which is not necessary except for my lakenvelders. Most of my birds are bantams, so they don't need much height (thank goodness!).

Each pen will be covered top, bottom, and sides, with OSB board, with wire fronts and a vent in the wall in the back of the pen. I'm not sure how to make it so it can be opened/closed at will. There will be doors on each end (I'm thinking a dutch door for one end, so I can keep the feed in there as well), but it is still very much in the planning stages as far as the interior goes. Hopefully the main frame will be finished Thursday, and I can work on the interior later on. Probably trial-and-error it a lot, which is why I got 5 more OSB boards than I needed

 

[Cherokeerainbow]

I lucked out and converted one of my outer horse stalls into 2- 8x6 coops. They have a huge window to look out of when I open it on nice days. The fenceing wire was given to me, so all we needed was a bundle of strapping, 3 sheets of plywood, hinges, screws and a few 2x4's for perches ect.
Built some nifty boxes and hung up the feeders and waterers.
We kept a few feet in front of the coops (which have their own doors) to store the grain containers and bedding...kept the stall door there too, for added protection and anti escape...
Cost was under $300.
Until I needed the brooder box built ...and then the stall upstairs in the shop for the lil ones... and all the lil things collected along the way (extra dishes, containers, bator, ect ect)
oh well... everyone is still happy!!!

 

[acdoc]

I have about 1500 in this one and i built it myself

 

[Over on Caney Creek]

This little building was already on the property when we bought it, so all we had to do was move it to a new spot. Our home is earth berm, but the coop matches the greenhouse and tool shed. All we had to buy was the materials for the fence, and a few electrical and plumbing supplies inside. Came to about $400. Most everything inside the coop is built from reclaimed materials. The nest boxes were built from a set of old cabinet doors, and the brooder pen lid was the sides of one of those huge entertainment center cabinets we all had before TVs went flat and hung on the wall. Get creative and you can save some dough. The door is an old storm door with the glass removed and hardware cloth installed in the removable frames. We also cut plywood to the same sizes as the 2 door inserts, so we can have all screen, all wood, or half-n-half. The "peaceful viewing bench" was an auction find. There are more pictures on "our flock" web page for some of the inside stuff.