How much time and money did it take to build a your chicken coop?

[steph1200]

How much was all the supplies? Was it hard/ is it worth it? Just want to hear about everyone's experience. and if you don't mind leaving plans of your chicken coop and pictures. just doing some research before i build my chicken coop, but still have a long way to go. thank you

 

[SavKel&RynKel]

So i don't have pictures yet as it isn't finished, but ours is 7x3 floor space raised 2 feet, wall height is 3.5-4 feet (sloped roof). We used 2x4s for the frame and plywood for the walls. 5 sheets of plywood is 100 to 150 bucks, probably 50 dollars of 2x4s (we re-used a lot of old scrap ones) and a box of nails/screws (price varies, another thing we had in garage) you can buy tin roofing for another 30 (we're still debating our roof) and a can of paint (varies)
So in short... 300 dollars and pretty darn easy?
There are a zillion plans on this site, but we should have ours uploaded in the near-ish... Future.

 

[lazy gardener]

My coop can be seen in the interview in my signature. It took us 10 weekends to build. I can't remember the cost. Actually, I prefer not to remember how much we spent! But, I will tell you that the thermopane windows and doors were free. And some of the louvered vents were almost free. I shopped at my town mall (aka town dump) for doors and windows, and habitat for humanity for louvered vents and other materials.

 

[aart]

I read here and planned(I'm a drafter by trade) for 6 months before building My Coop.
Luckily, I had a large shed already that I used part of for the coop.
Took me about 3 months to build (including cleaning out the coop shed and two others, and the garage) to make room for coop build....but I was recovering and working mighty slow the first few weeks, just a couple hours a day. Cost was about $550 for coop and $300 for run.

 

[Cindy in PA]

It probably took a month off & on. DH built it 25 years ago. Cost about $500 at the time. The price of lumber was up because of rebuilding after the Gulf War at the time. No plans, just built an 8 by 8 square & put roosts & nesting boxes inside. The only thing I still don't like is that it goes from 8 foot high in the front to 4 in the back, as DH was saving on materials. It has worked well for 25 years. Used sample windows my FIL had at he time. They could be slightly larger. We were going to build a new bigger one this year, as I do believe the foundation is starting to rot. Not happening, because our cabin lost heating this year, so other projects taking precedence!

 

[h c hennery]

Our build took 10 weeks last summer from start to finish, working only on weekends ~ about 15 days total.

Not counting exotic items like the automatic door opener and wheel kit, we probably spent $850 to $900:

Lumber, $250
Paint, $70
Roofing panels / screws / closure strips, $165
Hardware cloth, $125
Hardware & misc. (screws, washers, rafter ties, hinges, acrylic sheets for windows, etc.), $250ish

 

[Patrick Murphy]

I also spent around a thousand dollars on everything

 

[CluckerFamily]

Mine took two weeks to build by myself and it all cost about $800-$900 (coop and run). Worth every penny to make it last for years to come. I have a raised walk-in coop and a run that is my height tall so that I don't have to bend over to clean anything.
I don't have any plans, I have a horrible problem about drawing out plans before building.

 

[Winter Creek Coop]

For our main coop bought the posts and wood for framing the roof. Maybe $40. The walls are recycled privacy fence panels. They roof is covered in reused barn tin. 50+ year old nest box borrowed from granny’s old coop. All recycled wire. Honestly with screws and all I am in under $70 for the whole thing. . I am really cheap but it works well. Oh and it took an afternoon.

 

[MissE]

Ours took a weekend. Built it in 2019. 8x6 with 7 foot ceilings. Slooped metal roof. Insulated with vinyl floor and dairy board walls. 2 windows. It's on cinder blocks. Run is 6x10. It's an old greenhouse frame wrapped in wire and covered with a tarp. Not fancy, but was a temporary fix when we ran out of time before the ground froze. Next year it will be redone with 4x4 posts and a metal roof and will be 6x16. So far, total cost is pushing $1000.