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[B. Saffles Farms]

from TN

 

[joedie]

I just recently got my chicks and had been researching the coops here in the Coop Designs page. I have 50 acres but since the coop was going to be close to the house, I wanted it to blend in and look decent. When I finally picked a 8x10 coop I printed off the pictures of the construction and brought it to the local lumber supplier and the cost to build it would have been over $800 and that did not include the roof trusses, windows or doors! This was not a big, fancy coop and I did not have spare lumber hanging around. I ended up buying a used shed for alot cheaper than I could build one for, but still not CHEAP.
I built a 15x20ft run and the cost of that including the 4x4's, hardware cloth, 1x4's etc was around $250. I did enclose the top of the run as well and am glad I did because as soon as the chicks were put out in it, the barn cats were stalking them and scaled it. They were searching for a way in from the top!
I couldn't figure out how to do this inexpensively even after reading all the advise onthe coop design pages but I also don't have any real building skills nor does my DH.
I think the initial outlay can be expensive, but in the long run is worth it. Hope this helps!

 

[chickaddict]

I have had chickens for just over a year. ultimately they pay for themselves. the money i've saved in pest control alone is amazing. They eliminated the 100's of ant hills that had taken over the back yard. I only got 2 mosquito bites all last summer 2!!! I don't think I saw more then 3 spiders in the house all winter long. They simply were not allowed to survive the back yard over the summer. The hubby is beginning to complain that I love the girls more then him. I say when you start eating bugs and crapping eggs we'll talk. But seriously, I have just under a 1/4 acre and 9 birds. I'd fill the yard if I didn't think zoning would come after me. Everything I know about my girls I learned on this website - extremely helpful place. enjoy

 

[babymakes6]

from Ohio! Let the addiction begin!

 

[Chicken Bay]

Nice to see you here!!
We too are just starting up and we are the masters of penny pinching and do it yourselfers. We wound up buying a shed for just under $300(everywhere else it was over $600 so we know we got a good deal). It would have been much cheaper if we only wanted a half dozen chicks, but we eat LOTS of eggs. You need to consider your time also. We thought no sweat we'll just level out an area and so far we've spent at least a dozen hours doing just that.

And looking at the project we see that there are many other little expenses for us that will add up really fast. Most of that is due to the hill we had to dig into to have room. Anyway, just think it through and you'll do just fine.
Be sure though that you have lots of fun!

 

[michelle1017]