I just want "vent" for a second!

Date sort Score sort
My wife kept up with all the money we spent on our chicks coop and pen. After I calculated how many eggs we should get in a year, I figured our eggs cost about $2200.00 a dozen. Well maybe not quite that much, but I passed $200 bucks the first trip to the building supply store, not to mention the call to the fence company for the chain link fence. 1 chicken tractor, $400, 1 little blue coop $400, 50x30 chain link fence $1500, 6 little chickys priceless.
 
My first coop and run cost me about $300 The only things I had to buy were windows,insulation and pretreated 2x6's and pretreated CDX for the floor. I am in the process of making another coop due to chicken math and I'm already up to $600 it's going to be twice as big but I don't have as many spare parts laying around. I still have to get the tin for the roof and the siding. I saved all my egg money for the fencing for the run so the girls are helping.
 
My coop/run area will be three fenced sides and the 4th side is my garage wall. Two of the sides are my dog fence so I'm only adding hardware cloth there, but I'll need to create the last side. The whole area is basically 16ftx25ft. I spent around $110 yesterday just on hardware cloth and railroad ties to put around the outside of the run
sickbyc.gif
I could just puke thinking about how much more I have to do. I have NO tools because a very old screw driver and no lumber or supplies.

My area has Facebook swap/garage sale groups by counties and I'm on all the ones in my area but am having zero luck in finding anything. I check Craigslist daily and no luck there either.

Katie
 
Just to give you an idea of the many treasures you may find at a landfill...
Here is a pic of a double insulated window I found that a contractor threw away after a job he finished. If did not have a frame so as you can see my husband used "what we had" to make a frame and this morning I am painting it inside the house as it is raining outside. Trust me...if they don't mind you will probably find just about everything you need there!! Good Luck!
 
I really think the cost of a coop depends on... 1) do you want it to look really nice or can it be thrown together out of various non-matching materials 2) Do you already have tools on hand 3) do you have a good source of free materials 4) do you have access to a truck, etc. to pick those free materials up.

Those people who have an active craigslist that has items close by, a truck or a good friend with a truck who won't charge you to use to it, etc. should consider themselves blessed. And yes, women can do this (I am a single mom) but it is very hard. Saturday I was trying to cut a window out and simply didn't have the strength to get the the saw thing going through the wood. It was very frustrating. Eventually I got a neighbor man to come help. He didn't do anything I didn't do... he just had more strength. It is what it is.

More than money, time is an issue. I work full-time outside of the home and then come home and help with homework and cook dinner and feed all the animals, etc. There simply isn't time to hang out at a dump or spend hours on Craigslist or drive 2 hours away to pick up some free material - not that I have a truck to pick them up in! I'm not trying to whine... again, it just is what it is.

So can you build a chicken coop for next to nothing? Of course. If you have the time, skills, manpower, and vehicle to put into it, and don't mind if it doesn't look cute and pristine like many of the pictures posted on BYC. Each person's situation is different and what works for one won't work for another. But I love this site for giving everyone ideas and encouragement (my coop would be so much worse without this site)!
 
bjones1128 said:
I really think the cost of a coop depends on... 1) do you want it to look really nice or can it be thrown together out of various non-matching materials
Click to expand...

lol Some of the coops I've seen on here and Pinterest are nice enough that I would live in it! I'm not going for that, I want something safe and big enough that I can get in it and that's all.

Katie
 

Similar threads

W
At what point is overkill on permiter run fencing?
2
Replies
16
Views
770
berlyannpotter
berlyannpotter
Growley Monster
    • Like
New Coop Nearly Finished! But What About a Chicken Door?
Replies
2
Views
564
Mother of Chaos
Mother of Chaos
ILoveDaffy
Coop Design for 2025
Replies
9
Views
2K
ILoveDaffy
ILoveDaffy
kkhoneycutt
Converting Shed Into Coop
Replies
5
Views
498
Hydropillar
H
R
Do all coops struggle with heat in the summer?
2 3
Replies
24
Views
2K
2 Acres
2

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom