My "Free" Eggs are costing me a FORTUNE! - ITS DONE!! pg 15 pics

[WoodlandWoman]

Our coop is about 20 years old now and looks as great as it did when we built it. I was just commenting to my husband the other day about how great the shingles on the roof still look. The cost per year so far works out to be less than one dinner out. And it still has so many more years left in it. So, I think it was a great investment.

 

[Gardengirl 2011]

I too put the horse before the cart as I usually do. I'm glad to read that I'm not the only one who has shelled out way more than I expected to on the coop I had built. Those of you who have had the resources and time to collect recycled materials, I take my hat off to you!

Your designs are truly amazing! Unfortunately, I had neither the time, nor the resources, lol. But in the end I'll be very happy with what I will have and I too joked about painting that first egg metallic gold.

 

[lfreem2]

I think your post is hysterical. We just converted an old 10x12 foot shed into a coop, but after putting on a 35 foot run that is partially covered, being forced to replace the roof on the shed because it was 20 years old and leaking, purchasing an auto pop door and on and on...well we spend a veritable fortune and I had the shed to begin with!!!

I said to my friend, these chickens better lay golden eggs to pay for all this! LOL!

 

[showme69]

If it makes you feel any better, I'm up to about $2,000 right now, but I'm building a 10X10 garden shed as opposed to a small coop. I wanted to have some storage space in addition to the area for the chickens, so I'm putting in a half-wall to divide the inside. I bought most of my supplies from Lowe's and always have at least a 10% off coupon when making a purchase. I also bought a "tax refund" gift card that Lowe's offered recently. You bought the card, then on a certain date last month, they added 10% of the original value to the card. That was like getting an additional 10% off everything I bought.

Here's a photo of the shed I'm building. Just wish it was already finished like the one in the photo.

 

[crj]

All I can say is WOW. Some super expensive coops that I would love to see pictures of. As for the recycled coops... Awesome job!! I myself us recycled materials. I think collecting the materials is part of the fun. I've made several coops and I enjoyed making each one. Here is what I've done so far. BTW, my birds only spend the night in the coops they free range all day.

Free. It was a pot belly pigs place before I got it. I will have to redo the front soon.

Made 3 like this. The coop cost just over $100 to make. Had free fencing and poles. In this picture the coop wasn't finished. A pop out door was added and so was a tin roof. Tin...... also free. One coop I used chicken wire which was $100 but I didn't use all of it, maybe 1/2. Chicken wire for the other coop was $64. Poles for 2 of the coops? $25.

I just made this for babies. It's now my nursery. The left side of the roof lifts up for easier cleaning.
Cost less then $20

I just made this. It will be my brooder house for those hens that are broody and being bothered by non broody hens. If you notice, through the pop out door there is a feed bag that I use to cover the floor and then put pine shavings on top. This helps protect the floor.
Cost less then $50

This is the brooder box I just made. I do have covers to keep the cool air and rain out. I have 2 sebastopol geese and 4 chicks living in it at the moment.
This was made out of a crate, free from Craigslist. Hardware cloth $6 and still have some left. Hardware $10. Paint was 1 gallon @ $5 and used 2/3 of it. I painted the snot out of it since nothing is preasure treated.

I think use what you have you never know what you will come up with. No plans were used for any of these buildings, just a thought that came to be.

 

[Hoosierchickens]

I, too, feel your pain. I'm in the process of building my first coop and I don't even want to know how much I've spent so far. I told my wife I thought it would cost somewhere between $500 and $800. We're at least twice that now and we've used some recycled materials.

 

[baldessariclan]

Sounds like your timeline is possibly part of the problem, but not much you can do about that now -- those chicks grow FAST!

There's a saying we use at work --> "Good; Cheap; Fast; -- pick any two...". You usually can't have all three. Reality doesn't normally work out that way.

If you're on a tight schedule, there probably won't be enough time to scrounge/deal with details of recycled materials, trial-and-error design and fitting, and stuff like that. So you end up having to pay more $$$. But looks like you're still getting the "Good" and "Fast" areas covered pretty well. And memory of the cost will probably fade over time, while you get to continue to enjoy the quality of the final product over the coming years.

 

[lfreem2]

Quote:
Thank you for not making me feel like a freak. I PROMISE I won't say a word to your wife if you don't tell my hubby the truth and help me hide the Home Depot bill! LOL!

 

[Cynth]

we bought this house a couple months ago and are using some cabnets that are downstairs that are falling apart. I might as well use the wood from those. My dh would much rather go buy new like your brother

and build but I am a frugal cheapskate!!!

So far I am winning.

We are hoping tobuild our own playhouse also for the kids and I know that will be a lot. There are some great little houses here on this forum.

 

[Irene]

YES....!!! Our eggs are worth about $8.00 a piece, we guess, as we laugh our way to the poor house! Not only the coop's lumber, lighting, and all the hard wire we used, but the feed costs, and the human food our chickens eat, is really a cost factor in having our chickens. Instead of farm animals, we have almost 3 dozen very expensive pets! And, we don't eat them! LOL....