Need Inexpensive chicken coop New to Chickens PLEASE HELP!

[dansdeals3489]

I am in need of an inexpensive chicken coop. I was given a 1 month old white leghorn rooster and have on order 4 Buff Orpington hens and 4 Black Australorp hens from Meyer hatchery. I didn't realize how much a coop could cost before I got into it (dumb me). I have a larger brooder which will suffice for the time being. I have been eyeing the Chick-N-Barn http://www.critter-cages.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=85 Would that work? I live in northern Ohio so we do have cold winters. I know I would have to modifiy it some. Please let me know.

 

[Katy]

I don't think that will be big enough for the number of chickens you have or are getting. For that amount of money you could build a much larger coop.

 

[dansdeals3489]

Thanks for the reply, I am having troubles finding plans for the right coop for me, do you guys have any suggestions?

 

[kaylakala]

I'm eyeballing this post too.

my husband got chickens and promised to build a coop and nothing is happening yet.

You can get free supplies sometime on freecyclers group on yahoo if you have one in your area.

Post on craigslist.

 

[professor-yellow]

BASICS:

If you will have 9 chickens, figure 4 square feet per bird of coop space. One could go 6x6 feet and satisfy the minimum, or just go 6x8 to use full sheet plywood lengths to minimize waste.

My first coop 35 years ago was 6x8 and held 12 chickens very comfortably. Seemed they never felt cooped up (pun intended).

As far as economy, I used 2x4's from packing crates, and plywood collected off of housing projects. 2x6's came from a demolished trailer and was ripped to 2x3 for rafters.

Currently a meat house is under construction, with crates studs and a truck canopy top that was given away for the roof and a foot of side wall. The hinged door will be nice for added ventilation in summer.

There are many ways to find solid usable materials that someone wants gone. Go to craigslist and look at the FREE, or MATERIALS threads and I am sure you will find what you need.

Good luck and keep us posted and what you have found. Feel free to PM me if you want to get more specific.

 

[dansdeals3489]

I was thinking of buying an 8x8 shed and modifying it to work for a coop. I found on ebay some fast framing kits so all you have to do is buy the lumber, cut 2x4s to length at 90 degree angles and these brackets have all the correct angles to make it faster in framing it. Would that be cheaper than buying a shed?

 

[RoostersCrow]

If you can assemble a kit shed you can build a better one fo less yourself. The only extra tools you would need to build that you wouldn't need to assemble are a hand held circular saw and a couple saw horses. A chop saw for cutting the framing members is nice too but not essential.

Good luck however you go....



Come to think of it... for some "kits" you might stille need those tools too. It depends on how prefab the kit really is......

 

[Carolina Chicken Man]

I'm gonna toot my own horn again.

Here are progress pictures of a simple to build, relatively inexpensive coop and run. I haven't got my wire on the run yet, but based on the pricing I have, I will have about 450 total invested. Good size for 10 chickens. Good weather, 2 people can build in a hard weekend.

 

[dansdeals3489]

That looks great Carolina Chicken Man, what is the material you used for the roof?

 

[Carolina Chicken Man]

Quote:
It's just galvanized roofing metal in 2'x10' pieces. You don't need much slope and it's still water tight.