OMG prices just keep going UPPPPPPP!

[chfriedmam]

OK We ripped everything out and poured a concrete slab and I've been obsessively planning and drawing and redrawing and pricing and repricing materials for our new coop for week and the new chicks arrive this week...

Every time I reprice things it's more expensive! I HAVE GOT to go to the lumber yard tomorrow and just firm things up. I wish I could build something beautiful, but it's gonna be a 8x10 shed with LP Smartside panels (yuck). Or????? Even that is gonna cost like $1,500 here in Los Angeles after all is said and done. Maybe I should just build something lovely? Argh. Meanwhile, those chicks are about to get dropped in the mail!

 

[Jenessa_096]

I know, such hard times with prices going up on everything right now!

 

[T-R-O-U-B-L-E]

Yuck. When we built my coop we used things dad had around the family farm. For the frame we used Round Up cages. For the floor of the coop we used wood that we found at the rent house and for the tin sides we used tin that we found in the barn. We had to buy latches, hinges, locks, a door from the scrap yard, and chicken wire. Ended up being about $200 dollars when it was all said and done. It holds 4 Bantams. What kind of chicks are you getting? Is this your first time? Im sure you will love your coop however you build it. Have fun on your chicken adventure!

 

[chfriedmam]

Nah we are rebuilding our previous coop. We had only 6 chickens before and we are doubling that. We get larger breeds so they are less likely to be carried away by hawks. You are right that once it is done it will be fine, but since I am spending $$ I feel pressure to make good decisions and aesthetic ones too. Part of me wants 2/4 walls to be corrugated metal! LP Smart side is good, but I hate it! Top will be all mesh, with a lean-too "roof" just for shade and rain cover, but whole roof will be ventilation. We're in socal, so heat is a big issue.

 

[chfriedmam]

Then I could always make a fancy stationary hoop coop with some bougie extra trimmings for less than a shed coop.... Ok this is what I'm talking about- i cannot decide!

 

[Callender Girl]

I can identify with your problem. Somehow, I "accidentally" ended up with eight new chicks last spring and had to have a new coop ASAP. I was horrified at the price of lumber, and one of my well-meaning friends kindly pointed out that I should have built the coop the year before -- you know, when my magic crystal ball would have told me that I would not be able to resist more chicks, (okay, that part EVERYBODY knew) and that lumber prices would skyrocket.

Even using some salvaged roofing that blew off the barn in a wind storm, roofing paper donated by a friend, some leftover laminated interior wall paneling, buying cedar pickets for the exterior and with my friend doing the work for free, the coop cost me $800.

I resisted buying materials for as long as I could before finally deciding that my only job was to say, "Nice work, Frank," and head to town to buy whatever he needed to make the best possible coop. I now have a lovely coop -- nicknamed, complete with sign, the "Taj Ma-Coop" -- that will last for years and, hopefully, serve as a reminder that there is no such thing as "free" chickens.

Best wishes with yours!

 

[3KillerBs]

I feel the pain.

We were committed to our partially-built Neuchickenstein when Covid sent lumber prices through the roof and the salvaged wood we'd thought we could use turned out to be too compromised by boring bees to actually use.

 

[3KillerBs]

P.S. That's why our cockerel is named "Ludwig" -- the king of the very expensive castle.

 

[igorsMistress]

I live in AZ and our temps are a bit warmer than yours. What about 3 walls and an open front covered in HWC? Depending on height and width, you could potentially save a few bucks on lumber that way. I built my coop long before Covid and it cost me plenty, but it’s an investment and hasn’t needed more than a paint job and the interior done with white wash yearly.

 

[Acre4Me]

We need to replace the fence around our run (the coop sits fully inside this run). In 2020, We built an open air shed using 14 gauge 1”x2” fencing for all the open areas, and treated lumber. This was when lumber was even hard to find, but we didn’t need a whole lot, so we were able to find what we needed. With the remainder of the fencing, we started to replace the run fence, but only got to the 10’ section of fence to the south. Since then, we have NOT been able to find any large rolls of 1”x2” fencing. We’ve even been on a waiting list for over a year. Last week, I decided to call another place. They researched and found some!!!!! The price is 60% higher than what we paid in 2020, so really expensive. We can’t even use it right now bc middle of winter, ground frozen, and lots of snow, but the person at the store said there was only 9 rolls in stock, and I should buy it bc never know when you’ll find again. True statement. So, hopefully it will be arriving soon, and we can have it for when we need it!