Please Help!

[farmlvr11]

Hi everyone,

I have a couple questions:

1. which is better building a coop by yourself or with a kit?

2. is there something that i should put on the floor of a chicken coop like sand?

 

[jamband]

Hi everyone,

I have a couple questions:

1. which is better building a coop by yourself or with a kit?

2. is there something that i should put on the floor of a chicken coop like sand?

that depends how comfortable you are around tools and building things. Kits will always cost more than the same coop you just build.


there needs to be something....hay, straw, leaves, wood shavings, sand etc

 

[kichohana]

1. Built ours by hand. We are handy and like building stuff and enjoyed the process (mostly). We also could take our time because we built the coop/run BEFORE we got the chicks. You are limited in buying pre-made or a kit as far as what is available. If you build yourself, the sky's the limit. We designed ours off a few different small/medium sized coops here on BYC Coop pages.

2. Floor of the coop. Well, that depends. Mine is covered in linoleum, and then 3-4 inches of pine shavings. I have a poop board under their roost filled with Stall-dri (works like kitty litter) for easy cleaning. Their original run is covered and attached to the coop and has about 1 ton of builders sand in it. Awesome stuff. Great drainage and easy to rake clean - and the poop I miss somehow disappears into the sand. I've also expanded their run to an outdoor uncovered area. It just has dirt. The girls pecked it clean of anything green or growing within 2 weeks. They spend most of their time out there and love digging huge holes in the dirt for dustbathing.

 

[kshelton]

I built one for my grandma for 1000$ roughly that is much larger and i feel much stronger then the ones offered for sale around here, being my first time building a chicken coop in particular i went pretty basic and probably didn't have enough research ahead of time but none the less its very functional..

pictures of it before being painted cant be seen in this thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/697229/need-ventilation-advice

naturally i didnt charge my grandma for the labor so that would of been a major jump in price usually it seems to be close to as much as materials or more for labor on most projects so its surely something to consider if you don't have someone at hand to do it free

Also many people use reclaimed materials as much as possible in these types of projects and can end up with a much much lower cost the using new premium materials, it would seem knowing when and how to use the reclaimed materials and when to strictly use new material is key to the longevity of any building. and also take into consideration that you don't want an eyesore next to your home marring the beauty of the rest of your home/property and matching things up is always ideal.