post your chicken coop pictures here!

[beautifulpirate]

The price of lumber can be crazy indeed!! Our 4x8 coop probably cost around half of our 17x26 coop (albeit unfinished so far) so, I say shoot big, 4 chickens seems to be the gateway drug of chicken farming!

When you figure the cost of all the tools we bought to begin our coop construction, we are probably hitting a couple grand. BUT, we'll use them for lots of future projects too. Lumber costs alone, for the coop alone, we've probably hit around $250 for our 4 x 6 coop. We had a few random 2 x 4s and a bit of left over plywood hanging around from various other projects and my husband gets a military discount at Home Depot so that definitely helped a bit. But it adds up quickly. I hope to do a full breakdown of costs when we are all said and done with our build.

AND, I am already dreaming of adding more chickens to the flock so either we'll have to build an addition next year or a second coop or larger coop and sell the old one. Haha, whoever said chickens are an inexpensive hobby, didn't know all the deets.

 

[perchie.girl]

The price of lumber can be crazy indeed!! Our 4x8 coop probably cost around half of our 17x26 coop (albeit unfinished so far) so, I say shoot big, 4 chickens seems to be the gateway drug of chicken farming!

LOL....

For what its worth canvas some Garage door companies. They remove the old wood ones and replace with the steel roll up. Here if your Johnny on the spot you can get a wood two car Garage door for practically nothing. Thats sixteen by eight made of either half inch or five eighhs plywood with STRUCTURE already built in. They make excellent walls as is for chicken coops OR you can disassemble them and use them for "otherstuf" . Of course there will be bad parts. but if you are careful you can excise them or patch.

When I moved up to my house in the desert I brought five single car with me. They are just about eight by eight. Already painted. And as a single female type person they were just about too much to handle. Nothing some leverage and a pickup truck couln't deal with.

deb

 

[ShrekDawg]

The price of lumber can be crazy indeed!! Our 4x8 coop probably cost around half of our 17x26 coop (albeit unfinished so far) so, I say shoot big, 4 chickens seems to be the gateway drug of chicken farming!

Truthfully, folks here aren't trying to be rude or mean. We are all just trying to help others who either didn't do adequate research prior to getting involved with chickens, and are trying to "make do" or "cope". Or those who are in the process of prepping for the chickens they plan to get. There's a wealth of information available here, but I'd guess 50% of the members here joined AFTER they got their chickens, trying to get answers. Sadly, too many have been in your situation. The people who make those coops should be put out of business for selling crap and false advertising.

The coop you bought, you bought... Not much can be done about that at this point. I'm sure most understand $$ are tight and nobody likes having to start over from scratch after a large investment of time and money, not to mention emotion. So dealing with that, you can try to cram 7 birds into a space fit for 3, or you can give up some of those birds to the friend you mentioned and keep a # that will reasonably fit in the space you have available. You could probably stretch it to 4 birds if 3 of them that you keep are the EEs as they are smaller birds.  Down the road a way, you can always build another coop based on the knowledge you gain from this one, and expand your chicken keeping to 6 birds or more.

Right now you have 5 large fowl birds and 3 small birds. If you try to cram all of them into that small area as adults, there will almost 100% be problems. Imagine yourself sleeping in your closet with 5 of your friends... It might be OK as 6 year old kids, but as an adult, I don't think you'd enjoy it too much. Those LF birds could easily reach 6-8 pounds each or more when mature. They'll be big and take up a lot of space. Also, RIRs have been known to develop tempers and can become quite mean.

Good luck moving forward and I hope you can work it out to end up with what's best for the birds and for you.

I agree and this was well said and much better said than I had.

Also, going off the small bird big bird thing, I'm not even sure if 10 would physically fit. I have bigger birds though (1 Barred Rock, 2 Black Australorps, 3 Buff Orpingtons, and 2 Easter Eggers) and already it's very tight and one almost got pushed off the roost the other night.

 

[ShrekDawg]

When you figure the cost of all the tools we bought to begin our coop construction, we are probably hitting a couple grand. BUT, we'll use them for lots of future projects too. Lumber costs alone, for the coop alone, we've probably hit around $250 for our 4 x 6 coop. We had a few random 2 x 4s and a bit of left over plywood hanging around from various other projects and my husband gets a military discount at Home Depot so that definitely helped a bit. But it adds up quickly. I hope to do a full breakdown of costs when we are all said and done with our build.

AND, I am already dreaming of adding more chickens to the flock so either we'll have to build an addition next year or a second coop or larger coop and sell the old one. Haha, whoever said chickens are an inexpensive hobby, didn't know all the deets.

I think a lot of it depends on the plans and the location too because most 4x8 I've seen i had assumed would be at least like $500 to build but we found a plan and so far have only spent $244 brand new from Lowe's

LOL....


For what its worth canvas some Garage door companies.  They remove the old wood ones and replace with the steel roll up.  Here if your Johnny on the spot you can get a wood two car Garage door for practically nothing.  Thats sixteen by eight made of either half inch or five eighhs plywood with STRUCTURE already built in.   They make excellent walls as is for chicken coops OR you can disassemble them and use them for "otherstuf" .  Of course there will be bad parts.  but if you are careful  you can excise them or patch.

When I moved up to my house in the desert I brought five single car with me.  They are just about eight by eight.  Already painted.  And as a single female type person they were just about too much to handle.   Nothing some leverage and a pickup truck couln't deal with.

deb

 

[mybrighteye]

I'm sorry, I know I probably came off that way and totally understand why you'd be upset or take it that way - i mean you should, i got kinda carried away.

But anyway, I totally understand being scared about losing them, sometimes you do just lose them, but you must be taking good care of them for them to all still be alive!!

Fortunately, it doesn't seem like you have too many bigger breeds besides the Orpington and RIR so they should be able to fit in it even longer but eventually I'd definitely try to give some to your friend.

I completely understand that logic, that's how my parents felt and thought it would be good forever. With that said, I hadn't realized 6 was the limit and had thought you were going to put all 10 in it. Although even with 6 it could eventually get tight but with the bantams and smaller breeds it could probably work

Apologies, I hadn't realized you only planned on 4 or 6, I guess I just assumed with the 6-9 bit you had planned on that many. I had also thought that you said you planned to free range but I may have read a different part. Anyhow, I think for only 4 you could definitely make it work if they have that run. Although I would definitely give them a lot of things to do to preveny boredom. And I know you've already invested a lot in it so I don't suppose it's possible to make the run a teeny bit bigger? They may get bored but with only 4 and if you give them a lot of stuff to do I think you could make it work.

Also, if you only plan on 4 and there's a limit of 6 and you do ever decide to build then you don't necessarily need a 4x8 thing like I'm building, 4x4 or 4x6 could work and be cheaper too.

But again, I think you could definitely make it work but I wouldn't recommend putting more than 4 in there and even that is a bit tight but I think it could work. Especially if you keep the smallest or the gentlest of the 10.

Sorry for being so mean before!!!

I think if you come up with plenty of things to keep them occupied it could work for 4. I guess I'm thinking from the perspective of my 8, it is definitely tight for that. I think 4 could definitely fit, at least on the roosts.

If you ever do decide to do something else maybe you could sell that one?

But I totally understand not wanting to waste the money and I think for 4 it will be okay if you can let them out sometimes or give them a ton to do. And maybe you could find some cheap or free stuff to make the run a littlr bigger? I know that with mine theoretically they have enough run space but it's boring space. Speaking of which, even if you can't make the run bigger it's the quality of the space that's important too. I mean, you could have an 8 foot eode, 50 or 60 foot long thing but if all it is is barren dirt/mud or shavings and nothing to do they will still be bored or maybe fight. In a smaller one you can provide a lot to do and they maybe won't notice.

I wasn't saying you were being a giant ol meanie, I'm super sensitive (it's an awful character trait) lol. I appreciate all the feedback, truly.

I can see how my original post was confusing when I mentioned how many the coop was said to hold. We do plan on free ranging when we are home and in the backyard which we do spend a good amount of time out there. I don't want a hawk to come and take one of my babes away lol.

I'm going to be putting some enrichment toys in there for them, it's just my nature to do things like that. I'm sure eventually we will expand but my husband literally just finished the run two days ago. I was thinking of making a Chunnel for them too with the leftover hardware cloth because we have a super long area that runs between the side of our house and the fence.

 

[TJordan]

I need ideas for a good coop that cost little cash, can be built by 2 adults in a decent amount of time and can hold several large birds..... Hummmm

My husband has an idea but I think I preferred our old set up. 8'x8'x6' tall barn coop that led to a nice 10'x15' run. Granted, not the perfect set up but it's better than what he's talking right now.

He won't listen to me. I guess if he does build a 8'x8'x4' tall coop instead I could always make a peaked roof that half flips open to reveal the inside. I want an exterior nest box set up for more room and a H cross setup for the roost poles. Maybe grab some large pvc pipe with elbow pipe for a secure inside feeder and water set up.

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
Tool costs are money in the bank for sure. Also if you go to the Pro Desk you can get bulk pricing on materials as well as free delivery if you buy over a certain amount. You dont have to be a Pro to buy at the Pro Desk. They cater to DIY people who dabble in a few self contracting jobs. Found that out when I hired a local to rehab my bathroom. The way I do it when i have to hire someone with better skills than me is I get them to bid the job time wise then give me a list of what materials they will need.

Happy building

deb

 

[rottlady]

We're building this one and substituted the OSB for 3/4 pressure treated plywood on the floor and 3/8 pine sheathing since OSB absorbs moisture and the sheathing was actually cheaper than the OSB. I don't know if just the sheathing would hold up, we're going to cover it with something. But I don't think the OP did. But anyways, our total came to like $244. Of course we didn't buy 1x3 or 1x6 since we have them and we didn't buy lumber for a run but still. Perhaps its the design? Ours was all brand new from Lowe's too. We are in Massachusetts and OP is in Canada.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/jonny-anvils-chicken-coop

hm.. don't know. I have not built anything in 2 decades so it was a price shock and I won't buy OSB for anything, not durable and the chemicals in it... yuck
this is sort of the coop I am building. I made some changes- like substituted sheathing for the crap OSB and hardware cloth for chicken wire and putting it on wheels and metal roof instead of shingles irony here the metal roofing was the cheapest part!)

We bought materials at Home Depot

3 pt 4x4
35 2x3x8
4 15/32 4x6 sheathing plywood
3 19/32 4x8 T1-11
2 25' rolls 1/2" hardware cloth
15 1x3x8
4 2x2x8
1 1x2x8
roofing material not yet bought
wheels not yet bought
5 hinges
2 latches
2 screw eyes
1 14 x 21" window I got cheap on ebay ($19)
caulking
nails
stain

 

[beautifulpirate]

I think a lot of it depends on the plans and the location too because most 4x8 I've seen i had assumed would be at least like $500 to build but we found a plan and so far have only spent $244 brand new from Lowe's

I think one of the biggest costs involved with a coop and run isn't so much the lumber, but the hardware cloth. We were fortunate that we have a local company about 45 minutes away that specializes in metal screening and they sell 100 foot rolls of 48" 1/2" hardware cloth for $92. That's pretty much unheard of. Anywhere else we looked, online or local, we were looking at $200+ for that amount.

But really when it is all said and done, it still all adds up depending on what you are doing. Roofing materials are costly and paint can be too. We'll be lucky if our full materials cost comes in under $750 for the full coop and run. But at least we know it is built strong, secure and pretty darn predator resistant. And we can build it how we want. It will last for years upon years.

 

[mybrighteye]

Also, right now I'm extremely confused about what to put in my run. I read sand was great and then someone posted that sand is the most awful thing. I read straw harbors mites but then I read it's the best thing. lol it's all so confusing!

I've been reading up on chickens for over a year now and even then I was clearly underprepared.