Sky high lumber prices = thinking outside the box.

[Maderfarms]

We recently got chickens and needed to build a chicken coop and run. Thankfully we had a TON of reclaimed wood from tearing down a shed on our property. We used all of that for the coop. The only thing wood wise we bought for the coop was 2 sheets of plywood siding that was about $80. We needed a cheaper option for our run since lumber prices are crazy right now! We will eventually upgrade to a bigger, nicer run when/if lumber prices ever drop. We still have some finishing touches to do on the coop but I wanted to share with those who needs cheaper option for a run what we did.

For the run we used 5 (6.5ft tpost at $4.50 a piece) and chicken wire. All in all we spent around $60 for the entire run which, not including the coop, is 10ftx4ft. We dug around the run and buried the wire about 6 inches to a foot. We secured the chicken wire to the tpost. We placed a piece of chicken wire on top and secured with plastic tie wraps. We will be placing pavers around the outside parameter in the coming week. Again this is a temporary options for us until lumber prices drop. It’s not the prettiest thing out there but all in all we have under $200 in the entire run and coop! Our girls love it and we are pleased.

We left the top open and the floor bare so that nature can take its course. It’s in an area that is covered densely by trees so they have plenty of shade. We hope this will be successful for us.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

That chicken wire won't work well with predators. It's designed to keep birds in, not keep animals out

 

[Maderfarms]

That chicken wire won't work well with predators. It's designed to keep birds in, not keep animals out

We’ve read a lot about this. They are cooped at night which has hardware cloth on all holes so hopefully we won’t get too many day time predators. We will eventually add hardware wire when we upgrade but for now this is what we could afford.

 

[herman 48]

The price of everything is going up. It's called inflation. The U.S. government is giving away and/or spending trillions of dollars it does not have. I don't see any difference between what it does and what forgers do: print money that isn't backed up by anything. Add to that the recent increase in fuel prices and our renewed dependence on foreign oil (after we had become independent from it during the previous administration) and you'll figure out that the price of lumber, that requires energy to be harvested and transformed from trees into beams, boards, sheets, etc. and then transported from the mills to the dealers and to the retailers (and lumber weighs a lot, and requires a lot of fuel to be transported) and you'll figure out that the price of lumber will continue to go up. Also, as new federal policies are adopted, many forests that could have used some thinning out will be off-limits to any harvesting of trees, and this will reduce the supply while the demand increases.

When I built two of the three chicken houses I have, I was told by a friend that there was a lumber mill that gave away the outer surfaces of various types of trees that were being sawn off the logs to square them. These discarded boards, flat on one side and round on the other side still covered with bark were piled up on a lawn outside the mill and available to whoever wanted them. With the same friend. we went to that mill and found out where the cypress board were. We cut them in pieces that would be manageable, piled them up in the back of my F 150 and made several trips from the mil to my home. The only plywood sheets I had to buy were for the roof of the chicken houses, and then the roof was covered with more of those boards. The sides were built with the cypress boards, with the bark on the outside, overlapping like roof tiles, so that the rain wound not penetrate. I live in Alabama, so airtight chicken houses are not a necessity. On the contrary, air flow from the gaps between the boards is essential in summer, and those two houses are many degrees cooler than the outside temperature. In winter it never gets really cold, but if it rarely does get below freezing turn on heat lamps in these houses.
Cypress wood does not rot, and if you could find a friendly lumbermill owner that gives away or sells at low price these discarded outer boards (non suitable for much, because if you burn them they release toxic fumes) you'll be able to build chicken houses for much less than by buying treated plywood. As an added bonus, my two chicken houses look like log homes, of the rough kind that were built by gold miners in the Yukon. Incidentally, those boards can make excellent deer blinds, too, as they seem to repel insects and larvae. If I were to build deer and turkey blinds with them, I would follow a different pattern and fit the boards together vertically, rather than horizontally, so that the blinds would look more natural--like the trees that surround it.

 

[Beer can]

Plywood is $75 a sheet around here right now. Glad I don't have to build anything.

 

[Tre3hugger]

I just bought a small log Granberg Alaskan Mill and a new chainsaw. It should pay for itself in 2-3 projects with the cost of lumber as it is!

 

[LavenderMotherHen]

We had to think outside the box as well. We ended up making a large hoop coop because it doesn't use as much wood. We used as much scrap as we could, and are saving every bit of the old coop for future projects.....I told my hubby that I was finally starting to appreciate his hoarding ways. Lol I used to give him a hard time about picking up things off the side of the road, etc... but its been a blessing during this weird time of EVERYTHING being expensive.

 

[domari]

Plywood is $75 a sheet around here right now. Glad I don't have to build anything.

We got lucky and found someone selling a sturdy wooden shed/kids playhouse for $100. There's no way we could have built something like it for $100! It has windows on 3 sides that open wide and shut tight. We put wire outside window frames for fresh air and to keep raccoons out. A friend was giving away some scrap wood which we took to make a front door, ramp and roosts.
It's work in progress, as we find more scrap wood, we'll put on an addition. It's been perfect for the girls to grow up in.
My son laughed when he first saw it, said it looks like a church. We've named the coop St Brigid's Chicken Church and hung a St Brigid's cross over the door. (St Brigid is the Patron Saint of chickens)

 

[JacinLarkwell]

We’ve read a lot about this. They are cooped at night which has hardware cloth on all holes so hopefully we won’t get too many day time predators. We will eventually add hardware wire when we upgrade but for now this is what we could afford.

Alright, just wanted to make sure you were aware

 

[U_Stormcrow]

For those seeing plywood prices climb thru the roof (and who isn't) for a host of reasons I'll not start unpacking here - gets political quickly, but its also COVID for complicated reasons - I recommend considering Hardiepanels. Heavier - they are 4x8 sheets of essentially concrete and fiberglass - harder on your tools and you definitely want to use a dust mask when cutting them (NOT! with your favorite circular saw blade), but they are superior to wood in almost every respect. In normal times, a Hardieboard panel runs $35 near me, while 1/2" exterior Ply runs $28. Hardie is now $42 as of last week, but the Ply just hit $65. Makes it MUCH easier to justify the extra wear on saw blades and the heavier material haul to the job site.

Same dynamics going on with metal roofing right now. Requires less framing, no decking, and shingle prices have also climbed. Suddenly, a product that used to cost more (and is still less attractive) has a very nice cost advantage over traditional construction.