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.

 

[Beer can]

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

 

[Maderfarms]

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

Yeah we got lucky that the siding plywood wasn’t as bad as some of the others!!

 

[Tonyroo]

I think it looks fine. I have a tendency to build things with future changes in mind. Cause it's easier to modify it if it doesn't workout the way I thought.

Repurposing wood is always a great option.

 

[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.

 

[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!

 

[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.

 

[Maderfarms]

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.

Same!!! I’m like let’s get rid of all this wood now I’m thankful for it!

 

[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