Struggling with affordability of coop

[mystprism]

I've looked at all sorts of sources from Amazon to Walmart to local feed stores. I've also looked at local buy-nothing groups, Craigslist, and things like that. I've got a fairly basic (if large, 8x8) coop design sketched out but might want to go with a kit since it's my first coop and it seems like my options are all quite expensive.

Option 1: Buy kit
To get a kit for 10+ chickens seems to start at around $800

Option 2: Buy building materials from the hardware store
I threw everything (studs, OSB, plywood, roofing, treated posts, hardware cloth) into an online cart at Home Depot and came to about $500. I imagine my actual cost would be higher because I'm sure I'm not accounting for everything.

Option 3: Spend weeks digging through free ads for construction materials to scrounge together most of what I need
This would be time consuming, gas consuming, and would probably leave me with lower quality materials.

Am I missing something, or is a coop of any size beyond about 4x4 feet gonna hit my wallet pretty hard? Are there inexpensive prefabbed options out there? I'm in a very mild climate so I don't need anything fancy. I'm also planning to free range them most of the time, so all the coops with big attached runs are overkill.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Kit is always going to be most expensive since a lot of the work has been done for you (or conversely, poor quality because you'd have to cut corners). I've been looking at shed kits lately about the same size as what you're looking at, and they're all 2-3k.

If you're willing to do the legwork to get free/discounted materials via Craigslist or whatever, obviously that would be the cheapest option. Pallets are popular to save money and are often free, so have you considered asking around to see if some local stores might be willing to part with some?

 

[Relleoms]

My two cents...

I bought a prefab coop for 7 chickens and spent a small fortune reinforcing, predator proofing, etc., only to realize there was no way it was actually going to keep my flock dry in the summer or warm in the winter. We were able to find a local small business who builds high quality, affordable coops. The piece of mind I get from knowing my flock is dry & protected when needed is worth every penny. And we’re not terribly handy, so it would have cost more for us to try to build it ourselves. I would think for $800 you could get a really nice, quality coop in your area. Our 8’x6’ cost just under $1000, but includes an auto pop door. Personally, I think it’s the most important investment you’ll make if you plan to have chickens for the long-haul, and worth doing right the first time. Good luck!!!

Edit: Well shoot, I lied . Apparently, decimals matter. Our coop was $1990, not $990. Didn’t mean to mislead. Getting older (sometimes) sucks.

 

[featheredplanets]

I don’t know what’s available to you but second hand sheds and Wendy houses are easily accessible and cheap here, a 10x12 shed is £50 second hand, that could hold around 30 chickens with 4sqft per. It doesn’t cost much to add predator proof ventilation, roosts and nesting boxes to a used out building. We go to auctions and second hand sales for bits and bobs useful to use.

 

[lazy gardener]

Do you have the tools? At the very least, you will need a good drill, and a skill saw. I much prefer to use a chop saw for most of my cuts.

What is your basic location? That will help folks to give climate appropriate advice. While you already have your coop drawn out, I suggest that you look at the Wood's Open Air style coop before making any design commitments. IMO these coops are by far the most practical coop for all locations.

You can build a coop that is far superior to any thing you could buy (unless you lay out well over a thousand dollars) To save money, you might scrounge up your doors and windows. I can get all the doors/windows I could ever need from my town dump. And they are good quality. You'd be surprised what people throw away. Then, after you get your doors/windows, you can design your walls to incorporate them.

Check out a little book published by Sunset, titled: "Sheds and garages". Lots of building details there to help get you started on designing the perfect coop for you.

 

[SonoranChick]

Coop set up can be pricey and should look different depending on where you reside. Living in the hot, dry desert, my flock needs tons of shade and open air/ventilation. My coop is not insulated, because it really doesn't need to be.
I do not recommend pre fab coops. They are over-priced in my opinion. You could easily take that money to Home Depot and buy three times the materials and really create something nice. I also highly recommend reusing old materials that you may already have lying around!...our entire coop is made of refurbished metal and wood. It looks perfectly mismatched in a way that I really appreciate, and the best part is, chickens don't care if it's fancy and new. They just need to be safe from predators and the elements, and comfortable.

 

[mystprism]

Little follow up to maybe allay some fears. I'm willing to spend what it takes to get my girls a good home. I just hope to do it in a way that makes sense.

 

[paintedChix]

Surprising not to see anybody suggest a hoop coop made from cattle panel. You can make them pretty inexpensively - going up in cost with heavier support framing (2X4, 4x4, 4x6 & 2x4 vs 2x2) or a metal/plastic type roof vs a tarp. 2 - 16' x 50" panels now cost $21/each at our TSC (this will make a coop approx 8' x 8' x 6' tall). Then when you are ready to expand it or build a run, you can use the same cattle panels.

Recommend doing the extra cost and going with hardware cloth instead of chicken wire.

There are several different designs right here on BYC - from a "tractor style" (w/ & w/o wheels) to LARGE, heavy duty, permanent coops. You could build a wood bottom frame to attach it to, use fence posts on the outside of the panels to hold them in place or my my new one will have stacks of two tires to hold the panels in place (I'll see if it works).

You can use wire, zip ties or even haystring or paracord to attach the panels together and attach the wire to it...

Lots of different water/feeder & nesting box options. Open floor to dirt or could put hardware cloth in to keep predators out. Lots of door possibilities - from building your own to purchasing - new or used. I used a 5 gallon bucket inside of a wood frame as a pop door (some of the girls lay their eggs in that, tho!).



These are nothing fancy. The first one cost about $200 and the 2nd & 3rd cost less as we already had some of the supplies. They have survived two hurricanes; 3 major rain events with more than 9" of rain in just hours and a whole lot of wind. Two have been thru major moves & resets and the 3rd was moved once (1st move was approx 10 miles on the highway; 2nd was 25 miles - they were moved via flatbed trailers). At previous property, we had pasture even enough to pull them by hand. Here, they were "parked" when we found that w/o wheels, haling them around was tearing them up on all the hillocks of bunch grass in our sand. After moving to this property, I also put 1/2" HC skirting around two of the 3, to keep critters out, so more expense.

You could even do a pallet shed for more support/protection. This one was held together with haystring for 3 months at temporary pony quarters, while we were closing on our new place.... & putting up fencing to hold them all at our new place after closing. The pallets were $2 each and are 48" x 48". The back wall is made from a door that had been left at the curb & I picked up.



After moving the ponies & disassembling this "shed", I put together 2 new ones at the new property - fully expecting to make them permanent... They are still standing, still in use and still put together with haystring, though they are awaiting a permanent set of cinder block footers, being screwed together once leveled and a different roof layout instead of the tarps ... They work. LOL,

 

[Hopperkiller]

Ditto from me great post

I reckon you can tell i am sort of a Sanford type of person. Just helped a friend tear down a barn built in 1920 so he could save some money building a shed for calves and other projects on his place. I hope i can learn to be as creative as some people's examples seen in this forum. Thanks

 

[cholland]

If you are going to have more than a few chickens you will want an 8x8 coop at least. Building one will be cheaper but still probably $800-1000 if using all new materials. Recycling windows, doors, hinges, all of it will save $.
Pallets are a lot of work and in my area they don't give away the nice ones.

Do you have a ReStore or some kind of place that sells discounted/used hardware?
In my area the Lowes puts together cull packs of imperfect/damaged lumber and sells them 50% off. More than once I've found bundles of 2x4 and 2x6 that are still perfectly good for coops and sheds.

Just for reference. A couple of the local feed stores here sell coops they build. Not kits, real solid coops. They are $1200 and up.