Suggestions please... buy or build?

[smarsh2]

listen to everyone's words of encouragement. You can build one. Check to see if there is a fellow BYCer in your area that might be willing to help. I personally love building stuff and would mind helping if you lived near by.

 

[J & R Dunn-keys & Company]

Contessa,
Everyone here is your best source of information, we also opted to build, because of the high cost of prebuilt, and because we wanted to spend the time together. We researched for plans, bought books, we have as many animal housing books...almost as we do chicken raising books.

We went to our local 84 Lumber Supply and asked for cull lumber. They didn't give it to us but we got it super cheap, some of the boards are bent, but you can make them work. You've got time to build and get it finished by the end of winter.
It's alot of work, but it is alot of fun, then you can look at it in the summer while you're sitting in a chair sipping iced tea, with your ladies singing to you.
No matter what you all decide, it will be right for you, and if you take the plunge and build, just remember it is an adventure. You might find you have a hidden talent building.

Oh, and be forwarned, if you or your husband finds he likes building and want to increase the size of your coop.....BE CAREFUL!! We started with small plans and ended big.

 

[95yj]

the way you get better at building stuff is by actually building stuff, and its a great skill to have. I'm a very technical person, i grew up in my dads work shop and started building coops when i was 13, i failed basic chemistry but i can build a crazy chicken coop for $57 and scavenged materials. a simple coop is, well, simple, it's not terribly difficult to build and its one of the best beginner projects i think of. You'd only need a couple tools, you could probably beg them off a friend, and try to utilize a pre existing structure [read: steal you neighbors garden shed] If time isn't critical then i would strongly encourage you to put some energy into it and try building your own coop, if you want chickens NOW then get one of those heartless, soul-less, mass-produced chicken containment units and give it a unique paint job...

 

[Contessa]

Wow, thank you everyone for your replies!

I did notice that many of the pre-fabricated coops looked a little harder to clean and I was worried about the ventilation as well. I am glad that you mentioned that elmo - we're really new at this so I thought maybe it was me..

kristen2678 - I hadn't seen those coops in my searches. They are nice looking.

kota1369 - I'm going to search for the playhouse. I think I remember reading about that idea before. Thank you

J & R, I am hoping he will find he enjoys this

Bigger would be just fine with me!

gryeyes - Your home made coop is very similar to what we were thinking about. Thank you for sharing your experience (that was a great build for a first try too!)

NorthernOntario, I agree about the panels and I would really love to do exactly what you're describing. My biggest worry is getting a snug enough fit and a means of keeping the panel in place. I think I might be complicating it in my mind...

smarsh2, domino7 & cherycohen thank you for the encouragement.

We're in Oklahoma and don't have the benefit of family or handy friends so we'll have to dive in and do it.

I really do appreciate people's opinions and the opportunity to learn what everyone would have done differently. It will go a long way towards helping us decided what is important for our project. And I also think it's much more fufilling to build. It's just somewhat intimdating...

I've showed my husband some of the coops that you guys constructed and he thinks we should be able to manage building one based on what we've looked at. Now if the weather would just settle down a bit, hahaha...

 

[Contessa]

Quote:
My biggest fear is that the animals would pay for something we overlooked because we're so new to this. That may be silly, but it's the main reason I was considering pre-fab. I think if we keep looking we'll get a better idea of what will work for us as far as a build goes. I think that the basic coop is pretty straight forward. I also think we're going to move away from the a-frame idea. It would be great if it didn't get so hot here...

 

[cherylcohen]

When you are building just make sure that you cover all openings with small hardware cloth using screws and washes like below or wood. Think like a predator, mouse or other and make sure they can't get into your chickens secure area.

 

[MiniBeesKnees]

Don't go get a kit at Lowe's or Home Depot...or the like. It takes more skill, and more time, and I swear a whole lot more money than building from scratch. And the materials are not as high quality as you would buy, the 'studs' a lot further apart, and it takes a big, very flat area in which to build it. I wanted a big coop and decided on a ten by ten by ten foot barn style with a loft because you can put roosts, windows, ventilation, and nesting boxes in just about any structure. I started with just a few chickens and now have eleven...I plan on going into next winter with six breeds, three of each kind so I built to house 24 plus. Since I'll have six roosters plans include a lot of ways to keep them segregated. If I had it to do again I'd call the local shed builder and have him deliver one the right size...they did a spectacular job building my 12 x 20 shed. Looking back the kit that I got from Lowe's cost about the same thing.
Terry in TN

 

[cherylcohen]

Agreed I bought a few plans on the internet and they were crazy hard for a non-carpenter. Just put a wall, then the next, then the next!

 

[CityChook]

When we built our coop, we had NEVER built anything like that before. Absolute newbies. And city-folk at that! We literally built the coop based on the construction photos of other BYCers. I printed out photos of each stage and we just tried to do what they did in the pictures. Duh. Luckily, we had a friend that helped when he was available and was always reachable by phone when we started to panic. We made some mistakes, but learned from them and have the satisfaction of saying that we did it ourselves. No one died or got divorced, so all's well that ends well. On the down side, it did take us FOREVER to get it done as we only had weekends to work on it. But I don't think we could have afforded to pay someone to build it. I don't think that the pre-fabbed coops are as sturdy and stable as ones that you would just build from scratch.

 

[PhilErvin]

I too would encourage you to try your hand at building it yourself. Regardless as to how inexperienced you are you must remember that it's a CHICKEN HOUSE. The chickens don't care how pretty it is. As a matter of fact, they will not appreciate anything more than a shelter from the wind.
I am inexperienced like you but I looked at what everybody else was building and simply sat down with a pencil and started drawing. I started building and made changes along the way. I took my sweet time and I was thrilled with the finished coop. Check mine out https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=40971 and remember, it's not a piano you're building but a crate to ship it in.