We built our coop on the frame of an old shed, stripped down to the studs. Total cost with a fenced in run & bird netting over the top to deter raptors was close to $3000 in 2019/20. Materials like cage wire etc were hard to find. We were lucky to have a local mill nearby for rough cut lumber. We used this for board& baton. After running power out to the coop, $$ well you get the idea . But it is well built , safe and dry. If you can find a Re-Store for materials, you can save a lot.
If it comes with a good size pen, I'd say go for it. I thought I'd save money converting a brand new wooden kid's playhouse, since I know very little about building anything. I found that it would have been so much easier to build my own. Conversion was/is very difficult and costly. My husband calls it the chicken money pit. I sure hope the pen is a lot easier to make. I'm at at least a thousand dollars and it's not even finished, no walls up yet, just worked on. I would never recommend anyone convert unless you know a carpenter, lol. That's just me though
I forgot to ask how high of a pitch you have for pen roof.
I have also used poultry staples when I know I won't need - or want - to modify what I built in the future. Poultry staples are very cost effective, and extremely sturdy as you hammer them in. Their drawback for me has been when I needed to remove them to do an upgrade or modification. That's when you find out how solid sturdy they really are. If you find youself hammering your fingers more than the staples, try using a pair of needle nose pliers to hold them in position when you hammer.Security doesn't come cheap.
I am doing a rush job on the brooder that needs to be set up and holding a good temperature by next Thursday evening (chicks expected Friday), and might not be able to wait for the new pneumatic fence stapler DH is going to order tonight so he's hunted up the box of hammerable fence staples for me.
Hand-operated stapleguns, even the best-designed and heaviest-duty, use relatively small staples and it takes very strong hands to hold them firmly enough to get good penetration. I didn't mind bad penetration stapling plastic mesh to the temporary pen that would be used inside the electric net, but I wouldn't trust those staples vs a determined 5yo much less a racoon.
Indeed. IMO, the best fasteners are stronger than the material they're fastening.
I was lucky. My friend gave me an old dog kennel 8X11X6. I went to my favorite Home Depot and purchased 4X8 plywood panels. Of course, this was 7 yrs ago when wood was cheaper. I built a 4X8 chicken coop with a sloped roof. 6ft in the back and 4ft in front with a open space for them to go in and out and one I could get into to clean. I sealed and painted the inside and out, including the floor. I attached closet posts on the wall so they would have a perch. I attached the 8X11X6 dog kennel on the front. It had a door, so I could go in and out and stand up. I only had 4 chickens back then. I used a tarp for the roof, but that didn't work out with rain and the wind we have here. I have since that time have added beams and metal roofing panels. Over the years and acquiring more chickens and ducks, I was given another 8X10X5 kennel and a wooden chicken coop from other friends. My coop is now 55X8X6 winding around a tree. I am now a 77yr old 5'2" woman who loves to build and loves her feathered friends. DYI is the way to go if you are at all handy with tools. Good luck.
