Talk me off the Ledge... $2000 for a chicken coop!

[Banana01]

OP says not pre built, but I would consider a prefab steel frame building, allowing you to choose your siding and roof materials. But this could blow your budget up though if you want really nice looking outside finishes. After researching, because I can not afford it but enjoy dreaming, your $2000 coop seems like somewhat of a bargain depending on how your design will be built and finished. Maybe you should do the prefab Mennonite route and spend some budget on the inside.

For a steel frame example, here is a nice sized 14' x 9' prefab steel frame that is 12' high for $750. Vinyl siding is $8/sheet, you would need 30 sheets to do 3 sides, plus insulation which may be optional for you. The roof would be about $1000 for seamed metal because the structure is so big, but if you could keep it the roof at about 100 sq ft it would be half that price. A local welder may be able to do a steel frame for you that is more custom to a chicken coop and smaller for less than this big one to keep the roof cheap.

So I know nothing what insulation you need and your interior costs, but just the building with really nice vinyl siding you can choose the color of, and metal finishes for the roof is around $2000. Now I'm cheating because it doesn't include shipping cost which I do not know, but you could source all this locally.

You could customize the entry way door or use high end materials like copper roof and still be reasonable prices somewhat. A welder could do a steel frame in a few days. Just an option to consider weighing against the prefab wood.

$750 steel frame. Source locally and go smaller to save money.

Flat roof design

Metal seam roofing $500/100sf, $1000 if over 100sf

 

[RooStar Chicken Gang]

Exactly $500, I think.... Brought two chicken coops that use to just sit out in the yard that they lived in, then realised we have a whole shed/garage over here no one uses, so brought another big bird cage shed thing to go inside of that shed/garage and made roosts in that too out of cubored draw shelves then also put the the two other coops inside that shed/garage, winters coming and that's gonna be more warm in there too.. next I'm gonna chuck a gate that's already on the property on the entrance to the shed as a whole so yeah.

 

[stripedgirls707]

I am in the process of building an 8x8 raised coop with an 8x8 roof covered run, and a 10x8 hardware cloth covered run. the first batch of wood was $1400. We had about 25 2x4's already so didn't have to buy those. We were a little short so have to purchase another $220 worth of wood (prices have gone up since I bought the other stuff and that was only about 6 weeks ago I think). We got the shingles and a bunch of trim wood all for $50 (shingles would have added another $300 or so.......... oh and the HW cloth was probably another $200 or so I think.

so think in total for an 8x8 coop and an 18x8 run (plus the run area under the coop) is about $1800 and we are building it ourselves. and we had wood here that now would have cost another $200 at todays prices.

How many chickens/ birds do you have in your set up... it sounds similar to what I have and am already trying to figure out if there’s room for 1 or 5 more girls

 

[junior67]

How many chickens/ birds do you have in your set up... it sounds similar to what I have and am already trying to figure out if there’s room for 1 or 5 more girls

I have 10 chicks right now that will be going in there. I figure about 14-15 comfortably will fit. technically with the min #'s I could have 16 in the coop and 20 in the run. But will stick around 14 maybe 15.

how many do you have?

 

[rosemarythyme]

Ugh, I'm definitely "ashamed to say." My coop is 6x10. Do I have to say the actual... uh, I'll just say it was at least double your quoted cost, OP. Also that was BEFORE pandemic pricing (and the shed builder was still booked up for months at that price). Labor costs here are skyhigh, so...

And I still had to build the roost and nests myself!

 

[stripedgirls707]

I have 10 chicks right now that will be going in there. I figure about 14-15 comfortably will fit. technically with the min #'s I could have 16 in the coop and 20 in the run. But will stick around 14 maybe 15.

how many do you have?

7 chickens and 3 ducks is the count so far! Mine is 8x8 coop, 14x20 usable run (including shade area under coop) ... I’d like to have a couple more of each

 

[woodworm]

I paid around £2500 building my coop and run but that was before the rises in timber costs.

As long as your quote is for something big and secure enough and you can afford it then I'd say go for it.

I don't worry about how much mine cost now, in fact I feel it was money well spent because now I'm enjoying having chooks and I am as confident as anyone can be about their security when I'm not around.

Actually mine may have cost a little more due to me ordering the wrong stuff, making enough mistakes I had to buy more stuff and of course all the tools I bought to build it in the first place!

 

[LaFleche]

I just received a quote for a 10x6 chicken coop... $2,023! I know lumber is sky high... no need to tell me that. But here is the crazy part... I'm thinking about paying it. But I honestly feel like a fool paying that much for a CHICKEN COOP! I was fine with $1500... and $1700. But $2k seemed a bit excessive. What do you think? Give me your story.

I would look for old garden sheds, kids play houses etc. on Craig's list or similar platforms. People often give them away rather cheap as they want it gone.

 

[RoosterML]

Before the lumber price spike I was charging about $35-$40 a sqft for a chicken coop. That was metal roof, smart side siding, pvc trim boards. Basically all maintenance free materials. Hope that helps.

 

[Callender Girl]

A friend nicely pointed out that I SHOULD have built my new coop last year when lumber cost less. Except that was 8 chickens ago when I didn't need a new coop. Chicken math is kicking me squarely in the pocketbook.

My avatar Over EZ coop, used, was $600, but half of that was gifted to me, so my out of pocket was $300. That WAS my most expensive coop.

The new coop, being built by myself and a friend, is hovering around the $800 mark, even with reusing metal roofing from the old barn and some lumber left over from another project. It is a raised, 8 by 4 wooden coop, framed with 2-by-4's, sided in routed cedar.
The interior will be lined with lovely smooth, easy-to-clean laminated something-or-other that was intended for the interior of a camping trailer. The coop is a thing of beauty and is incredibly sturdy.

Because my builder friend kept sending me back from more supplies, I didn't realize HOW costly the coop was going to be until well into the project. Good thing because I would have balked at spending so much -- it eats at my basic frugality. I have joked that the new coop is nicer than my old farmhouse, and that I should trade homes with the chickens.