Tips on building a cheapo coop and run?

[yellowish_chickenfeet]

Hey! I have been looking around on here for a while at all the different coops people have built, but have been shocked by the prices. THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS!!! 500+ is way out of our price range. I don't really know if I'm being unreasonable with what I want, but I'm looking for some tips on how to get away with an aesthetically pleasing, good quality coop on the cheap. We have all the tools we need, plus a bit more, but no hidden stash of wood. Any tips, ideas, or other info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

And here's a bit of my Pinterest inspiration:

 

[CapricornFarm]

Check Craigslist for free or cheap lumber, and possibly pallets or shipping crates. Stock pile a bunch before you start.

 

[Bogtown Chick]

Construction site dumpsters are LOADED with free for the taking misfired nail gun boards, cut too shorts, cut bad angles boards, boards with scuffs or dings. Tear down cabins or homes may have an offering of doors and windows . Fire departments sometimes train on old homes that are going to be burned down . Could ask for first dibs on windows or a door.

• Bogtown Chick
• May 3, 2012

This coop is the result of construction site dumpster diving and collecting a door and old windows

 

[theoldchick]

The pallet chicken coop seems to be a fine option for chicken owners on a budget and who also have knowledge of how to use a hammer, drill and so forth. The pallet coop, while not magazine photo worthy, are amazingly sturdy and seem to last longer than those 'kit' coops.

 

[blackdog043]

What Capricorn said and do a search on here for pallet coops. There are some nice coops, made from recycled wood. For hardware cloth, check Amazon and walmart.com, they are usually the best priced. If you add your general location to your profile, it will help greatly with questions, that you may have in the future.

 

[Blooie]

Cattle Panels. Cheap, easy to work with, expandable and flexible, can be quite attractive, and they are effective! Mine was wonderful and it's still standing now, even though I don't have my chickens anymore. For winter the hoop run is acting as a lawnmower/lawn equipment shelter and the coop is holding garden tools and such. This summer the run will become a greenhouse. I don't regret one dime spent on that setup. The link to my build is under my avatar, and this thread was started by a good friend here on BYC as well.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/cattle-panel.1140564/#post-17718482

 

[Sunshine Flock]

Some questions: Where are you located? Will the coop go in a fenced backyard? How many chickens would you like in your flock?

Research pallet wood before going that route. There are codes stamped on them that will help you identify whether it was treated with insecticides.

Ideas:

- Nesting boxes. It takes more materials creating an external structure that gets attached to the side of the chicken coop. You could build it from scrap, but you'll also need hinges and latches. Recycle cat litter containers or plastic crates and put them on a shelf inside the coop and save some money. There are some really nice examples of this in the forums.

- The coop doesn't have to be tall enough for you to walk inside. There are shorter coops built on raised platforms that seem to work well for a small flock.

- When you buy lumber make sure you know the length of each cut, do some math, and make sure you maximize the cuts on each one. Will a ten or twelve foot board be used with only a few inches of wood leftover? Then that's what you should buy. Bring a tape measure and cut it down at the store. The longer boards may save you money on each foot purchased, and you won't waste wood.

- Cover your plywood roof with a large tarp and allow for a sizable overhang. This will save you money on shingles or corrugated metal until you can afford to buy some.

- Save money on brackets and go old school for the wood framing. Notching wood is easy, just measure carefully and sharpen your chisels.

- Post holes for the fencing. Forget cement. Toxic, harmful industry. Go old school on this one, too, and use 3/4" road base and rocks. You can buy it in bulk. We got 1/2", but larger would probably lock in tighter. Take a five gallon bucket, tell them how many buckets you need, pay at the office, and scoop it yourself. You want it dusty, not clean and pretty. The fine dust cements when wet and yet you can dig out this hole and reset your posts should the need ever arise. I think we paid $13 for seven five-gallon buckets.

- Don't skimp on the quality of your fencing materials. Do shop for pricing. There's an online website that's been referenced here a lot that offers free shipping and great pricing. I can't think of the name, so hopefully someone will know and post a link.

- I'll say it again (learn from my mistakes): Build with a plan and the measurements of your boards already mapped out. No wasted wood.

I hope you keep this discussion going and post updates on your progress!

ETA: The seven buckets was used for eight posts we sunk 28" into the ground. We had some left over and poured it into the trenching we did around the chicken run perimeter, to secure the hardware cloth we sunk into the ground.

 

[HenOnAJuneBug]

I started with cheap, used metal sheds I found on craigslist ($75, free). Has worked out pretty well so far. I intend to build something better once I have more experience.

 

[Chelseyb123]

I built my coop completely out of recycled materials down to the nails and screws lol. I wish i had pics on this phonw to show you. But if you can get your hand on free pallets you can build super awesome easy coops. I made mine out of pylwood an 2×4s. Im in maine and theres a pallet recycling factor whete people pay for the pallets like stores ect an to pick them up an then they give them away for free. Crazy but i built my fenece for the chicken pen and yard out of pallets than pylwood on the inside to block wind. I got about 100pieces of pylwood in my basement from this summer. Some places have ads for people to get them some dont. Ask around. Ask people on facebook if you have one on swap an sells an friends as well. Good luck. Dont over think an price it! If you plan it out right an get everything you need before hand its easy sailing from there. Good luck!

 

[8 Chicks 1967]

I built this one out of mostly Pallet spacers. Most of them are pressure treated. I was going through some cull 50% off wood at Lowes and got to talking to the lumber specialist there. They will give you the pallet spacers free. This coop and run is not very pretty but I Have 75.00 dollars in it. Wire and tin cost the most.

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