Very basic and cheap hen house?

[abc123no]

Hello, I will be getting 5 laying hens within the next couple of days. They will be my first hens, but my husband had some when he was younger.

We are having a hard time finding something to buy for the hens. Everything is so overpriced, even used dog houses on Craigslist. The only good ones are $200+.

What I am asking for is a simple and cheap design for the hens.

 

[CluckyCharms]

If you're willing to build it yourself...you can build a nice little coop for just 5 hens fairly inexpensively.

I would recommend finding shipping pallets, personally. Lots of places give those away free or almost free.

If you're wanting to get one that has already been built, I doubt you'll be able to find an acceptable pre-built one anywhere (new) for under $200. Possibly, but I would imagine something brand new like that wouldn't stand up to the elements or predators very well.

Lots of coop designs here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/2/Coops

Or...you could put an ad on Craigslist and say "WANTED: newly built coop for 5 hens, willing to pay no more than $200" and see if you get any bites. Lots of handypeople out there with their own supplies that could use a few bucks.

Here is a particularly nice coop of a member here at BYC who used a bunch of free shipping pallets:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/judys-free-pallet-chicken-coop

Clearly it is large and nowhere near required size for YOUR chickens if you're only having 5 - but what it does do is give you some ideas on what you can do with free or next-to-nothing pallets.

There are TONS of videos on www.youtube.com that have all sorts of ways to build hen houses for little to next to nothing, too. =)