Yeah, I could have bought a $800 chicken coop that would have been delivered and probably would have meet all my chicken's needs. But, of course, that would be too easy so I set out to build my own instead.
Did I save any money? Of course I did, if you don't include the cost of....
1. 2 weeks of labor, average 8 hours per day.
2. 2X4 lumber I had sitting behind the garage for 20 years, just waiting for the right project. (Half the wood had rotted and needed to be thrown out.)
3. A stack of shingles leftover from re-roofing the garage (not all matching color).
4. Leftover 2X6 and 4X4 lumber which was surprisingly still in good condition from a build 30 years ago.
5. 50 feet of wire fencing from when I raised meat chickens back in around 1992.
6. 8X10 dog panel with door I repurposed for the chicken run.
7. Boat trailer from our old 18 foot 1977 Hammond with a 165 Mercruiser (boat died but trailer lived on in backyard storage).
8. 7 1/4 inch 18v circular saw with brushless motor I purchased for a project just like this.
9. 18v Air strike brad nailer for trim work.
10. 18v crown stapler for tacking up the linoleum in the coop and attaching wire chicken run fence to the coop.
11. 18v angle grinder to cut the heavy gauge wire fencing.
12. Tee posts which I found behind the garage, still in good shape.
13. Tee post hammer which I had in the garage but had not been used in 20+ years.
14. 18v jigsaw for cutting out the chicken pop door.
15. Combination mitre saw for cutting those 45 degree angles for the trim work.
16. 3 sets of sawhorses for painting all that trim work and letting it dry.
17. Table saw for cutting strips of OSB to use as filler and trim.
18. Paint brushes I had set aside in a storage box for "someday" and it seemed like the coop was a worthy project.
19. 18v drill for making holes for deck screws, drilling out starter holes for cutting out the pop door for the chickens...
20. 18v impact driver for setting the deck screws and the larger 4 inch screws for the dimensional lumber.
21. A new set of 18v batteries and charger for all those 18v tools I was using (came with a free carrying case so how could I not buy it).
22. Various hinges, hooks, latches, etc... that went into securing the coop doors and cleanout panel.
23. Misc small hand tools like hammers, crowbars (to take apart the wood I just put together by mistake), pliers (to pull out the brad nails after I had to move pieces of trim), pencils, squares, tape measures, drill bits, screw bit sets for torx screws, etc....
24. New ladders and scaffolding for shingling the gambrel style chicken coop (about 10 feet high on the boat trailer).
25. 8 ton jack to lift the tongue of the trailer for hook up to move (coop was too heavy for the tongue jack to work).
AND....
26. A new (used) pickup to move this heavy coop on a boat trailer because I told the wife that we should not use the family car with this heavy load and blow out the transmission.
If I don't count all those things, and maybe more that I can't remember right now, my chicken coop only cost me about $700. So I guess I saved $100 on my DIY coop build!
Just curious on how much money others have saved by building their own coops and what you did (not) add to the cost of your coop build!
Did I save any money? Of course I did, if you don't include the cost of....
1. 2 weeks of labor, average 8 hours per day.
2. 2X4 lumber I had sitting behind the garage for 20 years, just waiting for the right project. (Half the wood had rotted and needed to be thrown out.)
3. A stack of shingles leftover from re-roofing the garage (not all matching color).
4. Leftover 2X6 and 4X4 lumber which was surprisingly still in good condition from a build 30 years ago.
5. 50 feet of wire fencing from when I raised meat chickens back in around 1992.
6. 8X10 dog panel with door I repurposed for the chicken run.
7. Boat trailer from our old 18 foot 1977 Hammond with a 165 Mercruiser (boat died but trailer lived on in backyard storage).
8. 7 1/4 inch 18v circular saw with brushless motor I purchased for a project just like this.
9. 18v Air strike brad nailer for trim work.
10. 18v crown stapler for tacking up the linoleum in the coop and attaching wire chicken run fence to the coop.
11. 18v angle grinder to cut the heavy gauge wire fencing.
12. Tee posts which I found behind the garage, still in good shape.
13. Tee post hammer which I had in the garage but had not been used in 20+ years.
14. 18v jigsaw for cutting out the chicken pop door.
15. Combination mitre saw for cutting those 45 degree angles for the trim work.
16. 3 sets of sawhorses for painting all that trim work and letting it dry.
17. Table saw for cutting strips of OSB to use as filler and trim.
18. Paint brushes I had set aside in a storage box for "someday" and it seemed like the coop was a worthy project.
19. 18v drill for making holes for deck screws, drilling out starter holes for cutting out the pop door for the chickens...
20. 18v impact driver for setting the deck screws and the larger 4 inch screws for the dimensional lumber.
21. A new set of 18v batteries and charger for all those 18v tools I was using (came with a free carrying case so how could I not buy it).
22. Various hinges, hooks, latches, etc... that went into securing the coop doors and cleanout panel.
23. Misc small hand tools like hammers, crowbars (to take apart the wood I just put together by mistake), pliers (to pull out the brad nails after I had to move pieces of trim), pencils, squares, tape measures, drill bits, screw bit sets for torx screws, etc....
24. New ladders and scaffolding for shingling the gambrel style chicken coop (about 10 feet high on the boat trailer).
25. 8 ton jack to lift the tongue of the trailer for hook up to move (coop was too heavy for the tongue jack to work).
AND....
26. A new (used) pickup to move this heavy coop on a boat trailer because I told the wife that we should not use the family car with this heavy load and blow out the transmission.
If I don't count all those things, and maybe more that I can't remember right now, my chicken coop only cost me about $700. So I guess I saved $100 on my DIY coop build!
Just curious on how much money others have saved by building their own coops and what you did (not) add to the cost of your coop build!
