Cost of Building Your Own Small Chicken Coop

Cost of Building Your Own Small Chicken Coop




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If you love do-it-yourself projects and sustainable living and have a little bit
of space in your back yard, building your own small chicken coop may be the perfect project for you. You can either purchase pre-made plans and materials lists online, or you can design your own blueprints from scratch. Your chicken coop can be as intricate or as simple as you wish, complicated enough to take a truck-full of supplies and a long weekend or simple enough to complete in a single afternoon. You are the master of your project, and the cost will be dependent entirely on what you want your final product to look like.

Begin With a Budget

Chicken coops vary in price dramatically. A chicken coop kit can cost several hundred dollars to several thousand dollars and a pre-made chicken coop may be even more expensive. Even building your own chicken coop can get expensive if you do not have a plan. Before you purchase anything, figure out your budget. How much can you reasonably spend on a chicken coop or supplies? Do you want to spend extra and buy a supplies-in-the-box-and-ready-to-build kit? Or do you want to save money and do it entirely on your own, shopping-list-in-hand at the home improvement store?

Once you know how much you can afford to spend, find or design a chicken coop blueprint and make a supply list. The number of supplies, complexity of the design, and size of the coop should give you a hint as to how much the final project will cost. Visit your local home improvement stores and see how much your supplies run. Price comparison shopping may save you money. If you are within budget, purchase your supplies. If you can find free lumber or other building supplies in your city or county, consider taking advantage of these resources to lower your building costs.

Expect To Spend a Bit  

While it would be ideal to spend less than $100 setting up your first chicken coop, that’s not a very realistic goal. According to community discussions on the BackyardChickens.com website, most people spent $300-$400 building their own small chicken coop. Quality materials, windows, and doors will quickly add to your cost. If you are on a tight budget, start with a very simple and materials-light chicken coop design. The more intricate your design gets, the more it’ll cost to make.

Building Your Own Coop

You don’t need a bunch of fancy tools to build your own chicken coop; a hammer, nails, a screwdriver, and a saw will get your started. Save costs by borrowing tools you don’t already have. Plan ahead to make sure you’ll have enough room for each chicken, light, ventilation, protection from predators, and a place to lay eggs. Follow your instructions step-by-step and before you know it, you’ll have a chicken coop in your back yard. If you are an accomplished woodworker, chicken coop blueprints may not even be necessary. Decide how big you want your coop to be and what you want it to look like and get started. For most people, though, this isn’t the best advice. Planning ahead will save you time, money, and frustration.

building chicken coop

A backyard chicken coop will bring you years of pleasure and fresh eggs too. Building your own will get you there less expensively and will also give you a sense of pride in a job well done every time you look outside. It’s not too hard to accomplish, nor too large a project. Building your own chicken coop is totally manageable. You can save yourself a lot of money over purchasing a pre-fabricated coop and will get a lot of pride out of completing a big project at the same time.

 

1 thought on “Cost of Building Your Own Small Chicken Coop

  1. You have here the only realistic guide in terms of DIY chicken coop, I found too late that I`ll spend around 300`ish dollars on my chicken coop by doing it myself and while I was initially discouraged after a short internet surfing session I`ve quickly realized that it was a smart option, in retail the equivalent`ish coop was 1000 upwards so guyssss start crafting, take it from someone that done it !
    Thanks for being anchored to the ground and sharing this realistic range !

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