This is part 2 of my eggciting (sorry) 7 part plans for chicken coop course. If you got to this page by accident, please sign up for the full course using the simple form on the right.
Here’s part 2 of your chicken coop course, and today’s subject is a popular one:
Keeping Your Costs Down!
Last time, we discussed the different things you need to think about when deciding coop size. Next you need to factor in those dollars and cents. Building your own chicken coop is definitely the best way to save some serious moolah. Have a look at the finished ones you can buy and you’ll know exactly what I mean. Some of them are lovely, but cheap they ain’t.
So let’s talk building materials. Your time is your own – there’s no real “cost” there, it’s all in the lumber, nails, screws, hinges, etc. Some of this stuff you can’t avoid, some of it you’ve got lots of options. For instance, have you got a nice bit of furniture in your house? A desk or a cabinet? Chances are a quality one will have brass hinges. To my mind these kind of things are little works of engineering art – superbly made, probably last hundreds of years… and they cost a fortune. For your chicken house, galvanized steel will be just fine. A tiny fraction of the cost.
The structure of your cabinet or desk might be oak, or walnut, or some such expensive hardwood. Your chicken coop is going to be just fine in softwood.
Even then, there’s softwood and there’s softwood…
Actually, I’m just going to sidetrack again if you don’t mind. An interesting (well I think so) little story of a friend of mine who lives by the coast. Scrap wood was always being washed up on the beach. Foreign freighters would deliver at the local port but rather than pay for old pallets to be taken away they would just heave them overboard on their way home. No cheap pine here though, their idea of “scrap lumber” turned out to be mahogany!
The point is, while you can go down the yard and buy all new, you might also want to look around and see what you can salvage. Do you have an old shed that’s still got solid wood in it? What else is there around? Although I haven’t seen it, I heard of a coop being made out of old pvc drain pipes. Why not?
One proviso though. Remember health and safety – and I don’t mean yours, I mean your chickens!
For example an all-metal coop made from old corrugated sheets might seem like a good idea – strong, reasonably long lasting until it rusts… but it can get extremely hot in summer and very cold in winter.
Of course wood is the most common material and you might be able to get away with using recycled wood, especially if you are building a small coop. Asking around for scrap pieces of wood can be one way to locate some cheap materials, but bear in mind if you’re going to go this route there is a good chance you’ll have to pull some nails and may wind up with a chicken coop that isn’t exactly matching. You could always call it a design feature if it’s a bit crooked! Seriously though, for the most cost effective method there’s nothing cheaper than free scrap. However, if the pile of lumber you have is all rotten, let your chickens peck the grubs off it but don’t build their home from it!
So shop around before you buy.
Many times you can save plenty of cash with a little forethought and a bit of careful searching around. Sometimes though, what seems cheap doesn’t save you anything in the long run. Where I live, pressure-treated lumber from a builder’s merchant is only slightly more expensive than untreated – and it’s guaranteed 15 years. Compare that to buying untreated, and then buying a preservative that you’ve got to re-do every few years and you might be surprised.
It will vary from region to region, of course, and this being the internet it might be different in other countries. Before you rush out to buy armfuls of whatever you think you need for supplies, first sit down and think it through a couple of times. A good set of plans will cost you $30 or less, materials will likely be way more. It’s important that you have a proper understanding of what you need for your chicken house before you get going. Even those nails, screws and hinges soon add up.
First Plan, Then Planning
I know what it’s like. You want to get going NOW. Unfortunately that can lead to some pretty expensive mistakes. Best policy, not just financially but for the good of your hens, is to get a good set of plans – one that offers a variety of options – then sit down and go through them. You should get a materials list that you can look at. Can you replace any of those things with recycled materials? Is it worth it, or would you be better in the long run to do it all from new?
Only you can decide that part, but with a bit of forethought you’ll have worked it all out beforehand and won’t get half way through to discover some nasty – and expensive – surprises.
Next time, we’ll take a closer look at what you can do to make sure you are building a chicken coop that will last for years to come!
I’ll talk with you again in a couple of days.
PS: Last time I gave you a link to some great plans here. I’ve also seen some other stylish ones for what they call “urban coops”. You can check them out here.