Looking for ideas for building chicken coop for about $50

Question

Hi there. I'm looking for cheap ideas to build a chicken coop. I don't want anything fancy just something to do the job. :) TIA

Hannah V · Answer

Check this out! http://www.hometalk.com/diy/craft/pet-stuff/how-to-build-a-chicken-coop-for-less-than-50-3209974

Carole · Answer

Just a note to bear in mind that chickens are prone to predation by foxes and other animals. Ensure that what you build is fox proof and predator proof and you will have happy and productive chickens. Good luck!

Patty · Answer

Wood pallets are free and chicken wire is cheap.

White Oak Studio Designs · Answer

We are currently in the process of building a chicken coop, 48' X 48' for three hens. We are using 75%-80% repurposed materials but still I had to buy a large roll of chicken wire $49.00, an old roll of rusted chicken wire off Crag's List for $20.00, two pieces of plywood (for the floor and the laying box) and a quart of polyurethane (to seal the inside wood to help with cleaning later on.) We are already at over $125.00 spent. I found two large pieces of exterior paneling on the side of the road and we took apart a friends rotted deck and salvaged about 12, 2 X 4's and another friend gave us a $75.00 metal gate. We will use an old cement mixer (hard plastic tray) for the poop tray. I still have to add costs for primer and exterior paint. I think a $50.00 budget is a bit low to be realistic unless you have all the wood as scrap.... I suspect our final expenses will come in at around $175.00 by the time we are done - and we already had the exterior garden fenced off prior to beginning the coop. Below: the fenced in garden area before and the 2 X 4 frame of the coop on building day 2.

White Oak Studio Designs · Answer

Not letting me add a second chicken coop photo, doing so here. This is the basic frame on building day two with the 'roadside rescue' exterior siding pieces just framed in. The two long rectangular holes will be for air vents and will have chicken wire over them.

JeDonne M · Answer

My husband got the rough slab lumber from a local sawmill. Some mills will let you pick up the pieces they can't use, others bundle them and sell them for VERY cheap.

April E · Answer

look at this pallet shed design and just make it smaller http://www.oklahomahistory.net/palletshed.html

Lindsay Jackson · Answer

Make a chicken 'tractor' (lots of youtube videos on them) 'cheapest' I saw was start with an old 'A' frame swing-set frame and repurpose it. http://www.whenshtf.com/threads/34270-Swingset-Chicken-Coop-Conversion-Project

Lynn · Answer

Check out Pinterest. I was astounded.

TamAnn · Answer

We used hardware cloth and buried it a foot all around the coop to deter digging animals (and we really don't have any in our neighborhood). It's expensive, but I'm not worried when I'm not home or at night. Just remember security, too, when creating a great space for your girls. We love having chickens, too!

Carol Ann McDaniel · Answer

We built a 12 x10 hen house out of hollow core doors from restore, salvaged plywood, reused doors and screens. Salvaged lighting roof shingles for the exterior walls and roof. Total cost 50

Barbara R · Answer

We had an outside dog pen that was pretty large so we added a roof and built a small coop inside of the pen. It had a concrete floor so I don't have the risk of predators getting in.

Bibi Sweet67 · Answer

I think putting a fence around the chicken coop would keep them safe from other animal something like this one in this picture.

Roxanne Fischer · Answer

My girlfriend used milk crates and built a small shed to cover them

Barbara Turner · Answer

One of my bff's built her coop and a snake got in and got 3 chickens! Make it snake proof as well!

Fiberartsy · Answer

Too bad you're not in Kentucky... I have one that's free to a good home :) Good luck

White Oak Studio Designs · Answer

I had a friend who used bales of straw with tarps but unfortunately the coyates got most of her chickens. Another farmer I know used greenhouse metal bands covered in large tarps but this was for roasting chickens they planned to cull and sell at the end of the season so no winter issues.

Kristi Davis Maloney · Answer

We were in the same boat, needed a cheap coop. I decided to go on Freecycle.org and ask if anyone had a free coop. Do you have a Freecycle in your area? YOU NEVER KNOW! In the next town over, this family was giving away this excellent coop. We just had to go pick it up. It had to cost him close to $300 or $400 to make it. Best find ever.

Judy · Answer

When we moved into our little place in the woods we needed shelter for our rabbits but were pretty short on cash. There were plenty of skinny fir trees on the property that needed thinning out so we had an abundance of 'pecker poles' to work with. We cut the poles to size (shorter for the back to slant the roof) then dug post holes for the poles every 8 feet plus 2 for a door frame in front for an 8X16 shelter, tied it all together at the top with some old 2X6 lumber we found in a pile nearby & nailed 2X4s on top (2 ft longer than the width of the shelter to allow a 1 ft overhang front & back) to support the corrugated metal roofing we found which had also been left behind by the former owner. We sealed the pre-drilled holes in the roofing with caulking & screwed it on. Next we bought 3 sheets of the cheapest 1/4 inch plywood we could find, cut it in half lengthwise & nailed it all around the bottom of the structure to provide added support. We brought chicken wire from our former place & used it to go around the sides above the plywood, stapling it down securely top & bottom. In the winter we wrapped cheap plastic sheeting over the chicken wire & tied it up for summer to allow ventilation. Several years later, after the rabbits were gone, we added a wall with a door set in it 4 ft from one end to make a chicken coop, made a roost to go in it & nesting boxes, cut a doorway to the outside, put up a fence to make an outdoor pen & built a feeder box. It's been over 15 years since we built it, the original posts have long since rotted in the ground but it's still standing strong due to the plywood on the bottom & the framing on top. We don't have chickens anymore but it makes a handy-dandy equipment shed & the old chicken coop, sans roost & feeder, with the addition of plywood covering the ground, keeps extra household stuff dry in the winter. I call it my scrounge shed since we scrounged almost all of the stuff to make it with.

Marcia Thompson · Answer

We made a hoop house with stock panels. I was able to get them on sale. We just built a rectangle base and bent the stock panels. I have chicken wire on one end with a wood 't' for support and then on the other end a doorway with chicken wire around it. I have a tarp over the top. The whole project was under $100. It could have been cheaper but I went with 3 stock panels making it about 10 ' x 20 '. The only trick we have had is keeping the tarp on. We are in a windy spot so we ended up getting water resistant rope and running it across the top like lacing a shoe. Since then we haven't had any issues and my girls love it!

Annie Sires · Answer

We built one out of pallets, OBS and salvaged roofing.

An American Homestead · Answer

The one thing you need to remember for a chicken coop is to make it secure. It needs to be a safe haven for your chickens away from the predators who will be constantly probing it for weaknesses while you are sleeping.

Patty · Answer

Fiberartsy, do you still have your chicken coop you want get rid of? I'm not to far from Crestwood.

Stacy · Answer

Go to the 'cull' wood sec of home depot. ...wood slightly irregular but it's 70% off reg price...I built a 20 ft long by 7 ft high  by 10 ft wide run for 100$

Lulu · Answer

How about collecting free wood pallets and assembling same?

Capernius · Answer

yep! 
I'm with most of the others..pallets.
and sometimes, if you can find a business that is closing down, you can pick up stuff there cheap or for free.
Depending on your budget, how many birds you are having, and your reasons for having them will depend on what kind of coop you buy or make.

I have seen people use them dog igloos for chicken coops...they had them on stilts...

WORD OF CAUTION:
Do not use hexagonal wire fencing...other wise known as chicken wire.
most predator animals can chew right through that in no time flat.
It is better to use some kind of farm fencing with holes as small as possible, & bury about 18' - 24' in the ground to keep animals from digging in under the fence.

What I did for my coop was to bury hog panels(livestock panel fencing for pigs) in the ground with about 6' of it above ground, from the ground up, I had regular farm fencing that is used to keep out rabbits...then across the top(about 6 foot level) I had more of the same to keep the hawks out.

Carol Goins · Answer

There are several on line sites for already built coops, tractor store has some! Always buy larger than you need!

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