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"My chickens are happy with their new home..."
"Have you been planning to make a cozy,
comfortable and tidy coop for your chickens?
Well, follow the guidelines in this wonderful
resource! My chickens are happy with their
new home! Bill's book helped me make a well-planned, easy-to-clean-and-maintain coop for my chickens. I got practical tips on locating, positioning, protecting and maintaining the climate in the coop. Like me, it will help you too to choose the appropriate size, building design and materials for construction. This book not only helps you save while you build, but also enjoy the freedom to customize the coop to your individual specifications and needs. With valuable inputs on light and ventilation, I was able to ensure that the coop position was such that it allowed enough light in, but did not make the coop draughty. I particularly enjoyed the creative and innovative ideas thrown in about building low cost nesting boxes with material lying around the house. It set me exploring my own creativity and resourcefulness! An informative and easy to follow read, this book will guide you in building your own coop at a fraction of the cost of purchasing one! "
Rachana Misra - Go Green Farms™ Owner

Keeping Your Costs Down

Hopefully you’ve been doing well!  If you recall last time we discussed the different factors you should think about when trying to determine the type of chicken coop you want to build.  This is important because before you go ahead with the building process you will want to be sure you’re getting some key factors right so you build what is required to meet your needs.

Today I’d like to talk a little more specifically about the building materials for your chicken coop.  This is going to make a big impact on how much money you spend on the chicken coop in total so understanding the different types of materials will be vital to making an informed decision.

We’ll go over this in much greater detail in Building A Chicken Coop, but here is some of the basics to get you started.

Many individuals do have a tendency to think you need a lot of expensive materials to successfully build a chicken coop, however this is not the case at all.  Chicken coops can be made from a variety of different materials including such things as an old shed, scrap lumber, PVC pipes, 50 gallon barrels, or other recycled materials you may have around the house already. 

Usually wood is the most common material used to build the chicken coop however it’s also the priciest, so you’ll have to weight the pros versus the cons. If you want your chicken coop to last for years and years to come, it may be a good idea to invest in a wooden coop to ensure that it does withstand various climate changes.

Keep in mind with this though that wood varieties will also vary in price and that will influence your decision, so looking at the different types of wood is also important. 

If you are thinking about just building a smaller coop, you might even be able to get away with using recycled timber instead. Asking around for scrap pieces of wood can also be one way to locate some materials to use, but bear in mind if you’re going to go this route there is a higher chance you’ll have to pull some nails and may wind up with a chicken coop that isn’t exactly matching.  If you’re really looking for the absolute most cost effective method though, then it’s likely something that you will want to think about and consider.

Many times you can save over half the price of the coop just by looking carefully for building materials that will meet your needs effectively.

So, before you rush out to buy whatever you think you need for building supplies, give some careful consideration to this first.  It’s important that you have a firm understanding about building materials for your chicken house before you even get going.  In some cases it can get hard to start with a certain type of material and then switch over halfway through, even between the different types of woods, therefore getting it all figured out before you begin will be your best bet.

Next time, we’ll take a closer look at what you can do to make sure you’re building a chicken coop that will last for years to come, so make sure you pay attention to that one so the money you do invest, endures the test of time.