Me being me, I bought the ducks first, built the coop second. Below is a picture of our coop, ducks and their beloved shrubbery hide out... and one of my husband working on it, you didn't seriously think I did the heavy lifting on building this thing right =)
While our coop isn't the prettiest thing out there it is very eco friendly and economical. Our coop cost less than $20 in supplies.
Coop Supplies
2x2 Pallets FREE
Reclaimed Wood $11 a truck load
Door FREE
Hinges FREE
Nails $8?
Since building the coop we have decided upon several changes and I do things I would have done different.
- Pallets are great but building your own frame is sturdier than trying to attach Pallets
- We will be reinforcing our frame!
- We are adding a Window! We will be putting hardware cloth there to prevent predators but we want the window to keep rain out since it likes to come at an angle here!
- We are expanding the coop! I am getting more ducks so this one won't be big enough for the new additions!
- We are putting in a concrete floor, I have seen how easy it is for my dog to dig and almost get in so this is a safety thing and since we have lots of rocks in our soil digging and putting a concrete perimeter isn't going to work for us!
DIY coops are totally doable though not as easy as they might seem! I spent time looking on backyardchickens.com for coop ideas before starting and was shocked how hard it was to build what we have (this is our first building project).
For our coop adjustments the additional costs will be
$11 load of reclaimed lumber w/enough left over for 1 or 2 other projects from the 2 loads
$.50 for two hinges from habitat for humanity
$2 for a window from habitat for humanity
$8 for concrete from home depot (got one bag with a rip for 50% off)
$12 for gravel/pebbles for concrete base
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