Building a coop for someone else

[FBMcrazy8]

I’m not sure this is really the right place to put this but if not…my bad.

Yesterday we had someone stop by and ask who built our coop. We did of course and they want us to build them one. Ours is an 8x8, I will attach some pictures. Now the barn wood we are putting on the outside isn’t included in that unless they have their own. We went and talked to them after my husband got home. This guy is much older and neither his wife or him could build their own. They.have sons that could if they bought a prefab. He wants a 10x10 coop for 50 chickens.

My husband told him that if he bought the materials he and I would build it for $1,000.00. To me that seems a little low but I for sure don’t think it’s unreasonable. The guy reacted in a way that made us think he was hoping it would be way less. But it is a custom coop and our time and our tool use. My husband is one that is always wanting to be busy but he isn’t going to just give his time away.

What do you all think? Are we too high? Or does anyone agree with me that we are giving him a great deal? I mean really we are wanting to build another coop for ourselves and we won’t be able to work on that and it will take time away from other things we want to do in our house.

 

[FBMcrazy8]

Forgot to add photos….

These are the best ones I have right now. The red cover piece isn’t by the coop anymore, was just some hot days and giving them more shade. And their temporary ladder to get in the coop fell over. This was their first night outside.

Editing this to let everyone know there is more ventilation that has been added. The one side you all don’t see has the most along with the front. But I don’t currently have any updated pictures.

 

[MarkRainbolt]

Well it seems very reasonable to me. It takes time to build them. But I hate to say that a 10 by 10 is not big enough for 50 chickens that is big enough for 25 but not 50. Plus don’t forget get the ventilation for the chickens. Do you have ventilation in your coop? I don’t see it in the pictures.
1 square foot of ventilation for every chicken.
4 square feet for every chicken in the coop.
10 square feet for every chicken in the run.
Mark

 

[FBMcrazy8]

Well it seems very reasonable to me. It takes time to build them. But I hate to say that a 10 by 10 is not big enough for 50 chickens that is big enough for 25 but not 50.
4 square feet for every chicken in the coop.
10 square feet for every chicken in the run.
Mark

I agree. This is just what he said. The 10x10 doesn’t include the run, I don’t remember how big he said he wanted that. The run would take us maybe a day to do as long as we have all the fencing we need. I don’t know if he wants a skirt. We aren’t sure if he wants it build exactly like ours, as far as the nests or what. We tried talking to him about how many chickens it will cover, but because he had chickens before, “he knows”. That’s what he told us anyway.

I’m editing to add that apparently he had over 200 chickens at one point that all were killed by a fox and coyote (don’t at the same time) but I’m not even sure where they were living. The property has a barn but it didn’t seem like it was effective for chickens. Granted I didn’t go in the barn…just from the outside screamed “Chickens will die in there”.

 

[aart]

If you are going to do this, I would have detailed drawings and a quote for time and materials and have him sign it before starting.

What does the inside look like?
Roof overhangs and ventilation appear to be sorely lacking.

 

[Percheron chick]

Go check out the barn. You might be able to remodel it for substantially less and much larger.

 

[3KillerBs]

If you are going to do this, I would have detailed drawings and a quote for time and materials and have him sign it before starting.

This.

And you should have considered the man hours involved and an appropriate hourly rate for the labor before even ballparking the price.

In many cases, labor is the most expensive part of the job. Don't sell yourself cheap both because people better appreciate what they paid a solid price for and because if you do it once you'll be expected to do it every time.

 

[FBMcrazy8]

Well it seems very reasonable to me. It takes time to build them. But I hate to say that a 10 by 10 is not big enough for 50 chickens that is big enough for 25 but not 50. Plus don’t forget get the ventilation for the chickens. Do you have ventilation in your coop? I don’t see it in the pictures.
1 square foot of ventilation for every chicken.
4 square feet for every chicken in the coop.
10 square feet for every chicken in the run.
Mark

I do. You can’t really see it on the other side. The front and the south side of the building has the most due to the winter. Sorry I forgot to respond to that part

 

[FBMcrazy8]

If you are going to do this, I would have detailed drawings and a quote for time and materials and have him sign it before starting.

What does the inside look like?
Roof overhangs and ventilation appear to be sorely lacking.

Yeah we plan on that. Like I just responded to the other, the front and the south side has more of the ventilation due to the North Winds we get. Also there has been more ventilation added since I took the picture. These are a few weeks old.

 

[FBMcrazy8]

Go check out the barn. You might be able to remodel it for substantially less and much larger.

I might do that. I just don’t know what is going on. Found out that he has mesothelioma. That is why my husband did charge him a lot. He felt bad. And honestly he didn’t look good anyway. But im not sure why he is adding all this except maybe for his wife….but what I understood was they were no longer married and she was just living with him to help him. So really I don’t know what they are doing with the land or what their plans are.