Average (yeah…I know!) cost of coop and run?

[Arelwood]

By the way, I’d love to see pics of what you added!

It looks like we did buy the same one. I only have one pic, and it's before any mods.
I'll try to snap a pic of what I've added later today. Still not done though.

 

[Stephanie8806]

Echoing others here… that cost is insanely high.
We built an 8x10 elevated coop with two awnings and a 16x30 run for half that price. A little on the early side of the lumber cost increases, two years ago… but still.

 

[Stephanie8806]

P.S. If you compare the cost of buying the tools to the cost of hiring the handyman it's not at all unreasonable.

I don’t know… skill saw and a drill wouldn’t run that high of a price tag. That’s all we used for power tools besides an air compressor and nail gun… but you can do the same duties as those with the drill or a hammer.

At the end of the day, the guy charging $8000 for the setup the OP posted stands to profit at least $5000 on that project. For something he could do in 1-2 weeks. That’s highway robbery.

 

[member 512732]

We are learning and I’d like to avoid wasting any more money. My husband is more concerned than me about the costs, I see it as an investment in our home, self sufficiency and health (mental & physical).

anyhow, we bought a tsc coop kit, which is clearly too small for our 7 chicks (now 1 week old). $500 but our son loved every minute of building it, and I figure it will always find a use on our homestead so not a complete waste.

ive found a guy to build a 10x16’ run for us. He has a good plan which also includes option to build a proper 4x10’ coop at one end. He has provided detailed materials costs and reasonable labor rates:

mobile Run on wheels (to fertilize and provide more pecking for the hens) with chicken wire (our crappy coop somehow integrated) I think he has planned a full roof. c. $2000

upgrade to hardware cloth and fixed in place c.$4000

i asked about the cost to build the 4x10’ coop and it was an additional $3500, so $8000 total, including our mistake coop.

husband thinks go for the chicken wire and low cost. (This is a temporary home for us while we build our forever home where I will (have someone) transform an old milking barn for the flock) We just moved to the area, and I am certain there are hawks, raccoons and coyotes, but I don’t know how prevalent they are.

we are not handy people (except our son, who is 12 and lacking power tools), in Our mid 50s and soft from living in suburbia. What is a reasonable price tag here? We don’t want to be scrambling golden eggs!

what would you do? We have money, but try to be good stewards of God’s provisions. I’m inclined to try and use out tsc coop and perhaps add a hardware cloth skirt to the run, but we also want it to look nice as we are only on 1/2 an acre here. I think it (a high quality egg factory) would add value when we go to sell or rent this property in a couple of years.

We are learning and I’d like to avoid wasting any more money. My husband is more concerned than me about the costs, I see it as an investment in our home, self sufficiency and health (mental & physical).

anyhow, we bought a tsc coop kit, which is clearly too small for our 7 chicks (now 1 week old). $500 but our son loved every minute of building it, and I figure it will always find a use on our homestead so not a complete waste.

ive found a guy to build a 10x16’ run for us. He has a good plan which also includes option to build a proper 4x10’ coop at one end. He has provided detailed materials costs and reasonable labor rates:

mobile Run on wheels (to fertilize and provide more pecking for the hens) with chicken wire (our crappy coop somehow integrated) I think he has planned a full roof. c. $2000

upgrade to hardware cloth and fixed in place c.$4000

i asked about the cost to build the 4x10’ coop and it was an additional $3500, so $8000 total, including our mistake coop.

husband thinks go for the chicken wire and low cost. (This is a temporary home for us while we build our forever home where I will (have someone) transform an old milking barn for the flock) We just moved to the area, and I am certain there are hawks, raccoons and coyotes, but I don’t know how prevalent they are.

we are not handy people (except our son, who is 12 and lacking power tools), in Our mid 50s and soft from living in suburbia. What is a reasonable price tag here? We don’t want to be scrambling golden eggs!

what would you do? We have money, but try to be good stewards of God’s provisions. I’m inclined to try and use out tsc coop and perhaps add a hardware cloth skirt to the run, but we also want it to look nice as we are only on 1/2 an acre here. I think it (a high quality egg factory) would add value when we go to sell or rent this property in a couple of years.

If you think, like I did, that you will save money by raising your own chickens I will have to pause to laugh my head off. You will break even after the US financial debt is paid. I started selling eggs but I will never start selling babies...You never know where they may end up.

 

[member 512732]

more math: we tend to eat 3 dozen eggs a week, which cost us $25. Not considering chicken cost + upkeep it will take us 6.15 years to break even!

But how much are the pills for high cholestrol? I will NEVER break even. I wish my horse and donkey contributed in any way.

 

[Stephanie8806]

But how much are the pills for high cholestrol? I will NEVER break even. I wish my horse and donkey contributed in any way.

Eggs don’t give you high cholesterol. That’s old debunked nutrition science.

And it depends on your idea of “costs”.

It costs is less to feed 12 chickens in a month than it costs us to feed our dog, And we buy high quality food for both. The dog certainly doesn’t give us any tangible “profit”, but that’s not usually the point of animal ownership.

We had to buy special corn and soy free eggs that cost $6-8/dozen ,depending on the farm, before we raised our own. We sell excess eggs to neighbors and friends for $5/dzn(organic, corn and soy free) and we make enough money in peak season to cover our feed costs AND still have more than enough eggs for our family.

 

[MagistraTn]

But how much are the pills for high cholestrol? I will NEVER break even. I wish my horse and donkey contributed in any way.

If you think, like I did, that you will save money by raising your own chickens I will have to pause to laugh my head off. You will break even after the US financial debt is paid. I started selling eggs but I will never start selling babies...You never know where they may end up.

I want chickens because I don’t want to be beholden to some corrupt corporation for our food supply. I also want a higher quality product that I trust. Even the best supermarket eggs feed their chickens vegetarian diets, which is all sorts of wrong. I’m willing to foot the cost to upgrade our quality and secure our supply. Hubs needs some coercing once in a while

im not sure I understand the cholesterol comment…does your donkey protect your flock? I heard they are very good against canine predators.

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

My first coop, linked in my profile was many thousands of dollars. The one I am working on now will come in for about a thousand, but the structure was free, well it cost me $500 to move it to my place.

I think it really depends on the chicken keeper, I am fortunate to afford whatever I want for the most part so what works for me may not work for someone else.

There is no average price, and the chickens do not care. Just give them a secure well ventilated hen house with plenty of space. Oh, and make it pretty

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

Not if you have the right tools.

This is the way, buy more tools.

 

[3KillerBs]

This is the way, buy more tools.

My husband calls me "The Tool Enabler".