A Review of How to Build Chicken Coops in 3 Days

When my husband and I purchased a new home in the south, we made sure it came with plenty of land. Our dream has always been to raise chickens, and grow our own vegetables. Simultaneously, my hubby's buddy of mine was selling all of his chickens, and had already sold the coops. I bought the chickens a few months after we purchased the house, and suddenly realized I had chickens coming in a week and nowhere to put them. Another good friend of ours pointed us to a product called ‘How to Build a Chicken Coop in 3 Days.’ My hubby was skeptical but I said, "What the heck?" Its cheap and it might just work.

Thinking it would really be impossible to build two of the chicken coops before the chickens arrived, my hubby and I looked at some pre-fab chicken houses. After seeing the very high prices on those, I added up what it would take from the product my friend pointed me to. When the total came up hundreds of dollars less than the pre-fab chicken coops, we thought, what the heck, and we purchased it.

Three days later (I roped my two adult sons into building one of the coops while I built the other), we had two gorgeous chicken coops ready for our chickens. I have to say that the instructions were super-easy. My sons and hubby had never built anything and although I’d built a thing or two, I was no expert. We followed the step-by-step instructions and in just 3 days we were prepared to keep our chickens safe and happy. The money we saved was just an added bonus, and I was able to get the ‘How to Build a Chicken Coop in 3 Days’ for a really low price. I consider it a very worthy investment.

I would recommend How to Build a Chicken Coop in 3 Days to anyone who plans on raising chickens. In fact, I told the man who sold me the chickens all about it, and he was able to help a friend who’d lost his chicken houses in a tornado. Unfortunately, many of his chickens died, but he needed a fast way to keep the remaining chickens safe. I’m happy to say that the man quickly replaced his damaged chicken houses and lost no other chickens in the process.

The cost is fabulous, the instructions were easy enough for a beginner, and the product delivered exactly what was promised. We learned how to build a chicken coop in 3 days. In fact, we plan on building a few more very soon and obtaining even more chickens to raise. This is a great product and I highly recommend it to anyone who currently owns or wants to own chickens. 

Review of Chicken Keeping Secrets

It started with a New Year’s resolution to be healthier, and progressed from there. My husband and I began researching the different kinds of organic foods we could eat, and found out just how dangerous store-purchased foods can be. Vegetables are laced with pesticides and meat is injected full of hormones. Soon we realized this wasn’t just a resolution, but a necessary change. The health of our children and ourselves were suddenly a priority.

That’s how we decided we were going to start raising chickens. I had no idea how old eggs were when you purchased them from the grocery store. I didn’t know that chicken had a ton of hormones injected for growth – and I didn’t know how these things could affect our health. Another very important thing I didn’t know was how to raise chickens. Still, determined, we set about researching to learn how to raise our own chickens. Soon, we found a website called ‘Chicken Keeping Secrets.’

We first started reading the information available on the website and learned a ton of stuff there. Deciding that anyone who was willing to give away so much information for free must have a goldmine of information in their actual product, we decided to go ahead and invest in the product. We were absolutely thrilled with the amount of information we received from ‘Chicken Keeping Secrets.’ We learned everything about how to keep chickens – from what to feed them to the kind of chicken coops we needed.

I had no idea that even the stuff you put on the ground for the chickens needed to be special to keep the chickens healthy and safe. We learned all of this from ‘Chicken Keeping Secrets.’ We literally referred to it as often as we refer to the bible in the first few months of owning chickens. I’m happy to say that it paid off. We have very happy, healthy chickens who provide us with all-natural, organic eggs every morning. (They taste incredible – have you ever had fresh eggs?) In addition, we do cook one of our chickens every once in a while and can be sure that the meat is absolutely hormone-free, and completely safe for our family to consume. I highly recommend this product to anyone who wants to skip the hormone-laden chickens and eggs at the supermarket. It’s a wonderful product and costs next to nothing.

Where to Find Cheap Chicken Coops

The trend today in food is to create your own environment where you can provide for some of your food needs, and chicken is a basic staple in the dinner table. If you are planning to start your own chicken coop, you are right on track. You will be taking care of two food item items you use regularly in the kitchen - chicken and eggs. Or, you could choose one. Chicken bred for eggs are called layers, while those you plan to use as meat source are called fryers.

If you don’t want to build your chicken coop, there are ways to find cheap chicken coops without going over the budget of creating one from scratch. The main difference would be having to settle for what is available and not being able to customize your chicken coop.

The first place you should to find a cheap chicken coop would be your local hardware store. There may be limited choices, but you get to walk and buy one right away. Thus, you can get started on your chicken coop project immediately.

If you don’t find anything to your taste, then you will need to work your computer and find online sources. Expect the process to take minimum of 2 days to a maximum of a week before you get your goods delivered.

You will be able to find a chicken coop for as low as $10 but this would be the very basic, no frills, four walls and a roof kind of chicken coop. The most expensive for a ready to assemble chicken coop would be around $595.

What you need to consider when buying a chicken coop would be weather, temperature, materials used, and air circulation. You should also have easy access and the basic feed containers, 4 walls, windows, screen, and roof.

Places to Find Chicken Coops for Sale

Chickens are a great animal to have around. They are a source of food and can be fun family pets as well. The problem with having them however is the need to protect them and provide them with quality housing. Although you could build them a chicken coop, this can be difficult and you may just have to find chicken coops for sale. The good news is that when you know how to find them, you can rest assured that the flock you love will be protected.

Prior to looking for a chicken coop, you should have a price limit in mind. With realistic expectations, could save yourself quite a bit of money (and avoid debt) when you purchase one that is within your budget. However, don't be cheap. By focusing more on quality and not cost, you can find a good quality coop that will protect them and keep them healthy without breaking the bank.

One place that you can look for chicken coops is on the internet. Here, you can find many different companies that have chicken coops for sale. Some of them are going to be ones that you can use right away, but some of them might need to be assembled.

Another place to look is specialty publications as well. Farming and farming supply publications almost always have relevant ads in the back for quality chicken houses. If they do, look through the ads and then contact individual sellers to obtain a great chicken coop at a wonderful price.

Newspapers are another place to check. Many individuals typically list items in the classified section of the local paper. By searching here, you could definitely find the item that you want. In addition, yo won't have to have the item shipped and can typically arrange a local pickup of the item.

Farmers can be very helpful. If they already have chickens you could see if they can help you build a coop, but if they do not you might find they have one laying around the yard that they could sell you. So you could use them to get the problem solved in a couple of different ways.

Being able to maintain your own home flock of chickens is really a great idea. However, protecting them from the elements might be harder than you think because they need a quality coop to stay protected. The problem with that is you might not know where to find chicken coops for sale. Once you know where to find them, you can protect your flock and know that they will be safe from harm.

Moveable Chicken Coop

As the name suggests, a moveable chicken coop is small in size and portable. You can take it with you wherever you go. There is a clear preference among people for mobile chicken coops over the regular standard-sized ones for their size and portability. However, the downside is you may not be able to place more chickens in it. So, if you have numerous chickens, then you may have to go in for multiple mobile homes which can make portability a lot difficult. The advantages are lost with multiple mobile coops and this is an important factor you should consider before deciding to buy one. 

The most beneficial aspect of a moveable chicken coop is that it is easy to clean. Its small size  as well as the fact that it could be easily moved near the house for cleaning purposes or moved near the garage where a through water wash could be done with the help of a hose pipe added to the convenience of the owners. 

As the mobile chicken coops are small, it is also cheaper to build them. The materials required may already be available at home or you can get them from your local hardware stores at minimal rates.

How to Build a Chicken Coop Inexpensively

The idea of building your own chicken coop is interesting and exciting because you can take this opportunity to unleash your creative instincts and at the same time can enjoy building a home for your chicken. Constructing DIY chicken coop is relatively easy and you can definitely save a considerable amount of money by building the chicken house by yourself. Mobile chicken coops which are available in stores are quite expensive and you can build the same structure all by yourself with only one-fifth of the price which you will spend on buying the chicken house.

You should first have a rough plan on your mind as to how your chicken coop should look like. The rough plan should be based on the size of your chicken coop, its possible shape and the number of chicken which it can accommodate. After you have a rough outline in your mind, replicate the same on paper which you will be able to see and then can modify according to your creativity or any modifications which needs to be implied for the sustainability of the model. Once you have drawn the final draft and are happy with the structure, then the next step would be to estimate the raw materials which you have and the materials which you need to procure. Remains of an old shed can be very well used in the construction of your chicken coop and scrap plywood and lumber are the right materials which can be reused for this purpose. The other materials which you need to buy should be estimated for their price and only the required amount should be bought so as to control the expenditure.

The inside space for the coop is the next priority and depending on the number of chicken you have or intend to have, the internal coop space should be decided. Usually, an average hen requires 6 to 10 inches of roosting space. A door is a must which should be wide as well as then it makes cleaning of the coop easier. Also, protection to the coop with the means of wire netting is a dire requirement which helps to protect the hens from predatory animals. The roof should be water-proof and the hens need to be kept dry and clean as this will keep them disease-free all the time. Automatic means of watering and feeding are the other key points which should be taken care of as this will reduce manual intervention.

Inexpensive means of chicken coop construction is very well possible and by various home-made materials, a beautiful chicken coop can be constructed by your very hands.
Photo:Carlos Porto

Where to Find Great Chicken Coop Designs?

The first thought which crosses your mind when you decide to get some chicken for your house is how do you shelter these birds? Chicken can be easily brought but the only difficult thing would be to create the right shelter for them which will protect your pets all the year round. In case, you live in a fenced house, then you can let your chicken in your courtyard, but if you have limited space, you need to keep your chicken in their house and at the same time, care should be taken that they have enough space to move about in their little house. Chicken coop is a dire necessity in all those house-holds who rear pets.

Some people do spend a fortune on buying or constructing the right chicken coop which goes great with their house. However, many of the people would like to create their own chicken coop which allows people to use their creativity and saves a considerable amount of money. On an average, a person uses approximately $300 to construct a chicken coop, but by managing your expenses and digging a little deeper on the subject, you can build your chicken coop in a much economical way.

When you want to create your own chicken coop, you must definitely gather knowledge about various key facts such as raw materials, chicken water containers, chicken feeders, nest boxes, chicken roosts, etc. which are the prime requisites for the building of a chicken coop. Designing your own chicken coop depends on your needs, your creativity and the number of chicken you have. While designing your chicken coop, always keep in mind the following facts:

1)    Chicken Coop Materials: All kinds of scrap materials such as scrap lumber, gallon barrels, PVC pipes, tarps, etc. can be used for construction. The most commonly used raw material is wood and you can build the coop with old wood which is available at your house.

2)    Chicken nest boxes: Standardized hen nest boxes are usually around 15-inch by height and 15-inch in width, but they can vary according to your requirement.

3)    Doors and Ceilings: Make sure that the chicken house is easily accessible to you too, so it should be almost of your height. Wide-open doors are a major requirement as then it becomes easy to clean. Adequate ventilation is a must which can be provided by the inclusion of windows. Make sure the roof is water-proof and automatic watering and feeding will definitely help you in the long run.

Once you decide on the basic aspects of a chicken coop, you can modify the design according to your creativity and requirements.