| When I built my first chicken coop, I spent way too | | | | to get your material. Another good resource is |
| much money and wasted a lot of material and time. | | | | Habitat for Humanity. Our local chapter has a thrift |
| On top of that, it was way over built. Let me help | | | | store that sells reclaimed and recycled lumber and |
| you avoid the mistakes I made. | | | | building materials that are donated. Some stuff is |
| To begin with you need a good guide. To be honest | | | | brand new leftovers from construction sites that |
| purchasing a guide with plans and lists of needed | | | | don't need them. Also you might check Craigslist or |
| materials would have saved me a ton of money in | | | | the want ads to see if anyone is giving away or |
| the long run. I wouldn't have wasted so much | | | | selling old lumber. |
| material and I would have known what I needed up | | | | Save yourself time. The title of this article is "Building |
| front. Instead I had to drive back and forth between | | | | a Cheap Chicken Coop", but we're not just talking |
| Home Depot and my house sometimes 5 times a | | | | about money or time in building. You also want to |
| day. A good manual will let you know what you need | | | | save yourself time in maintenance, after you build |
| up front and save you in time, money, gas, and | | | | your coop. In other words you need a well designed |
| frustration. | | | | chicken coop. A chicken coop with a poor design will |
| Find cheap materials. If your chickens don't care that | | | | only make taking care of your flock of a hassle. You |
| the materials you use to build the coop with are used | | | | want to enjoy your chickens and what they provide |
| or recycled, then why should you? A good coat of | | | | for you. So make it as easy on yourself as possible. |
| paint will usually take care of most material that is | | | | The best way to do that is to design features that |
| unpleasing to the eye anyway. I recommend you visit | | | | will help with this. It needs to be easy to clean, easy |
| your local bargain builders store or builders thrift store | | | | to feed and water, and easy to collect eggs. |