If you’re considering raising chickens, whether to save on your grocery bill or to provide more organic foods for your family, one of the first items you will be needing is a chicken coop.
You have a couple options available to you-building a chicken coop yourself or buying a pre-fabricated one.
There are a variety of reasons why you might choose to build your own, including the top five below.
Price
Pre-fabricated chicken coops can be expensive, especially compared to the price of building your own. While usually made from the same materials you would use when building a chicken coop yourself, you pay a healthy premium for the convenience of having everything gathered up for you. You also have to pay for packing and shipping, which in the case of a large coop, can be quite expensive. When you build your own coop, you pay actual price for the materials and save on delivery expenses.
Time
If you need your chicken coop quickly, you may not have time to wait for a pre-made coop to be delivered. If the item is on backorder, you may lose even more time waiting. Also you want to keep in mind that most coops do not arrive fully assembled. You generally have to locate and identify your pieces, which are often described as letters or numbers, and put them together following the instructions. It can be frustrating, especially if you’re unlucky enough to be the recipient of the box that is missing pieces. In the time you spent identifying pieces, deciphering instructions, and locating missing pieces, you most likely could have built your entire chicken coop from scratch and your chickens could already be exploring their new home.
Layout
Pre-fabricated coops are often limited in terms of chicken coop layouts. If you have a specific layout in mind, you may have to search the offerings of several companies before you can find it, if the layout is even available. When you build your own, your only limit is your imagination. If your imagination is great, but your design skills not so much, you might consider purchasing plans for building a chicken coop. These are generally inexpensive and come with instructions detailing each step, as well as a list of materials and equipment you will need to complete your chicken coop.
Quality
When you build something yourself, you ensure the quality by selecting good materials and making sure the structure is secure. If you purchase as chicken coop, the quality is only as good as the company is willing to provide. Quality materials can be expensive. When companies sell pre-made coops, they add a markup to their cost. It is not in their best interest financially to make their coops using top quality materials since the consumer, you, will not want to pay the expensive price tag.
Appearance
While companies may offer a few designs and colors, you may find yourself hard-pressed to find a chicken coop that blends in or matches the other structures on your property.
The ones that are available for purchase are often designed with function rather than appearance in mind. By building your own, whether from your imagination or by purchasing plans for building a chicken coop, you can be sure that your coop fits your criteria and doesn’t stick out like an eyesore.
As you can see, there are several good reasons why you should opt for building a chicken coop from scratch. With the variety of chicken coop layouts and plans for building a chicken coop available, there’s no reason you should be limited to the same one everyone else has..
