Getting Started

My journey into backyard chickens started at childhood.  I had relatives with farms and barnyard animals.  I also attended a school that had barnyard animals as part of the environmental science program and was actively involved in helping to raise the chickens.  After elementary school decades passed and I didn't really give chickens another thought.

I started to look into chickens again about 4 years ago in conjunction with Square Foot Gardening, Aquaponics, and backyard gardens.  I started to grow concerned about the quality and safety of foods being mass produced.  Things from lettuce to eggs to peanut butter to ice cream have become recalls for E. coli, salmonella, listeria, etc.

The original plan was to use the chickens for eggs and compost their waste for fertilizing the garden. However, a quick online search and email to the city confirmed they didn't allow chickens.  That will be the first hurdle you (or anyone interested in chickens) will have to look at.  As silly as it sounds when I bought my next house part of the criteria was finding a "chicken friendly" area.

The next step was making sure I had a suitable coop setup.  The common rule is about 10sqft/chicken for the run plus 4sqft/chicken for the coop.  Originally, I planned to build the coop but I found one online for $166 after taxes and decided that was the better route in terms of time and money.  The cheapest coop with a run that looked like it would hold up was close to $400 and I thought I could build a suitable run for less than $150.

Ultimately as shown below I spent about $429 total (run was $263) excluding about $10 in paint for the coop which was just decorative.  I probably also would have saved myself a day or two of work building the run.

No tool assembly coop:$166

Run: $263

1/2" hardware cloth (75') - $138

2x3 Wood studs (about 18) - $36

Top soil (15 bags) - $24.00

Poultry Netting - $22.00

3/16 Washers - $20.00

Screws - $13.00

Door Hinges - $6

Barrel Lock - $4

Heavy Duty Staples (on hand)

Grand total: $429

If you decide to build a run here are some pointers...

The run below is 6'x8'x6'.

1. Almost everyone recommends using 1/2" hardware cloth.  Poultry netting holds chickens in but is apparently lousy at keeping predators out.

2. I used 3/16" washers and screws to secure the hardware cloth.  I also went back with heavy duty staples as well.

3. I used 3' poultry netting under the coop overlapping it about 6" each run and extended it 1' past the run on all sides.  This is to prevent predators from digging under to get into the coop.  I also added 15 bags of 40lb topsoil to cover the netting around and inside the coop.