My wife wanted chickens. I was not crazy about the idea but the first time I had an omelet made with eggs from our back yard I was hooked.
It wasn't as simple as buying some chickens and throwing them in the back yard though. We needed a chicken coop and there were only two real options:
Buy a pre made one or find some DIY chicken coop plans so we could build our own.
We looked at both options, and both had pros and cons.
First of all buying a coop already made is easy. You go to the store, buy it, haul it to the house, drop it in the back yard and done. We live basically in the city, as far as being in the country is concerned anyway. So getting to the supply store that carries such things was a pretty decent drive.
Then of course there is cost. Pre made coops are pretty pricey and the worst part is they all look the same - no real design choices. This was probably what had us looking more at DIY chicken coops.
We wanted something that was cool and fit into our back yard. Almost seems like the two shouldn't go together I know - cool and chicken?
Fact is after a few days of searching I found some plans that had a whole bunch of different styles. They were super easy to read and use. They even had complete material lists ready to just printout and take to the store!
We ended up building our own coop, and yes it looks very cool. Kind of like a modern condo for our little egg making friends. It only took one weekend and cost less than $200. It was way easier than I could have ever imagined. I thought I might have to buy some tools but was pleasantly surprised to find out I already had what I needed, (I bought a new mitre saw anyway).
Compare that to the ugly plane jane pre made chicken coops for more than 500 dollars - well, actually there is no comparison.
Building our own DIY coop was a really fun project and a great way for my wife and I to spend the week end together.
And our chickens must really like it because they crank out lots of super delicious eggs! I don't think I'll ever eat another store bought egg, at least I hope I don't.