A good coop doesn’t have to be expensive — most of the cost is in materials you can substitute, repurpose, or get free. Here’s how to build cheap without building a deathtrap.
Repurpose instead of building from scratch
The biggest savings come from starting with something that already has walls and a roof:
- Old garden shed or playhouse — add ventilation, roosts, nest boxes, and a pop door and you’re most of the way there.
- Large dog kennel / crate — a ready-made frame to clad and secure.
- Packing crates, wardrobes, trampoline frames — keepers turn all sorts of cast-offs into coops.
Source materials free or cheap
- Pallets (free from many businesses) for walls and framing — use heat-treated (‘HT’) ones, not chemically treated.
- Reclaimed/offcut timber, old fence panels, and corrugated sheet from marketplace listings, skips (with permission), and renovation leftovers.
- DIY nest boxes from 5-gallon buckets, plastic totes, or milk crates — chickens don’t care if they’re new.
The one place NOT to cut corners
Spend where failure costs you birds: predator protection. Use proper ½-inch hardware cloth (never chicken wire), a raccoon-proof latch, and don’t undersize the coop to save a few dollars. See our predator-proofing guide — a cheap coop that lets a predator in isn’t cheap, it’s catastrophic.
Put it together
Start with our build essentials for what every coop must have, size it with the coop size calculator, then substitute reclaimed materials wherever they don’t compromise safety. A resourceful budget build can be every bit as good as a bought coop — often better, because you size and secure it yourself.
Common questions
- What's the cheapest way to build a chicken coop?
- Repurpose an existing structure (an old shed, playhouse, dog kennel, or large packing crate) and use reclaimed or free materials for the rest. Pallets, offcuts, and marketplace giveaways cut costs dramatically. The one place not to save money is predator protection — buy proper hardware cloth.
- Can I build a coop entirely from pallets?
- Largely, yes — free pallets make excellent walls and framing. Just confirm they're heat-treated (stamped 'HT', not chemically treated 'MB'), and still cover all openings with hardware cloth rather than relying on the pallet gaps.
- Where do I save money and where shouldn't I?
- Save on structure (reclaimed wood, repurposed buildings, DIY nest boxes). Don't save on hardware cloth, a secure latch, or adequate size — those three failures cost you birds or cause disease, which is far more expensive than the materials.