A chicken coop built to our plans costs between $675 and $7,100 in 2026 materials. That’s a much bigger number than the $300 and $500 builds you’ll find quoted elsewhere. The gap is almost entirely scope, and this page is about showing you exactly where it goes.
Every figure here comes from a plan’s own bill of materials. The generator that draws our plans counts every board, sheet, panel, screw and foot of mesh the drawings call for. It prices that list at 2026 retail.
Nothing on this page is a survey of what other people say they spent.
What Our Numbers Cover
This is the whole disagreement in one table. A cheap online figure prices the coop box. Ours prices a finished, predator-proofed installation with somewhere for the birds to go outside.
| Line item | Typical “$300 coop” figure | Our bill of materials |
|---|---|---|
| Framing and sheathing | Yes | Yes, 3/4” plywood throughout |
| Roof | Yes | Yes, corrugated metal |
| Exterior siding | No, bare sheathing | Yes, lap siding over the sheathing |
| Attached run | No | Yes, framed, meshed and roofed |
| Foundation | On the dirt | Pier blocks on compacted gravel pads |
| Run surface | Bare soil | 3-4” of coarse sand or drain rock |
| Mesh | 1” chicken wire | 1/4” 19-gauge hardware cloth |
| Windows | No | Yes |
| Latches | Basic hook | Two-action latches |
| Primer and paint | No | Yes |
| Fasteners, lags, caulk | Underpriced | Counted from the cut list |
Take our 4x4 starter coop as the example. It’s the smallest coop we publish, so the comparison is sharpest.
Its material list is 39 2x4s, four 2x6s, six ground-contact 4x4 posts and five sheets of 3/4-inch plywood. Add 64 sq ft of lap siding, three metal roof panels, a window and eight pier blocks. Then eight cubic feet of gravel, a cubic yard of run surface, 75 feet of hardware cloth, nine hinges and five two-action latches.
That prices at $1,650-$2,150. A list that stops at the studs, the sheathing and a roll of chicken wire lands near $400.
Both numbers can be right. They’re describing different objects.
The hardware cloth is the single biggest surprise
The 4x4 needs 52 feet of 1/4-inch 19-gauge hardware cloth, which you buy as a 50-foot roll plus a 25-foot roll. That’s about $232 — roughly 13% of the whole build, on a coop with ten square feet of floor.
Chicken wire for the same coop is under $40. It’s also not predator-proof. Chicken wire is a containment material: it keeps hens in, and a raccoon opens it with its hands.
If your budget only reaches chicken wire, build a smaller coop rather than a cheaper mesh.
Every Plan in the Line, Priced
These are the published ranges. Each one is computed from that specific design’s cut list, so they move when the design moves.
| Plan | Holds | Build time | 2026 materials |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3-box nest bank | up to 12 hens | 3-5 hrs | $240-$330 |
| 4x8 A-frame tractor | 2-3 hens | 14-20 hrs | $675-$875 |
| 6x10 A-frame tractor | 4-6 hens | 22-30 hrs | $800-$1,025 |
| 6x8 standalone run | run for 6-9 hens | 10-14 hrs | $850-$1,100 |
| 6x8 A-frame coop | 3-5 hens | 20-28 hrs | $975-$1,275 |
| 4x10 hoop tractor | 2-4 hens | 12-16 hrs | $1,000-$1,300 |
| 4x4 starter coop | 2-3 hens | 10-14 hrs | $1,650-$2,150 |
| 4x6 coop | 3-4 hens | 18-26 hrs | $1,900-$2,450 |
| 4x8 lean-to coop | 4-6 hens | 12-18 hrs | $2,100-$2,750 |
| 4x8 shed coop | 4-6 hens | 16-24 hrs | $2,250-$2,900 |
| 6x8 coop | 6-9 hens | 26-34 hrs | $2,700-$3,450 |
| 6x8 pallet-clad coop | 7-10 hens | 38-50 hrs | $2,850-$3,800 |
| 6x8 walk-in | 7-10 hens | 30-38 hrs | $2,900-$3,750 |
| 8x8 walk-in | 10-13 hens | 40-52 hrs | $3,200-$4,100 |
| 6x10 walk-in | 9-12 hens | 36-44 hrs | $3,200-$4,100 |
| 6x8 modern coop | 7-10 hens | 40-52 hrs | $3,600-$4,700 |
| 8x10 walk-in | 12-14 hens | 46-58 hrs | $3,700-$4,750 |
| 8x12 coop | 12-19 hens | 55-70 hrs | $3,950-$5,050 |
| 10x10 walk-in | 15-17 hens | 60-78 hrs | $4,150-$5,350 |
| 8x12 walk-in | 14-18 hens | 60-75 hrs | $4,250-$5,450 |
| 10x12 walk-in | 18-22 hens | 75-95 hrs | $4,700-$6,000 |
| 8x16 walk-in | 19-26 hens | 90-110 hrs | $4,950-$6,400 |
| 8x12 insulated | 14-18 hens | 78-98 hrs | $5,500-$7,100 |
The low end of each range assumes you shop carefully. The high end assumes you buy everything at one store on one Saturday. Browse the full chicken coop plans library to see the spec table behind any of these.
Where the Money Goes
Two builds, same categories, very different mixes. This is what happens as a coop gets bigger.
| Category | 4x4 starter coop | 8x12 walk-in |
|---|---|---|
| Framing lumber | 20% | 29% |
| Plywood and sheet goods | 18% | 15% |
| Siding | 9% | 17% |
| Hardware cloth | 13% | 15% |
| Metal roofing and trim | 9% | 6% |
| Screws, lags, caulk, paint | 14% | 6% |
| Pier blocks and gravel | 8% | 4% |
| Hinges and latches | 7% | 4% |
| Windows | 3% | 3% |
Two things fall out of that. Lumber, plywood and hardware cloth are 50-60% of every total in the line — those are the three lines to price locally before you commit.
The other is that small coops carry the fixed costs badly. Screws, caulk, paint and latches cost roughly the same on a 4x4 as on an 8x12. That’s 21% of the small build and 10% of the big one.
Cost per hen
| Plan | Hens | Materials, low end | Per hen |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4x4 starter | 3 | $1,650 | $550 |
| 4x6 | 4 | $1,900 | $475 |
| 4x8 shed | 6 | $2,250 | $375 |
| 6x8 | 9 | $2,700 | $300 |
| 8x8 walk-in | 13 | $3,200 | $245 |
| 8x12 walk-in | 18 | $4,250 | $235 |
| 8x16 walk-in | 26 | $4,950 | $190 |
Bigger is cheaper per bird, and it isn’t close. If you’re weighing a 4x6 against a 4x8, the 4x8 costs 18% more and holds 50% more hens. Size it with the coop size calculator before you price anything.
The Cheap Build That’s Actually Cheap
If $1,650 for a 4x4 is out of reach, the tractor is the honest answer. Our 4x8 A-frame tractor houses the same 2-3 hens and prices at $675-$875.
Here’s exactly what it gives up to get there:
- No foundation. It sits on the grass and you move it. Earth anchors hold it down in wind.
- No siding and no windows. The skins are 1/4-inch exterior plywood over 2x2 framing.
- Roll roofing, not metal. One roll, plus a strip of flashing bent over the peak.
- You move it. Loaded, it weighs about 375 lb. That’s one person on firm level ground and two on soft ground.
What it does not give up is the mesh. It still specs 1/4-inch 19-gauge hardware cloth, because that’s the part you can’t trade away.
Three Savings That Don’t Save
We priced these against their own alternatives inside the same product line, so the comparison is like for like.
Free pallet wood saves about nothing. Our 6x8 pallet-clad coop is $2,850-$3,800. The identical 6x8 walk-in in lap siding is $2,900-$3,750.
The boards are free. The housewrap, furring, hot-dip ring-shank nails and four gallons of penetrating stain are not, and you spend about ten hours stripping pallets.
A modern skin costs $700-$950. The 6x8 modern coop is $3,600-$4,700 against $2,900-$3,750 for the same shed in lap siding. Board-and-batten is a look, and it’s a real line item.
Insulation is not a $150 upgrade. The 8x12 insulated coop is $5,500-$7,100 against $4,250-$5,450 for the same 8x12 walk-in. That’s $1,250-$1,650 for the cold-climate package, plus about 20 hours of work.
Whether you need it is covered in the insulation guide.
What the Number Leaves Out
Every figure on this page is materials only. Budget separately for:
- Tools. A circular saw, a drill and a level if you don’t own them.
- Delivery. Most yards charge for it, and 39 studs plus five sheets of plywood won’t fit in a car.
- Sales tax. Not included in any figure here.
- Site prep. Leveling, drainage, or clearing where the coop goes.
- Permits and HOA fees. Usually zero, sometimes not.
- The birds and their kit. Feeder, waterer, bedding, feed, and the hens.
We don’t publish a labor figure. We publish build hours instead, which is the number you can actually use — they’re in the table above and on every plan page.
Pricing It Yourself
Ten minutes on the phone or on a store website gets you a local number that beats any national average.
- Open the plan page and find its material list.
- Price the three big lines: framing lumber, 3/4-inch plywood, and 1/4-inch hardware cloth. That’s 50-60% of the build.
- Add 40% for everything else — roofing, siding, fasteners, hardware, paint, piers.
- Add your sales tax and any delivery charge.
Do this before you cut anything. Our materials guide covers which grades are worth paying for and which aren’t.
Ongoing Costs
The build is once. Feed is forever, and it’s the number people miss.
A laying hen eats about a quarter pound of feed a day, or roughly 90 lb a year. At $22-$30 for a 50 lb bag of layer ration, that’s $40-$55 per hen per year. Six hens run $240-$330 in feed alone.
Bedding is the next line. A bale of pine shavings runs $7-$10 and lasts a month or two in a small coop, less in a big one. Grit, oyster shell and the occasional health supply are minor by comparison.
Substitute your own feed price and your own flock size. Those two numbers move the total far more than anything else does.
Build or Buy
A cheap retail prefab is cheaper to buy than anything in our line is to build. We’re not going to pretend otherwise.
What you’re really choosing is what the gap buys. Check four things on the prefab, and compare them against the specs on any of our plan pages:
- The mesh gauge, and the size of its openings.
- The thickness of the frame stock.
- Whether the floor sits off the ground.
- Whether the roof is a real roof or a thin panel.
If those four all come back the way you want, buy it. If they don’t, you now know what the difference costs.
About These Numbers
Every dollar figure on this page traces to a bill of materials our plan generator computes from the drawings themselves. Board counts come from a real cut-packing pass over every cut in the plan, so the material list and the buy list can’t disagree. The unit prices are 2026 national big-box retail.
Lumber and hardware move, sometimes sharply. Treat these as planning ranges, not quotes, and price your own cut list before you buy.
Every plan’s preview PDF is a free download, and the full spec table on each plan page costs nothing. The complete step-by-step set is $4.99 on Etsy. Start at the plans library and pick the size first — the price follows the size, not the other way round.