Would you like to make your own chicken coop?

Lena - July 24, 2022

I have some chickens in my backyard. Now I’m thinking about building a home for my chickens. I have seen some great coops in online stores. But after seeing some videos, I thought that maybe I could make a chicken coop. Maybe a greenhouse, a carport, or a trampoline….

Would you make a chicken coop?

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I made one a few years back.  Sure, you can build one and you can find plans/ideas online that match up with your specific needs.  Just keep in mind every predator known to man loves to eat chickens and chickens are almost completely helpless.  You have to protect them.  Plus they need to get out and scratch in the grass.  So find a design that treats the birds properly and gives them protection.

 

Just built one a couple of months ago. Lumber and materials are still crazy expensive so try to scrounge what you can. One thing I splurged on was a 4 x 8 sheet of PVC for the floor, it was $100 but is non absorbent and cleaning is really easy. Also used 4 – 4 x 4 treated posts. From prior experience I learned to make the chicken door super easy to operate and the “man” door really wide. Don’t try to make the coup too tight, you want lots of ventilation. Finally, I made it “panelized.” Meaning it can come apart with a few carriage bolts for transportation; roof, 4 walls, floor.

Also I made the floor a couple of feet off the ground so the girls can get under. It’s been over 100º on and off the last couple of weeks and they go under there. Big dual purpose birds like Buffs and Rocks do pretty well in the cold but have a hard time in the heat

We used some used, crappy, cheap paperboard siding that we’d torn off the house. I figure we can replace in the future when something better comes along (or not)

 

Redneck and Pops gave good advice, security, ventilation, ability to get out and scratch, and ease of cleaning.

Do they like little sticks or perches to sit on inside of their house? I don’t know much about chickens but I think they like to roost.

 

Yes.  I cut some saplings to provide roosts for my gals.  Their feet are designed to grasp a round branch, so that is why I went that route.

 

Ditto, I used some 2x2s with round edges. They like to be up in the air, if they don’t have a coup and their wings aren’t clipped they will roost pretty high up in the trees.

BTW I just received some feeder things that adapt a 5 gal bucket for use as a feeder. I had a big old metal feeder but it finally rusted out. New ones now are $50 and up and they still rust. 6 outlets for $32 and a couple $5 buckets will hold 50# and should last a while out of the sun.

 

So after a few days, all the girls are eating out of the bucket I modified with the gizmos above. I like it better even than the old galvanized hanging feeder I used to have, I think it will be less prone to rain spoiling the feed. It is plastic so it needs to stay out of the sun.

 

In the UK we have regular outbreaks of the H5N1 bird flu virus which means we sometimes have to confine our chickens. For this purpose we have built a large permanent chicken run with a full steel profile roof and mesh walls with less then one inch gaps.(to keep wild birds out and prevent the chickens coming into contact with wild bird’s poo) The bottom eighteen inches of the wall are faced with corrugated steel that is set into a hardcore base in order to proof it against foxes and badgers. 
It is about the size of a triple car port, high enough to walk around without stooping. There is also a separate small area where we can isolate older or more vulnerable birds to prevent them being bullied.

As soon as restrictions are lifted we let them out to free range.

 

I chose a greenhouse from Quictent. And I plan to transform it into a chicken coop. It is my first try.

 

I thought about it, but no. Chickens need a lot of space to be healthy and happy. Seven square feet of run each for average size, fifteen each for large. Five square feet of coop space each, with a nesting box for every two. Chicken wire or similar buried a foot deep around the perimeter to deter digging predators. A cover for the run to deter hawks. You have to put them in the coop at night and fasten a lock strong and sophisticated enough that raccoons can’t open it. Make sure there’s no way raccoons can enlarge and get in through the tiniest space. In hot summers,  you’d probably need to provide air conditioning in the coop, and heating on the coldest winter days. Do you have someone who would feed the chickens and clean the coop if you go on vacation or out of town?

Too hard for me. It would always be cheaper to buy eggs at the store.

 

I saw an advertisement linking to the following article talking about building a run and coop from recycled materials.