Small Chicken Coop Construction

10 Ways to Build a Better Chicken Coop

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The walls of this coop were built tall enough to accommodate an off-the-shelf screen door from the home center. Egg production tapers off when hens don't catch enough rays, which explains why many flocks stop producing completely in winter.

44 Beautiful DIY Chicken Coop Plans You Can Actually Build

A little mood lighting inside their coop, however, can help compensate for the shorter days. Just be sure to select bulbs that cast a warm glow—as the chandelier shown here does—since bluish-white light won't trigger laying. No coop is complete without nesting boxes and roosting perches. Inside this coop, sturdy wicker baskets padded with straw serve as cozy places for hens to lay their eggs, while a wood closet rod acts as a perch for sleeping.

Colorful paintings hung on the wall make egg collecting that much more fun.

44 Beautiful DIY Chicken Coop Plans You Can Actually Build

Because chickens are easy prey for nocturnal critters, such as raccoons, opossum, and foxes, select metal latches for your coop that can't be flicked open by a paw, and always lock up your flock at night. Here, a barrel-bolt latch safeguards the hens. A run screened-in with sturdy hardware cloth is a win-win design: Your feathered friends get to play outside all day while you rest easy knowing that they can't wreak havoc on your veggie patch or get snatched by a neighborhood cat. This cedar coop even has a screened-in tunnel that connects to a fenced section of the yard not shown , giving the flock a defined free-range space.

Chickens get sick if the air inside their coop doesn't circulate.

Chicken Coop Checklist (Before you Start Building!)

The screened-in gap between the walls and slanted roof of this coop lets hot air escape without causing a draft in the sleeping quarters below. Keep in mind that chickens need fresh food and water daily and their quarters need cleaning regularly. A walk-in design makes scrubbing down the coop's interior less of a chore, while built-in storage and even a rain-collection system can save time.

This walk-in setup includes a well-sealed metal trash can, perfect for stashing feed.

To join the sides together you will need to fix all 4 connecting battens on the inside of each joint. Screw through from the side battens into the connecting battens.

Finally, fix the 4 lower lumber battens on the outside of vertical battens 2,3,4 and 5 approximately Take two roof trusses battens and screw them together through the degree angle to create triangles without bases. This creates your roof trusses, once you have made all three screw them into the coop frame directly above the vertical battens. Screw through the roof trusses into the ridge rails.

Congratulations you have now completed the roof frame of your coop. You will no doubt be able to see it taking shape and can already picture your hens in there! At the moment, you have a skeleton of a chicken coop. After you have finished cutting the panels, use a piece of sandpaper to smooth down any splinters and rough edges.

Your coop should now look like:. Cut the 5 panels required using the sizes specified above. After you have finished countersinking the side panels, you can screw them to the coop. Once the side panels are fitted, you are going to fit the floor panel into your coop. Now the floor has been inserted, screw the floor panel into the frame of the coop. Proceed to countersink and then screw the floor into the frame.

Cut the panels from your Oriented Strand Boards, using the cut table above, and proceed to countersink and then screw. Once the coop has been panelled it is time to cut all of the openings into the panels; such as the coop door, nesting box and cleaning access:.

1. Seek Out Shade

Now you have a finished coop, but, without the detail. The final touches are the most important ones! Take a horizontal door batten and on each end apply PVC glue. Next, take a vertical door batten and screw through the side of the vertical door batten into the horizontal door batten. Repeat this process for both sides of the door. Once you have built the doors, they will need hanging. To hang the doors, you need to fit the hinges to the doors and then to the frame of the coop. You will want to take the right-side panel where you previously cut a door opening. Grab it, add a couple of hinges and you have a small access door for your coop.

Step 1: Plan for Size and Location

When I was building the coop, I wanted to make the roost as natural as possible, so I decided to make the roosting bar from a tree branch. I then screwed this into my coop.

Step 2: Build the Frame

Finally, for the coop ramp. I then added a base block and four steps. Congratulations, your chicken coop is getting very close to being finished. Now you need to strip the coop down and paint the panels in the color of your choice. You can choose any color you like, just make sure the paint is suitable for outside use. I went with a multi-surface weather shield which guaranteed 6 years of weather protection.

Now you have finished felting one side of the roof panel, you need to take the second piece of roofing felt and repeat this process to felt the right roof panel. Once the second piece of felt is nailed in place, you will notice that the ridge of the roof is still not covered in felt.

How to Build a Chicken Coop

You need to take your third piece of roofing felt and place this over the middle of the roof. However, I decided to add roof shingles to make it look nicer. Use wire cutters to cut the piece of mesh from the roll and U-nails to fix it to your coop.

You now have a finished home for your hens! We get asked many questions about chicken coops and building them, here are some of the most frequent that will help you before you start your project. This depends upon the type of breed you plan to keep, however, for beginners, a good guide is to use three square feet per hen inside the coop. The rule of thumb is a minimum of three square feet per hen inside the coop and 25 square feet outside of the coop.

So for each hen, plan to have roughly 30 square feet. Inside a chicken coop there are multiple living areas; a perch, entrance and a nesting box. The perch is a roosting area inside the coop where your hens will sleep and shelter from the elements. This needs to be 10 linear inches per hen. Another rule of thumb, 1 square foot per hen nesting. A lock keeps predators out of your hen house. A padlock should be used on every opening in your coop e. Unless you live in remote parts of Canada or Alaska then your chickens will be fine without insulation. Your flock is much more winter hardy than you and they will flock together to keep each other warm.

How to choose the perfect breed of chicken for you- including our top 5 beginner picks. Check Price on Amazon.

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