Our Virtual Chicken Coop Tour

Because both you and your chickens will be living with your coop, it's important to put careful thought into its design. Where will the birds sleep? How will you clean it? Will you go inside every day to collect the eggs? What about a pen for them to go in outside? How will you protect them from predators? If you haven't kept chickens before, it's difficult to anticipate all the little design details that can make all the difference. Idea-shopping is important: browse plans online, visit friends' coops, and read a few chicken-keeping manuals (see our resources page) before building.

Our chicken coop came to us second-hand, and we could have hardly asked for anything better. Its former home was in a friend's backyard, where it had sat unused for many years; the previous owner had left it there, and our friends weren't planning to use it. When they heard we were planning to get some chickens, they offered us their coop. We rounded up a dozen friends and a trailer and towed it home to our orchard. Whoever built the coop must have had some chicken experience; thoughtful details like a storage closet, removable roost, and outside access to the nesting boxes make it a chicken-keeper's dream. We constructed the pen with recycled fencing and wood, so the entire project required almost no new purchased material.

This is the front of the coop. As you can see, it's tall enough to stand up in, which makes cleaning and checking on your birds much easier. A window lets in morning sunlight; light is important for the birds' well-being and health, and stimulates their egg-laying. The window can also be opened to provide fresh air. Plywood walls and a raised floor keep the birds warm, and the shingled roof is water-tight. The coop is about four feet wide by ten feet long.

On the right side of the coop is a storage closet for tools, bedding, and food (as you can see, Lily, a barred rock hen, has discovered that last item!) The closet, about two and a half feet wide, is incredibly useful; it's great to have everything you need right there at the house, rather than having to load up the wheelbarrow every time you want to clean or refill the feeders.

The door to the coop is large enough for one chicken to pass through at a time; at 7 by 10 inches, it's a bit smaller than is usually recommended, but the birds don't seem to mind. A ramp makes it easy for the chickens to walk inside, and we use a lenghth of PVC pipe to bar the door securely at night.

Speaking of predators... you'll need to consider how you will keep your coop safe. Raccoons are number one around here, but foxes, skunks, coyotes, hawks, and neighborhood dogs can all pose a threat to your chickens. Make sure the coop is secure, especially at night, when the chickens are defenseless and hungry critters roam. A single hook-and-eye closure will not deter an hungry raccoon, nor will ordinary one-inch chicken wire. Raccoon paws will have a harder time with half-inch hardware cloth and sturdy latches placed far out of reach.

Protect your coop and pen from digging by burying fencing at least six inches under the ground at a right angle. Our chickens only have run of their pen in the daytime — we lock them in their house at night — so we don't bury the fencing, but if you want your pen to be secure (especially if you don't plan to open and close the house every morning and evening), it's a good idea.

Our coop sits on cider blocks about eight inches off the ground. The space beneath it allows air to circulate and keeps the floor away from the damp and mud. To block off the space from predators and curious chickens, we use chicken wire and two-by-sixes held in place by sturdy metal stakes. This system is especially handy because it makes it easy to rake out the manure under the roost:

Because chickens spend so many hours a night on the roost, a lot of manure collects here. The builder of this coop cleverly swapped the floor under the roost for chicken wire, which allows the litter to fall through to the space under the house. We clean out the manure once a month or so by removing the boards, raking it out, shovelling into a wheelbarrow and carrying it off to compost elsewhere. Simple and efficient! If the area under the roost were solid floor, we would probably have to clean it weekly rather than monthly to keep up with eleven birds in the coop.

To be continued; check back soon!