13 Free Chicken Coop Plans You Can DIY This Weekend
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Windows and other large openings should be covered with mesh that the chickens can’t peck through. Also, chicken owners should regularly check the roof and walls of your chicken coop and repair any damage. Nesting boxes give your hens a comfortable place to lay their eggs and make harvesting and collecting eggs much easier. Ideally, you should have one nesting box for every three or four hens in your coop. Be sure to keep the nesting boxes clean and lined with fresh straw or pine shavings to attract the hens to them. If you’re raising more than six to 10 babies, Doug recommends the Macgoal Flip-Top Poultry Feeder, which takes up less real estate in your brooder while giving all your birds a space to eat.
How to Build a Chicken Coop (Step-by-step)
In addition, it has nice features such as direct access to the nesting boxes and a door to get into the run, which is a huge help with cleaning. This small coop is made from thick wood panels and a powder-coated steel frame, and it comes with a wooden ramp that allows your chickens to climb into and out of the enclosed area. There are three nesting boxes, which you can access via a hinged lid and a sliding door that allows you to shut your birds in as needed. The metal floor slides out for easy cleaning, and access doors on both sides of the structure can be locked with predator-resistant latches.
Instructables Backyard Coop
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Roosting perches should allow for 8-12 inches of space per bird. Chickens sleep ‘flat-footed,’ so the perch should be between 2-4 inches wide for their comfort. Try to take into consideration all the things that might limit the desirability or accessibility of the coop. The vent should be up near the ceiling, well above the heads of your chickens (remember, no drafts). As contrary as it might sound, ventilation will release the moisture from the coop. Moist air in the coop during the colder months will give your birds frostbite to the combs and wattles, especially breeds with large combs and wattles.
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If you only buy eggs when they’re cheap, raising chickens will not be more affordable. However, if you always get fresh eggs from the farmers market, you will likely save money. You can typically put about 10 to 11 chickens comfortably and safely in a 4×8 coop.
It may be a little expensive but if you build this coop, you won’t have to build another one for years so it worth the investment. You may want to increase or decrease the size, but the creator of this plan has already optimized it so there will be no waste (in material and money). You won’t believe if I say this is Rick’s first ever major building project, but it is. South City Coop is ideal if you don’t want your coop and run to take much space because the shape is long to the side and not wide to the front. Lastly, it has so many windows and ventilation so you don’t have to worry about lighting and air circulation.
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Below, I’ve included a step-by-step guide with pictures that will make building a coop easy for someone without any DIY experience. This article was written by Camryn Rabideau, a freelance writer and product tester for The Spruce. She’s the proud owner of 12 chickens and four ducks, and she and her partner used the CoopExpert Chicken Coop Plans to build a sturdy coop for her flock. This way, you can add a few more hens to your flock without needing to build another coop.
Greenhouse Chicken Coop Plan
In fact, BackyardChicken alone (one of the biggest online chicken owner communities) has more than 3,000 of them, submitted by the members. It’s time to build the nesting box.We’ve previously written in-depth about different styles of nesting boxes and how to build one here. Somewhere to keep them safe from predators, warm during winter, dry during rain, and somewhere safe to lay eggs. This adorable coop is perfect for housing a small flock of up to four chickens.
Multi-level DIY chicken coop Plan
Ideally, choose wood that doesn’t have large knots or holes that could let predators in. If you are building the coop from scratch, choose a plan that fits the considerations listed above. There are many accessible, easy-to-understand coop plans aimed at beginners that are readily available online, often for free. For larger breeds such as Jersey Giants, allow an additional square foot of floor space per bird. Converting an old outbuilding is sometimes easier than starting from scratch. Before this structure was a coop, it was a playhouse for kids.
They prefer to be elevated when they sleep, so we removed those bars and added a long swinging roost bar, constructed much like this chicken swing (video) but with a dowel instead of a branch. Think about it, PVC is inexpensive, durable, and easy to assemble. It’s a perfect alternative to woods as material for chicken coop structures. You don’t have to cut or nail anything if you’re building a coop with this plan. When you’ve downloaded the PDF files from this site (there are 3 designs) you’ll realize that it’s really easy to build. Unless you’re planning to let your chickens free range in your yard, you need some type of run—a term for an enclosed area for poultry—where they can spend time during the day.
For the most part, the same principles apply here as we discussed in building the coop frame. It should still be well-constructed, though, as a solid frame will help keep your fencing secure and protect your birds from predators. You’ll stuff nesting boxes with straw or sawdust so the eggs don’t break. On average, a chicken will lay an egg every one to two days. Adding a few “dust boxes” filled with sand is also a good idea, as chickens often clean themselves with “dust bathing,” which will help them keep clean and mite-free.
With 100 square feet of floor space, it’s one of the more difficult plans to build. This chicken coop features a unique design that allows users to convert the interior space from one larger coop to two smaller coops by opening or closing an interior door. The design also includes a large enclosed run to give chickens plenty of space to safely enjoy the outdoors. The hand-drawn chicken run plans include very detailed step-by-step directions and material list to simplify the construction process. With downloadable plans from Etsy seller Digital Tutorial Studio, you don’t have to decide whether to dedicate yard space to gardening or raising chickens—you can do both at once! With these plans, you can DIY your own small chicken coop with its own a rooftop garden.
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You can customize this chicken coop in a number of ways to suit your flock. For instance, you can purchase a larger run area, “EZ-fill” water and food containers, as well as storm panels that can be mounted to the walls of the run. You can stash food and other supplies in the built-in storage compartment within the coop, and the design can even be personalized with your farm name for free. This coop does require assembly upon arrival, and because it’s fairly large, freight shipping can be quite expensive. If you’re new to chickens and just want a couple of birds, the Producer’s Pride Sentinel Chicken Coop is a small and affordable housing option.
And if you’re like most homesteaders and farmers, you’ve got pallets coming out of your ears. This design gives you an easy peasy way to re-use your wooden pallets to create an extremely inexpensive chicken coop in no time flat. Speaking of nesting boxes, give your hens a nice, enclosed space to lay their eggs. If you forgo the nesting boxes, they’ll lay them anywhere and everywhere, and they may even trample them.
As well as latches secured with carabiners or padlocks, spring-loaded eye hooks are adequate. Egg production tapers off when hens don’t catch enough rays, which explains why many flocks stop producing completely in winter. 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.
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