When we first decided to get chickens, my eight and twelve-year old sons were ecstatic at the prospect of building a coop. I thought the more cost and time-effective option would be to buy a used coop, but they were adamant that I would be robbing them of the best part of having chickens. Neither my husband or I are woodworkers, and he was not thrilled at idea of getting chickens in the first place. So I was on my own (well…not counting two very eager boys).
I went to my local library and found a book called Art of the Chicken Coop by Chris Gleason. I found this book to be a marvelous resource with color pictures and easy to understand instructions for novice builders like myself. Plus, I liked his philosophy of using reclaimed wood whenever possible.
I purchased some of the wood, roofing shingles, and paint from my local Habitat for Humanity ReStore. I also purchased large cabinet doors there for $2 each. These are the front doors to my coop. Still, all said and done, the coop wasn’t that cheap. It probably cost around $125-150 to build. The rest of the wood I had cut for me at Home Depot. I made the sunburst design by cutting a ¼” wood panel with a jigsaw.
My coop measures about 3 ½ ft X 4 ft. If I were to do it again, I think I’d make it an even 4 ft X 4 ft, but it seems to fit my six chickens all right. I realize that the chickens should have 2-3 sq. ft. of coop space per bird, so mine is a little on the small side. On the other hand, my (new) run is 13 ft x 5 ft, so that offers the chickens almost 11 sq. ft per bird, which they use just about every waking hour.
I made one rooky mistake while designing my coop. I thought it would be nice to give the chickens a little natural light by putting in a window. And what better place than their nest boxes! I imagined how nice it would be for the hens to look out a picture window while laying their eggs. I didn’t realize that, just like people, hens like their privacy while “pushing.” Not one hen ever used those nest boxes…until I got rid of the view!
For more information on coops, see What Should Be Inside a Chicken Coop by Amelia Quinn.