# chicken coop plans



## woodsman23 (Apr 6, 2011)

Anyone have a good source for chicken coops, i like to build a medium one for about 5-6 chickens, also what are the best chickens to have, i am in cold country...


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## midwestcoast (Apr 6, 2011)

A bunch on here. Plus chicken 101 info.  http://www.backyardchickens.com/coopdesigns.html


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## Bad Wolf (Apr 7, 2011)

I built one out of a couple of shipping crates I got from a guy off Craig's list. 'bout 4x6 very basic, 3 bay laying box off the back, tag sale shingles, cheapo 1x3 strapping on the corners. Just remember its just a coop. I'll try to get a few pics when I get a chance. Just look at the ones on backyardchickens in the previous post, then modify to fit your yard and available materials.

More importantly (and more expensive) was the 8x8x8 run I built on it so I had wire on all six sides. Nothing is going to get in that sucker even if they dig underneath. I let them free range during the day but they'll put themselves back in the coop at dusk and I lock them backup.

You've got time, even if you buy chicks now they won't be ready to go out in the coop till June or better. 

I've got three Ameraucanas and three Rhode Island Reds. They all weathered over this past year with no problems (and it was a cold one!!)
They are good layers and the Ameraucanas will give you blue and green eggs!! We're back up to 5-6 eggs a day after a winter low of 1-2 eggs a day. 
Bought another 6 last week at Tractor Supply, 3 black Australorps and 3 black sex linked. We'll see how they work out.
The TSC site has a guide that lists some of the basic features, like egg production, cold weather hardy etc.


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## Mrs. Krabappel (Apr 7, 2011)

There is no "best chicken" like there is no best dog.    Each has their benefits and drawbacks.  Figuring out your faves is all part of the magic!    
Backyardchickens.com is a great resource as mentioned.

Design flaws in my coop-
too small. err on the side of Bigger.  Chickens are addicting.  Just like a woodstove, it's easier to put less hens in a big coop than more hens in a small coop.
I don't have easy access to every part of the coop.  
I have to work to hard to collect eggs.  Think small doors and no bending.
Mine are free to roam about the yard so I don't have any pen or fencing. 

I had no plans for a rooster and didn't have one for awhile, but now I love my rooster.  He does such a great job with the hens.   

Have fun!!


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## Mrs. Krabappel (Apr 7, 2011)

These are each written by friends of mine.  Some great chicken info.

http://smallfarm.about.com/


http://charmed-life-chickens.blogspot.com/2011/04/before-chicken-or-egg-building-coop.html?spref=fb


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## oldspark (Apr 7, 2011)

Best chicken is fried!


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## esuitt (Apr 7, 2011)

We used our sons sand box once he stopped using it (plus it kept the neighborhood cats from turning into a dumping ground). 
It is 12x8 with grow stop over the dirt and around 2 yds sand. Then a 4x8x3 coop that I built out of some spare lumber I had laying around. Same for the pen; 12x8 w/ 4' wallls and an arched roof using lattice for support and chicken wire around the frame. Does what it is supposed to do, keeps the chickens in and the critters out.
I have 2 roosting poles in the coop, 1 on each side. I do not have laying boxes, they just kind of go where they want to when they want to. 
We have one leg horn, road island red and a jersey giant. 2 brown layers and a white.


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## esuitt (Apr 7, 2011)

it was cheap and simple. took me and little E about a weekend to put it all together.


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## CJ-SR4ever (Apr 7, 2011)

oldspark said:
			
		

> Best chicken is fried!



Yes indeedy!  extra crispy with KFC gravy and mashed topatoes   hahaha


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## REM505 (Apr 7, 2011)

here are some pictures of a chicken coop build before I painted it.  It is sized for 4-6 birds.  Has 6 nesting boxes and wheels to move it around the yard.


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## woodchip (Apr 7, 2011)

That is a very smart chicken coop!!

Our chicken coop is made out of pallets, stripped and reused. 
It's surprising what good wood some pallets are made of. 
Offcuts come in handy as kindling, so nothing goes to waste!

We originally could not make our mind up what breed to keep, and kept light sussex, marans, and now have a buff orpington as well as some mixtures we raised from out own eggs when a hen went broody last year.

Keeping chickens can be very time consuming, they like human company and our cockerel likes being out and about in the garden. 
He has his own separate box with a carpet on the floor which absorbs sound so he cannot be heard at 3am if he decides to have a little crow. 
He usually tries to sneak in with the girls though............


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## billb3 (Apr 7, 2011)

some hens really need a pole to roost on

a one inch concrete floor can be  easier to scrape up the loaded shavings.


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## lukem (Apr 7, 2011)

I wish I had a picture.  I built one for my FIL a couple weekends ago.  It has 9 nests on each short end of the coop with a flip up lids to get eggs.  Don't have to go inside.

It was 8x12, metal peaked 2x4 raftered roof with 2x6 ridge...one entry door.  Roosts on the long sides.  We set 6 treated posts to hold it up...and the nests are cantilevered beyond the posts.  Roof line extends over the nest lids to keep the rain off.  Put some pearling around the posts and used T111 for siding.  

We got a screamin' deal on solid core doors that we used for the floor...joists on 24" centers for floor support.

Vents in the peak of the eves, and one window.

It's a big one, but looks sharp.


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## Highbeam (Apr 7, 2011)

We have the Rhode Island Reds which are fine and also two buff orpingtons which I prefer and since they are much bigger and fluffier I would beleive they are more cold hardy. I don't give them heat until temps go to the teens and even then it is only a 100watt lamp. Chickens are easy. Big feeders and waterers mean minimal maintenance. 

I even raised a batch of meat chickens once. Holy smokes they grow fast. The commercial breed is called cornish cross and they are meant to grow to full size in 8 weeks!

We like the chickens, they do have attitudes. For the last year and a half I've had a banty rooster with them for fun. He crows in the morning and does his best to hump the much larger hens. They bend down for him but we don't think he ever quite gets the job done.  

You may think you'll move the coop around but in practice, the coop is heavy and too difficult to move. Plan on a permanent sacrificial coop and pen area.


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## esuitt (Apr 8, 2011)

Just picked up another Road Island and 4 Barred Rocks. That will make 8 for me total when they all start laying. Should yield around 5/6 dozen weekly that I can get the local farmer to buy from us.


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## gpcollen1 (Apr 12, 2011)

I have been putting it off but you guys are making me want chickens now!

About how long can you leave them when on vacation?  I assume you need a big feeder or waterer unless you have someone come buy and take care of them.


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## Bad Wolf (Apr 12, 2011)

I don't leave them for more than a day or two.  They eat and drink a lot.  Though I suppose if you could rig a hose or really big waterer, and a really big feeder you could leave them as long as the food holds out. 

I have a friend down the street that has chickens (he got me started) and we trade chicken sitting.


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## Highbeam (Apr 12, 2011)

We have somebody come by and collect eggs every day when we're gone. They keep the eggs and check that the water and food are still sufficient. If you leave the eggs too long then some hen will start eating them and that's no good.

One egg per bird per day. Except the rooster, he just boinks everything.


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## donott1088 (Mar 13, 2019)

Your chickens need to be safe from predators. Your chickens need proper ventilation. The best chicken coop is easy to clean.The best chicken coops have the right amount of roost & nest box space.


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## AlbergSteve (Apr 19, 2019)

Chanteclers were bred in Quebec about 100 years ago specifically for cold Canadian climates. They have virtually no combs or wattles which makes them less prone to frostbite. Orpingtons are a good cold climate breed as well.


Our white chanteclers...they do tend to be fliers.




 Rhode Island red and black Australorps for size comparison...


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## Sawset (Apr 23, 2019)

A while back I was looking into poultry requirements.
This is a summary that I put together that I find useful:


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## NateB (Apr 23, 2019)

consider: building a chicken tractor, and using chicken nipples to water the chickens.  I would disagree with the idea of make it to big to start.  I would go with a 4x4 or 5x5 box for 5 or 6 chickens, and a fenced yard for the chickens or free range if you have good protection for them.  The key parts of a coup are: cheap, easy to collect the eggs, easy to clean, and easy to ventilate.  The chickens I enjoy having are buff orpingtons, and welsummers. Both handle the cold and are excellent foragers.  These 2 breeds are trainable and good with kids.


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## Ashful (Apr 23, 2019)

This thread is eight years old, but I guess chicken technology hasn’t changed much, in the interim.


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## Doug MacIVER (Apr 26, 2019)

Don't forget to add the toys?https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http...aaSrhwL7qlgewNIoeMD97qzRhpcZRNUPR9QgJiYnmZIOw


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## Ashful (Apr 26, 2019)

It’s about more than just entertainment, bored birds are more likely to fight.


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## Doug MacIVER (Apr 26, 2019)

Ashful said:


> It’s about more than just entertainment, bored birds are more likely to fight.


Ah, I get it. Thank you doctor, I feel much better about this? Thanks for the chuckle


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## begreen (Apr 27, 2019)

I like the idea of portability and poultry tractors, but out here the chickens need to be protected from the eagles and hawks. A friend uses old big, satellite dishes for protecting them and filtering hot sunlight.


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## mellow (May 3, 2019)

Portability is the key, I move mine once a week and really they should be moved more often I just don't have the time, those boogers wreck havoc on my grass.  Thank goodness I have a good size backyard and by the time I have cycled them to all the spots grass is growing again in the first spot.


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## Ashful (May 3, 2019)

mellow said:


> Portability is the key, I move mine once a week and really they should be moved more often I just don't have the time, those boogers wreck havoc on my grass.  Thank goodness I have a good size backyard and by the time I have cycled them to all the spots grass is growing again in the first spot.



I went permanent with mine, and I’m kind of regretting it for a few reasons I won’t bore you with.  But I’m wondering, those if you with a portable rig, is that their year-round home?   What happens when you get 3 feet of snow in a single day?   Hurricanes?   Predators?  We have to consider all of these factors where I live, they aren’t frequent, but each will occur a few times over the life of a coop.


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## mellow (May 6, 2019)

I had them in a really large dog pen that came with the house we bought, kept them in that for the 1st year and they really trashed the ground so we looked into making them mobile.  My setup is far from perfect but my chickens don't run around due to neighbors so I had to design something big enough for 6 chickens to live in. I am going though wheel designs, they keep breaking so I need to beef up my structure they attach to.

Something like this:


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## mellow (May 6, 2019)

This butts up to one end of that triagle coop, gives the chickens cover and a place to roost. We cut a hole that the front with the door opens up to and they can pass through. The issue is it is a pain in the butt to move, trying to figure out a better way to move it with the other coop.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/innovation-pet-chicken-homestead-coop-222-87?cm_vc=-10005


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## Ashful (May 6, 2019)

I think I’d want cage wire across the bottom of any portable run, to keep varment out at night, if I go portable.  That won’t help with their scratching, or the grass, though.

The issue I foresee is that I have an automatic door operated by photo-eye.  It opens at dawn and closes at dusk.  I anticipate something digging under the side of the tractor run overnight, and waiting for fresh chicken when that coop door opens at dawn.  I’m rarely around when it opens at dawn, either already at work in the winter, or just rolling out of bed in the summer.


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## mellow (May 6, 2019)

I have plenty of foxes in my area, not had any issues with them.  I did have a bald eagle that was checking them out one day but gave up and haven't seen him back.  Have you seen evidence of them trying to dig under?


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## Ashful (May 6, 2019)

mellow said:


> I have plenty of foxes in my area, not had any issues with them.  I did have a bald eagle that was checking them out one day but gave up and haven't seen him back.  Have you seen evidence of them trying to dig under?



Yes, but so far only small critters, which are probably foraging for chicken food... not chickens.  The only predator to which I’ve actually lost chickens was a hawk, when I had them out free-ranging once last year.


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## jeanw (Jun 6, 2019)

Ashful said:


> Yes, but so far only small critters, which are probably foraging for chicken food... not chickens.  The only predator to which I’ve actually lost chickens was a hawk, when I had them out free-ranging once last year.


      ah small critters  can be weasel, minks, skunks etc they will kill your ladies. Yall need hdwe cloth  not cheap butt poultry wire at  least 3 ft up round  and buried around permimeter.. too...
    a covered"run" or at least 1 inch poultry wire overhead I unfort did 2 inch  pw and blankey blank small birds got in and stole their feed.
. Ah guys, have   a heart ... let them out once in a while. even if just 1/2 before they roost. and stay outside with them. the chickens will be so happy. remember yall we are what we consume.
 Chickens are NOT  vegeterians.


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## mellow (Jun 7, 2019)

Funny this came up, the wife sent me this link yesterday about putting the chickens on a zip line in the back yard.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07F7Z7WRW/?tag=hearthamazon-20


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## Ashful (Jun 7, 2019)

mellow said:


> Funny this came up, the wife sent me this link yesterday about putting the chickens on a zip line in the back yard.
> 
> https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07F7Z7WRW/?tag=hearthamazon-20



When I first read this, the image in my mind was the outdoor adventures places, like ski resorts that set up high speed zip lines for some summer revenue.  Just imagine my mental picture.


I can’t see this working well, though. Chickens have rocks for brains, they’ll be perpetually tangled with their flock mates.


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## mellow (Jun 7, 2019)

The kids saw those harnesses and offered to take them for walks.  Of course the catch is they want to be paid for doing it.  My thought is pay them with electronics time and it's a win win, get them outside and the birds get out of the coop.


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## Swamp_Yankee (Jun 10, 2019)

Woods Fresh Air Poultry House Public Domain Plans:

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924003138272&view=1up&seq=7

Basically a little over 100 years ago a guy began examining how folks constructed chicken coops all over the eastern seaboard back to Colonial times and found the attributes that allowed chickens to thrive in everything from harsh Maine winters to brutal Georgia summers.  The woods coop is open to the south with windows on the east and west walls but totally closed on the north side.  I will be constructing a 10' x 16' version on the foundation of an old sheep barn on our property with an attached 10' x 20' enclosed run.  We are crawling with foxes, coyotes, and raccoons out here so I'll be using heavy wire cloth extensively on windows, etc...  Basically the south facing windows on the bottom are just screened openings with closeable windows only on the top and sides.  It seems counter-intuitive at first, but the combination of solar gain from the south facing windows and fresh air combats frostbite in the winter and overheating in the summer.


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## mellow (Jun 10, 2019)

My next build will be something like this, only taller.

http://www.farmagain.com/fabrication.html


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## ben94122 (Jun 13, 2019)

I just finished building this, now I have to enclose the run.  The guys who did our pavers overbought and left 5 pallets of pavers in the yard...this plus the electric fence should keep the bears out for a little while.


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## SpaceBus (Jun 13, 2019)

ben94122 said:


> View attachment 244980
> 
> I just finished building this, now I have to enclose the run.  The guys who did our pavers overbought and left 5 pallets of pavers in the yard...this plus the electric fence should keep the bears out for a little while.


Are you a mason? I wish someone would leave several tons of pavers at my house!


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## SpaceBus (Jun 13, 2019)

Is there a fear of predators during the day? Can someone explain why the chickens are kept in essentially a cage? Most folks around here let them roam in a much larger environment and put them inside the caged area only at night.


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## mellow (Jun 13, 2019)

I keep mine in a pen due to neighbors, not predators.  I had let them out and they went in the neighbors yard and started eating from their grape vines.  No matter how much I explain to them the concept of staying in the yard they do not listen.


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## SpaceBus (Jun 13, 2019)

mellow said:


> I keep mine in a pen due to neighbors, not predators.  I had let them out and they went in the neighbors yard and started eating from their grape vines.  No matter how much I explain to them the concept of staying in the yard they do not listen.


Yeah, I suppose neighbors would make it a necessity


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## Ashful (Jun 13, 2019)

SpaceBus said:


> Is there a fear of predators during the day? Can someone explain why the chickens are kept in essentially a cage? Most folks around here let them roam in a much larger environment and put them inside the caged area only at night.


I let mine out once last year, and a hawk got one of them within 15 minutes.  Back in the cage they went.


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## SpaceBus (Jun 13, 2019)

Ashful said:


> I let mine out once last year, and a hawk got one of them within 15 minutes.  Back in the cage they went.


That's a big hawk. I see bald eagles every day here, but I think they prefer fish.


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## AlbergSteve (Jun 14, 2019)

SpaceBus said:


> That's a big hawk. I see bald eagles every day here, but I think they prefer fish.


Eagles love chicken. Lost three to eagles last year and one last week. The wife caught an eagle in the grisly act last year and he did not scare easily or leave willingly.


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## SpaceBus (Jun 14, 2019)

AlbergSteve said:


> Eagles love chicken. Lost three to eagles last year and one last week. The wife caught an eagle in the grisly act last year and he did not scare easily or leave willingly.



My wife scared away a juvenile watching us when we first moved in. I worry about my 20 year old Chihuahua getting snatched by an osprey, red tail, or bald eagle around here. The eagles stay year round as well. I don't let her get too far from me. Some friends of ours keep losing doves that they let fly around all day. Apparently the doves just replenish the flock on their own.


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## Ashful (Jun 14, 2019)

SpaceBus said:


> That's a big hawk. I see bald eagles every day here, but I think they prefer fish.



Nah, the chicken was about 3x the size of the hawk, but that didn’t stop him!  Big gentle giant of a chicken, light Brahma, RIP.


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## SpaceBus (Jun 14, 2019)

Ashful said:


> Nah, the chicken was about 3x the size of the hawk, but that didn’t stop him!  Big gentle giant of a chicken, light Brahma, RIP.


Jesus, nothing is sacred from those dinosaurs.


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## Ashful (Jun 14, 2019)

A hawk strafed my wife our first year here.  Shot right over her shoulder, at ear level.  I’m not sure what he was thinking, but it looked like an aborted kill dive, as if he had initially thought the back of her head was viable prey.

These red tails are not big, but they are bold!


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## AlbergSteve (Jun 14, 2019)

Red tails here seem lazy, twice I've found them on dead chickens _after _the mink got them.


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## AlbergSteve (Jun 15, 2019)

New additions to the farm this week...


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