DIY Chicken Coop Plans

When it comes to chicken coop designs, the sky's the limit! There are so many different sizes and shapes, as well as materials that can be used to make a coop.

Wood or plastic? These are the two most common materials used in construction of coops, with wood being the most popular. Wood is durable, easily repaired, and affordable.

Some newer coops are now being made from plastic. Plastic coops are easier to clean, more resistant to damage, and do not attract mites and rodents. This convenience comes at a price though. For example, the Eglu, a small coop that is popular with urban chicken owners, has a starting price of around $500.00.

Now let's look at some of the most popular shapes for chicken coop designs...

A chicken ark has a simple A-frame design that is suitable for raising a small flock of birds (generally two to four birds). One of the advantages of this design is that it is portable, and can be moved to various places in the yard, eliminating the need to maintain a run, as well as providing your birds with a healthy, varied free range diet. In chicken arks, the roosting space and nesting boxes are either above the run or integrated on one side of the run.

Another common type of coop is a raised hen house, with a ramp leading up to the pop hole. Many of these also include a covered, integrated run. This type of coop design has two major advantages. First, rodents can't take up shelter beneath the coop. Second, if the run is integrated in the design, it makes good use of space, because the birds will also be able to use the area under the hen house.

The last type of chicken coop design that I want to talk about is the shed style. These commonly have either a slanted or gable style roof. Many of them are existing structures that were first used for storage by their owners, and then later converted to coops. However, some people specifically build this type of coop because it can easily house several birds.

Well, that wraps up our quick look a the most common chicken coop designs. As always, if you are just getting started, we recommend making a small investment in a good set of chicken coop plans.

photo credit: jakesmome

Let's talk today about feeding chickens. In addition to providing a roof over their heads (make sure you check out our recommended chicken coop plans), another important thing you will need to do is provide them with a balanced diet. As a general guideline, average sized chickens will each eat about 4-1/2 ounces of feed a day.

If you have the time, check out this short two minute video about feeding chickens. If not, continue reading below...

Mash or Pellets? Commercial feeds are available in either form. Mash is the "old school" variety. Many experienced keepers use it because they believe it is more easily digested by their birds. Mash can be ground to different levels of coarseness, and can be either fed dry to your birds, or mixed with a little water.

Even though it is a little more expensive than mash, many people decide to feed their birds pellets instead. Regardless of which kind you decide to use, both mash and pellets provide your birds with the nutrition they need, although attention should be given to the formulation types. For example, you will want to feed your mature birds a different formula than what you feed your chicks and growing chickens.

If you have chicks, you will need to feed them chick crumbs instead of mash or feed for the first six weeks. Then you will want to wean them over to mash or pellets formulated for growers. Once your growing chickens start laying eggs (at about five months), you will want to gradually switch them to a feed suitable for layers.

When feeding chickens, make sure you also supply them with a small container of grit. Grit is essential in their digestion process, helping them to break down food. Plenty of fresh, drinking water is also necessary.

As a special treat, you can also provide your birds with leftovers from your kitchen. They will enjoy fresh raw or cooked, green vegetables, as well as corn cobs and leftover fruits. You can also provide them with potato peelings, although you should boil these in unsalted water first. When you let them out of their run, they will also happily forage for bugs, grubs, weeds and grass.

When building your coop, you will also want to include chicken nesting boxes for all those tasty eggs you will be collecting.  Here is a quick faq to hopefully answer the most common questions new chicken owners have...

How many nesting boxes will I need?

Many beginners think they need to have a box for each chicken they own.  However, you actually only need one for every three to four birds.

What size should I make the nesting boxes?

A good size for average breeds is 12" x 12" x 8".  You may want to make it smaller if you are raising bantams, or larger for bigger breeds.  However, as long as you make the box slightly bigger than the anticipated size of your mature chickens, they will be more than happy.

What materials should I use to build the boxes?

Wood and plastic are both good choices.  Many people prefer plastic because it wipes up easily, but it's really your choice, and it may even depend on what you have lying around. Plastic buckets and drawers from old furniture are just a couple of examples of items you can use.

What type of litter should I use?

Straw or light-colored softwood shavings are two good choices.  To prevent cracked eggs, make sure you provide a generous layering.

Where should I place the nesting boxes?

Select a dark corner in your coop that is out of direct sunlight.  You will also want to place the nesting boxes lower than the perches, so that the birds do not decide to sleep (and subsequently poop) in them.  If the boxes are not at floor level, you should install a rail along the bottom of the boxes to prevent eggs from rolling out.  Finally, for your own convenience, you may want to set the nesting boxes up so that you can access them from the exterior of the coop.

Your chicken coop plans are not complete without nesting boxes.  However, as long as you keep these general guidelines in mind, it should be an easy task.

photo credit: jakesmome

Chicken coop signs are a fun, finishing touch to your backyard coop projects. With a little leftover lumber and paint, you can make one in no time.

What should you put on your sign? How about the name of your hen house? During construction, a lot of people automatically come up with a name for the coop. However, if you haven't named yours yet, now is a good time...

Here's a few that I came up with (hint: I used my trusty dictionary and thesaurus)...

• Club Cluck
• The Cluck Clan
• The Bantam Bunkhouse
• The Hen Pen

Also, think about your favorite books and movies ("chick flicks"). Can you modify any of these to come up with a unique name that you can use on a sign for your chicken coop? Here are a couple examples...

• Cheeper by the Dozen
• Alvin and the Chickens

Of course, old standbys like "Farm Fresh Eggs" and "Welcome to Our Roost" always work well as chicken coop signs. I'm sure you can think of even more ideas. As a matter of fact, if you want to, feel free to share them by leaving a comment...

photo credit: elisfanclub

Chickens can quickly transform a lush, grassy area into a muddy, foul-smelling mess.  As a matter of fact, the technical term for this problem is referred to as fouling the ground.  Once the ground is fouled, it's no longer healthy for your birds to stay there, and you will need to relocate the run.

If relocating the run is out of the question, a deep litter system can be used instead.  Gravel and/or bark chips can be used for the litter.  However, to keep the area fresh, these materials will need to be dug out and replaced about once a year.

One problem with this method is that your chickens may become lazy.  After all, the reason they like to scratch around in the grass is to eat vegetation and find bugs.  If they don't have a reason to scratch around, then they won't.  However, you can encourage them to exercise by mixing pellets and corn in with the gravel or bark used in the deep litter system.

In addition to this, you will want to provide them with a dust bath.  This is a shallow box partially filled with dry, powdery dirt where they can stretch their wings.  It helps the birds naturally cope with lice and parasites.

Also, keep a small container of grit available for your hens.  Grit is naturally available to free range birds, but a supplemental source will need to be provided when raising chickens in a deep litter system run.

photo credit: abooth202

A good set of chicken coop building plans will save you a lot of hassles.  Surprisingly, they are not that expensive either.  The plans I recommend here cost about thirty dollars, a modest investment considering how much they will probably save you in the long run.

Before I chit chat any more, here are the ones I recommend...

The one great thing about these is that you don't have to wait around for them.  They are downloadable, which means they could be in your hands within the next five minutes.  Ten minutes from now, you could be getting in your truck with a complete list of materials, driving to a nearby lumber store.  And by the end of this weekend, you could have a brand new, handmade chicken coop sitting in your backyard.  That's the beauty of the internet.  I don't know how it works - I just know it does!

I also really like the fact that these plans provide details for three different size coops - small, medium and large.  Today, you may be thinking that a couple of chickens are all you need, but after having these pleasant birds around for some time, you may decide you want to expand your flock.  If and when you come to this decision, you can refer back to these plans, and build a bigger coop.

Need another reason?  Well, unless you have owned chickens for some time, you may be a little lost as to what your birds will really need.  This leaves the door wide open to problems.  Once those problems do become apparent, then you will have to spend additional money (and time) to fix them.

Replacing chicken wiring, hardware, and lumber can be expensive.  Also, it's likely these fixes will need to be made at the most inconvenient times.  Raccoons, foxes, neighborhood dogs - they don't have a schedule like we do.  They don't care that a mid-week attack will put you at conflict with getting through that pile of paperwork sitting on your desk at the office and fixing the coop (if you are lucky enough to have any survivors!).

A good set of chicken coop building plans will help you get things right from the beginning - and in the long run, it will save you time, money, and hassles.