Chicken Coop

Breakfast at the Cape

We live in a city neighborhood and we really wanted to build something that would feel upscale and not so 'coopy' or 'farmy' for our neighbors (and our) sake.  After looking over various coop designs we felt that something like a cape cod look with shingled exterior and more contemporary color and style would be the best.

Our materials cost a total of $290 although after having built this coop I know we could do it cheaper.  Here are pics from along the way.  This coop was built for 4 hens.  We constructed a basic body using plywood and 1X3 to flat frame the sides and back for stability.   This coop needed to be child accessable since the kids are on chicken/egg duty.

 Looking back we easily could've framed the inside and basically stopped here only needing a couple coats of paint to finish the outside, but oh-no, we just had to keep going!  We painted the inside and out with 2 coats of white exterior paint to seal the wood.  We also built a base for this coop to sit on.  We did use pressure treated lumber for the legs of the base. (We left one side open on purpose.)

Using horiztonally applied 1X2s we added shingles on the entire exterior and primed it

We painted the exterior of the coop with grey paint and also painted the base with 2 coats of white.

We screws the wooden roof boards on and shingled.  We also added white plastic vents to the top panel and ends.  One of the end vents can be removed to place a light bulb in one side.  We placed the coop on the base and installed a white plastic dog door to the front.  We knew the front door would get the most abuse and that the dog door can lock securely.   We cut and painted a small access door for the other side of the coop.  We also put the front roof on hinges so we can open it to access the inside.

We decided to build this coop as we were growing out the Omlet Eglu coop that we had.  We really loved the Eglu's slatted floor and pull out cleaning tray so we decided to copy it.   We build a floor from 1X2 slats that fits right in the top of the coop and rests on 2 side supports.  We also added the pull out tray for easy cleaning.  We line the tray with newspaper and when we clean it the whole tray can be dumped into our compost.

The side access door is 2 sided with hinges on the outside for the solid door and inside hinges for the ventilation door. (this is the view from the nesting boxes)

We put together a run and hooked it all up.  The neighbors have been very supportive of our urban chickens and have even asked if we'll help them build their next house ;o)

The coop was also like by our girls!

L to R: Cinderella (Wheaten Ameracuanca), Lady Windsor (Welsummer), Big Z (Australorp), Giselle (Black Copper Marans), and Lulu (California white)