This coop is currently my newest addition, created in 2019. This coop follows the design of The Tall Coop, but is smaller. It can hold the same amount of chickens as The Tall Coop (8 standard-sized chickens) on the roosts but is overall more crowded. Actually, this box is the largest but I turned the back half into a chicken shed to store the food.
View of the Chick Coop from just outside the human door.
This coop was named because whenever I have chicks or a broody raising chicks, this is the coop I prefer to house them in.
If needed, a heat lamp can be tied to a roost or nailed to the roof.
The window on the far side is as large as possible for the size of the coop. The second window is smaller because it is on the same side as the human door.
The chicken door is the same kind of door as The Tall Coop, except that instead of being held up by a stick, this one uses two nails and wire (see picture). I like the wire more because I feel like it is more secure and less likely to fall.
Chick Coop chicken door. The wire at the top is tied to a nail higher up.
This coop doesn't have a permanent nesting box. Instead, I use an old bin with a whole in the side that used to be for rabbits. It is a little wider then the door which makes it tough to squeeze in and out. In the measurements I marked this nesting box's width as 17" and its depth as 13.5", but really that is the measurements for the bottom of the bin, the top of the bin is wider.
Chick Coop nesting bin without lid.
The Chick Coop has the same kind of roofing as the The Tall Coop; a grooved and slanted metal sheet.
In the corner I placed some cinder blocks on which I can place a feeder when needed. The water is normally kept outside, but I could bring it in if needed.
Close up of the right side of the Chick Coop. In the right corner you can see the cinderblocks for the feeder.
My favorite part about this coop is that it has its own private run! This run is taller than my "main run" but is a smaller area. The runs share a side, and there is a connecting door that can be opened when wanted. The problem is, you have to crawl through the poop into the back of the private run to open it. But once open, it all becomes one big run and connects all the coops.
Private run view from the run doors.
Private run view from the top. I'm standing just on top of where the main run and the private run connect.
private run main doors. Held shut by twisting nails and a brick.
Door between the private run and the main run. Held shut by stacked bricks and a twisting nail. Picture taken from the private run side.
The private run follows the same basic design as the main run. The main differences are that the private run has wire straight down about a foot under the ground to keep predators from digging in, while the main run is completely wrapped in wire. Oh, and the main run is double-wrapped with the chicken wire, something I plan to do to the private run soon.
I briefly mentioned that the back of the Broody Coop was my chicken shed, but I'll go into a little more detail now.
It was made in the same year that we made the Broody Coop, 2019. This box is the biggest of all the coops, but instead of making it all one huge chicken coop (as I had hoped for) we made a wall in the middle; the Broody Coop takes up the slightly smaller half of the box while the chicken shed is just a little larger.
Inside it I keep...everything! Chicken and chick food, pine shavings, oyster shells and eggshells, chick supplies, Diatomaceous Earth, and any other chicken-related supplies you can think of! I literally can't remember where I kept it all before I made the shed!
The chicken shed has two hinged doors. In this picture only the top one is open.
Supplies in the chicken shed.
Sorry about the mess, I plan on adding a shelf in the shed soon to help keep things organized.
Pros:
I hope this article will inspire and help you build your own coop! Good luck!
P.S. If you want to see more of my builds, check out this link: SoftSilkie's Farmyard
View of the Chick Coop from just outside the human door.
This coop was named because whenever I have chicks or a broody raising chicks, this is the coop I prefer to house them in.
If needed, a heat lamp can be tied to a roost or nailed to the roof.
The window on the far side is as large as possible for the size of the coop. The second window is smaller because it is on the same side as the human door.
The chicken door is the same kind of door as The Tall Coop, except that instead of being held up by a stick, this one uses two nails and wire (see picture). I like the wire more because I feel like it is more secure and less likely to fall.
Chick Coop chicken door. The wire at the top is tied to a nail higher up.
This coop doesn't have a permanent nesting box. Instead, I use an old bin with a whole in the side that used to be for rabbits. It is a little wider then the door which makes it tough to squeeze in and out. In the measurements I marked this nesting box's width as 17" and its depth as 13.5", but really that is the measurements for the bottom of the bin, the top of the bin is wider.
Chick Coop nesting bin without lid.
The Chick Coop has the same kind of roofing as the The Tall Coop; a grooved and slanted metal sheet.
In the corner I placed some cinder blocks on which I can place a feeder when needed. The water is normally kept outside, but I could bring it in if needed.
Close up of the right side of the Chick Coop. In the right corner you can see the cinderblocks for the feeder.
My favorite part about this coop is that it has its own private run! This run is taller than my "main run" but is a smaller area. The runs share a side, and there is a connecting door that can be opened when wanted. The problem is, you have to crawl through the poop into the back of the private run to open it. But once open, it all becomes one big run and connects all the coops.
Private run view from the run doors.
Private run view from the top. I'm standing just on top of where the main run and the private run connect.
private run main doors. Held shut by twisting nails and a brick.
Door between the private run and the main run. Held shut by stacked bricks and a twisting nail. Picture taken from the private run side.
The private run follows the same basic design as the main run. The main differences are that the private run has wire straight down about a foot under the ground to keep predators from digging in, while the main run is completely wrapped in wire. Oh, and the main run is double-wrapped with the chicken wire, something I plan to do to the private run soon.
I briefly mentioned that the back of the Broody Coop was my chicken shed, but I'll go into a little more detail now.
It was made in the same year that we made the Broody Coop, 2019. This box is the biggest of all the coops, but instead of making it all one huge chicken coop (as I had hoped for) we made a wall in the middle; the Broody Coop takes up the slightly smaller half of the box while the chicken shed is just a little larger.
Inside it I keep...everything! Chicken and chick food, pine shavings, oyster shells and eggshells, chick supplies, Diatomaceous Earth, and any other chicken-related supplies you can think of! I literally can't remember where I kept it all before I made the shed!
The chicken shed has two hinged doors. In this picture only the top one is open.
Supplies in the chicken shed.
Sorry about the mess, I plan on adding a shelf in the shed soon to help keep things organized.
Pros:
- The private run makes it my preferred coop to keep new chicks and chickens in when integrating. It is also a great place to keep a sick hen or a broody with chicks!
- It's smaller than The Tall Coop, but the roosts can hold just as many chickens.
- The chicken door is held up by wire instead of a stick like The Tall Coop.
- Is doubled up with the chicken shed, which I could not live without.
- The top of the nesting box gets pooped on when the chickens sleep, due to it being situated directly under the top roost. But because of the small space inside the coop, no alternative has become obvious to me. Thankfully, the poo is pretty easy to scrape off.
- Young bantam chicks can slip through the wire of the run. I plan on fixing that soon!
Height: 5 feet
Width: 42" by 45.5"
Human door height and width: 4 feet by 18"
Chicken door height and width: 1 foot by 9"
Windows height: 10"
Windows width: 9" and 24.5"
Coop height off ground: 4"
Nesting box height: 15"
Nesting box width: 17"
Nesting box depth: 13.5"
Roosts: 1.5" by 1.5" and 1.5" by 3.25"
Roost heights: 1 foot and 2.5 feet
Privet run height: 23"
Privet run width: 50" by 75"
Privet run main doors height and width: 24.5" by 18"
Privet run back door height and width: 16.25" by 17.75"
Chicken Shed: 45" by 43", and it's five feet tall.
Width: 42" by 45.5"
Human door height and width: 4 feet by 18"
Chicken door height and width: 1 foot by 9"
Windows height: 10"
Windows width: 9" and 24.5"
Coop height off ground: 4"
Nesting box height: 15"
Nesting box width: 17"
Nesting box depth: 13.5"
Roosts: 1.5" by 1.5" and 1.5" by 3.25"
Roost heights: 1 foot and 2.5 feet
Privet run height: 23"
Privet run width: 50" by 75"
Privet run main doors height and width: 24.5" by 18"
Privet run back door height and width: 16.25" by 17.75"
Chicken Shed: 45" by 43", and it's five feet tall.
I hope this article will inspire and help you build your own coop! Good luck!
P.S. If you want to see more of my builds, check out this link: SoftSilkie's Farmyard
