• Last updated 3/18/13 by candyNflowers

My husband built this medium coop with run with recycled plywood to save money but it still cost more to make than we intended but we are very happy with it. He found a sign when he bought the recycled plywood that said Serenity Garden in a pretty script so we put that on the coop. the run, including coop is about 6x8 ft. My kids like it so much that they have been treating it like a playhouse but the chickens will move into the coop soon, they are already testing out the run but its been cold at night and not all of our four chickens are fully feathered yet. I got the... read more

• Last updated 4/28/13 by mtnlaurl

    After nine months of having three chickens in a tractor, we've recently finished building a permanent structure. As we're in Virginia, we are trying to take both our hot, humid summers and our sometimes bitter winter spells into consideration as we build. The last nine months has taught us a lot - mostly about what we'd do differently when we built a permanent coop! I posed a question to BYC members via the thread "Coop Builders - What would you have changed or done differently?" that yielded a lot of wonderful ideas and information that we're incorporating... read more

• Last updated 3/27/13 by Farns

My interest in housing chickens started after receiving a chicken coop building book as a gift.  I chose the "How the Chicken Crossed the Road" coop design, and began assembling it in my garage.  My coop is mostly identical to the design presented in the text, but with a few modifications and additions.  I added raised wooden anchors to the window coverings, and "Fresh Eggs" lettering to the nest box access.  I also added a nice weathervane to the roof.   Following construction I caulked the inside of the coop before priming and painting (inside and out).  I... read more

• Last updated 11/3/12 by PAchickengirl

]My husband had built this shed to look like an outhouse out of rough cut lumber about 15 years ago. When we decided to get chickens he built the nesting boxing, added a roost above, and cut a small door for the run. We re-purposed some metal shipping frames to make the run. All in all, using things we had around the house or left over materials from my husband's place of employment, we only spent about $50. On supplies, mainly the chicken wire. *Having trouble linking a picture, will edit it in soon. read more

• Last updated 7/3/12 by MisterChicken

  A few years ago my wife got the bug to keep chickens and last year she got busy researching coops, urban chicken keeping, etc. We live in the suburbs but we are permitted to keep a small flock. After clearing it with our neighbors and writing a letter to our HOA stating our intentions my wife got the green light. This spring we broke ground on our coop and we finally finished the build this past weekend. Since we relied on the experience and especially pictures from other folks I thought I'd share the steps of our build. It's a blend of a few existing coop plans... read more

• Last updated 7/3/12 by MacGuyver

This is our hoop house for our pastured system.     I wanted to build a new coop for our chickens this year. Our original coop was a stationary coop and the birds free ranged over our property. That didn't work so well for us though because we have so many predators and I was sick of losing birds. I spent the winter reading and planning. After reading Pat Foreman's Day Range Poultry I decided that I wanted to build one of her little hoop houses and use poultry netting to limit the bird's range so they would be less vulnerable to predators.      These... read more

• Last updated 5/3/12 by DebtFreeChicken

    Setting the corner posts.  Plenty of headroom for me (6'-0")   Starting to frame the roof for the run.  The coop will be part of the existing garden shed.   The run roof all framed up.  Using Vinyl roof panels so there is bracing every 2ft.   The run framing complete.  We then dug down and concreted under the baseboard.  Run is 8x8 with a 1"/ft drop on the roof.   Painted the roof framing so we could get the roof panels on to have some shade.  Painting before roofing made for a very clean install.   Decided to build an... read more

• Last updated 4/2/12 by pudellvr

  A "Garden Coop"/Wichita Coop Modification Built February, 2012   I had been wanting chickens for many years now but have not been able to convince THR (the Head Rooster) that it was a good idea. In mid Feb. the itch struck again and I came home from the store with a "Grit Guide to Chickens". I left it on the counter to read later. THR saw it there and asked me if I wanted to get chickens this spring. I told him that I would love to get chickens. He volunteered that he thought it would be a great idea for me and the kids. I already knew the local ordinances... read more

• Last updated 4/23/12 by ChickaChickaWow

Board and Batten Coop on 4x4 Runners   My wife and I recently moved from the city to nice secluded 12-acre wooded lot.  It hasn't even been a year yet and she decides that she wants to get some chickens (and alpacas, but we'll save that story for another day).   So.. after looking on Craigslist for a few weeks and finding a bunch of really rough looking chicken coops, we decide to look at buying a new coop.  The prices on new 6'x8' coops are more than I wanted to spend to house 12 little chickens so I decided to draw something up.   I spent a little bit of... read more

• Last updated 4/18/12 by Desirai

Cost so far, as of March 7th:   $124.50 for shed, incl delivery $68.39 for brooder supplies $93.07 for extra building supplies and chicken run lumber $20.00 for gas   Update, March 14th:   Oh lordy.. now we're starting to get into the big bucks.     $32.60 for some more pieces of lumber. $164.75 for stinkin' chicken wire and a gate door.   Update, March 29th: $72.00 for more chicken wire.   April something: Returned some unused supplies and got $85 back. Used $85 to buy some more lumber and various chicken supplies.   $75 for... read more