Wikis related to small-coops

WICHITA "CABIN COOP"                     Update, spring 2013:   We have recieved a lot of requests for formal drawings / plans to build this coop.  Note that I didn’t have anything like this when I first built it (see original narrative below).  However, I recently used the Google "SketchUp” drafting program (available free off the web) to create a couple detailed 3D computer models of this coop.  I also developed a building material list and accompanying writeup with general build guidelines and recommendations.     basic framing model:       enitre coop...

    My quest for eggs began about 7 months ago when I received an email from Lowes featuring a small chicken coop plan. The price for the materials alone was over $500 and the coop would only hold 2-3 hens. I began to look on-line for more plans and discovered a mass of information and plans galore! I called my local city planning office and asked about having hens in the city limits. They were gracious and did a search (I guess no one had asked about this before) and returned my call to explain chickens weren’t currently allowed in the city limits. So I put the idea to rest.   They...

I think this is an original design.  I have been looking at these pages for months and have not seen one like it.  It started ot to be like the Witchata Cabin Coop, but then evolved to be 4'x4' to just use 2 sheets of siding. All of the sudden we had version 3.0 that was bigger and looked nicer also.   I wanted a coop for 4 to 6 hens, elevated so it is easy on the back to clean, well ventilated and the nest box outside of the run.  The coop and run will be tucked in between our garage and the neighbors chainlink fence.  It has nice south and east exposure and is under a large silver...

  The Palace Chicken Coop     When my wife brought home 5 fluffy new friends in July of last year, I knew a chicken coop was in our future. I also wanted to design and build it myself as a fun exciting project. Little did I realize that 5 months go by very quickly when you move into a new house!   When I first started doing research on our new coop I spent a great deal of time on BYC looking for ideas and suggestions. I owe a great deal of credit to the following coop's as they formed the basis of my plans. Wichita "Cabin Coop" Cptbahama's Chicken Coop The Taj Mahal The...

Welcome to our coop page.     If you're researching information on how to design and build your own chicken coop I hope you find the following information useful.  I also recommend the book, Backyard Chickens Guide to Coops and Tractors.  Our coop is one of the 16 coops featured in the book.  Each featured coop in the book includes lots of pictures, diagrams, dimensions, and a narrative about building the coop.  You can find the book at a local library, bookstore, and of course Amazon.     Here's the Amazon link:...

We started building the new coop! Its a 6x3 tractor with a slanted tin roof and coop with nesting boxes and a roost. So excited!! Here are the plans:      After cutting the major pieces and starting to notch all the lap joints... plus a close up of the notches.       This is a close up of the lap joint after being glued and attached. Notice the seamstress notations! *My addition* to his carpentry skills. :) Hard at work rasping and filing!          Things are starting to come together!!         Starting to paint!!               Got the walls cut and fitted for...

          New Henstein Castle   After working on my husband to agree to lettin me add 5 chickens to our family, I finally got HIM working on our coop.  It wasn't the delicious eggs or the charm that the chickens would add to our home, but the actual project that would require toooools! That was what tipped him over the edge.  First we looked for books on how to build chicken coops, but soon I found BackYardChickens.Com.  Jackpot! We got an idea what was most important, such as square footage per chicken and how many nesting boxes.  Soon we felt confident to sit down and sketch...

      Thursday, May 10, 2012   BTC ACRE... Coming Along   We adopted 4 3 week old chicks from one of Aaron's coworkers.  The coworker had purchased 4 day old chicks for his kids at Easter.  They spent time watching them grow simply for the experience and were ready to get rid of them.  Aaron offered to take them and it was a win win situation.  So we now have 2 Barred Rocks and 2 what we believe to be Rhode Island Reds.  The chicks were not purchased sexed so we are fairly sure we have 1 BR Cockerel... but only time will tell if we are correct.  We are unsure what we will do...

OR The Poor Man's Wichita Cabin Coop   I found the most excellent Wichita Cabin Coop here and thought it had the right size and features that I wanted for my coop. But, I could tell that I could not compare in terms of carpentry skill with its maker, and I also wanted to keep cost to a minimum. Since we're in Northern California (Petaluma, the former "Egg Basket of the World"!) and not Kansas, I figured I could cut a few corners on ruggedness and weatherproofing, as well. I've never built anything bigger than a bird feeder before, and it didn't turn out so great. But I took on the...

                    Updated 9/13/09: Current view of the Red Roost Inn.   About Me and the Red Roost Inn Northwest girl (nwgirl), myself (nwmud), and our nwdog live in Everett, Washington on a 50’ x 120’ city lot.  We adopted our chicks mid-April and soon began planning where to build the coop. We decided the best location would be on the south side of our home where its approximately 45' long and only 10' between the house and property line. I started this project by replacing an old 5' fence with a 6' privacy fence with two gates securing each end of...

My Hodge-Podge Coop (or, Turning a Doghouse into a Chickenhouse for $30)     I just bought my first house so it's time for my first chickens. And having just bought my first house, it's rather important to go about accommodating my birds as cheaply as possible. Maybe some day I'll build my dream coop, but for now I needed to design around what I had. And what I had was this:       A dirty old doghouse full of trash.   I had two objectives in mind for a coop: protect chickens from predators and ensure a well-ventilated but draftless environment. I originally drew up some...

  My Extreme Heat Coop (in progress) I live in the Sonoran Desert, where it gets very hot and my chicken coop and run have to provide a cool and safe refuge for my six birds.  I also live in the city and have limited space.  In fact, there was only one place for me to put them, a 4’ X 50’ strip.   Fortunately, the coop could be positioned directly under a large eucalyptus tree.  The coop and run I built were designed to provide as much shade and ventilation as possible.   Our plan was hatched three years earlier when we planted the three grape vines that would cover the run.   Framing...

The Story of Our "Huevos Rancheros" By the Lady of McCamley: mother of 3 homeschooled, now college age kids, wife of one wonderful, super patient husband, food lady to one adoring Sheltie, former Guide Dog raiser -- 7 projects -- with one career changed much beloved Lab still with us, humble and grateful servant to 2 cats, overseer of 9 chickens, 2 turkeys, and hopefully 2 mini nubian goats soon :-)     The saga of our first try, March to December 2010: Nugget (Buff), Teriayki (Brown Leghorn), Lucy and Ethel (RI's)  I don't remember whose idea it was first to have chickens in our...

Gardening with Backyard Chickens     Our Small Chicken Coop for 4 chickens (The Hen House that doubles as a Garden Potting Table)     We live in a large urban city in Los Angeles County about 4 miles from the ocean in Southern California. I love to garden and I incorporated the design of the chicken's run into an already existing work bench.    Our chicken coop had to be attractive since we look at the location immediately as we walk out the back door. Also, neighbors would be able to see it slightly over the block wall if they tried.   Ventilation was an important...

          My chicken adventure began one evening as I was browsing the garden section of Pintrest.  I came across the most adorable chicken coop!  I showed my daughter and I said it was almost cute enough to make me want to get chickens AS A JOKE because why would I ever get chickens?  And then I thought why wouldn't I?  I had no clue about anything to do with chickens, I have never known anyone with chickens, and that got me wondering what was needed to care for them.  I am always telling the kids if we win the lottery I want to buy a farm, so I told myself purely for...

Drumroll, please, here's my coop!  The chickens think it's done.  They seem pleased with it. Well, the coop is livable, but I'm still puttering with it.  One of these days, I'll finish painting all the trim and replace the tarp with lovely green shade cloth, framed in a respectable-looking, removable way.  Ok, I admit it.  This thing will never be done.  Guess having chickens will supply me with a life-long project! Here's my story: My chicken adventure began with a lesson in chicken math.  I went to TSC for three chicks, and came home with the minimum of 6. I quickly upgraded my...

  Home Sweet   Home                                       /\                  Chicken                          Watering System page                    For nearly three decades I've harbored a secret desire to raise two or three urban chickens.  And finaly, just recently, I began sketching possible coops, researching how they might be built, and thought maybe in 2012 I might finally get my wish.  On Mother's Day 2011 my very cool husband shocked me by saying "Let's go buy whatever you need!"  Wow!  So for the past 10 days, weather permitting, we've been converting my sketches into...

 The Cage Page    I decided on Japanese Bantams to raise for show, along with my large fowl Buckeyes.  Japanese come with their own set of housing problems.  Their short legs, long tails and wing dragging make conventional housing problematic.  After consulting with Japanese breeders, I came up with a concept for my cages. The cages should be solid except for the front to avoid tail feather damage.  They should be tall enough for the tail.  They should have a solid bottom to use litter for flooring.  After researching I found a design for wire cages at poultryhelp.com for their...

Hello Backyard Chicken Enthusiasts! Here are a few pictures of our Colorado Coop - it turned out looking like an old miner's shack, which is okay with us - we're mining for golden yolks! Here is the basic 'bare bones' framing. I used 2x3s for most of the framing and 2x4s for the main roof supports. The floor is a 4' square piece of plywood I happened to have on hand, resulting in a total floor area of 16 square feet. The vertical members are 6 and 5 feet with a 2 foot space under the coop.  Framing out the nesting box Siding going up - we were able to salvage some old weathered...

 Welcome to FiveHens' Coop Construction Page!   Click HERE to view Run Construction Page!   When I was designing our coop, I used the pictures of all the coops here for ideas, so I thought I'd show how our turns out to give other people a few ideas!   We wanted to build our small coop for not more than 6 hens...and we don't have too much carpentry experience, but I think it turned out quite well, all things considered. We planned on building them a larger permanent run, as we want them to have space to stretch their wings, and there are too many dogs in our area for unsupervised...