HI Chicken lovers! I just started my coop today.. I built and remodeled homes from 1981 till 2003 so I have the tools and the know how to build anything but was perplexed by what to build my ladies... I have four hens about 7 weeks old..
Black Astrolorp Lacey
Buff Orpington Goldie ( what else )
Americauna Dolly (after Dolly Parton, as she sings all the time)
Cream legbar Baca

I started w the idea to build a 4'x4' coop about 4' high and then raise it 2.5' so they can run under as well as providing them a larger run also... Maybe an additional 4' x 8'...... that would give them a total of 4x12 to run around in ...... More than enough IMO....I will have the nesting boxes set to the outside so as to provide more space inside.. ( I got almost all of my ideas from www.backyardchickens.com...
Thanks to all who have provided info.!!!!!!! To protect them from racoons, snakes, hawks, rats, etc I am putting 1/4" x 1/4" hardware cloth 19 GA on the ground under the run and beyond the perimeter of the run by about 3 feet...... Of course the run will be wrapped on top also..... There is no way anything will be able to get in to eat my girls when I am done. I have heard too many stories in my neighborhood about people getting chickens and then losing them to some predator... NIMBY Not in my back yard..... (Pun intended)
I have a small yard....1/8 acre total..... so where I place it is still under consideration as is the substrate that I put down when they have eaten all the grass in the run.. ( two weeks? ) I am leaning toward sand as I have read some good things about rough or construction grade sand..... That is all for now.. I will post videos of the construction I have taken as soon as I figure how to post them... Mac