I decided that rather than drop $400 for a small coop at our local feed store, I would take advantage of the many construction dumpsters in our neighborhood and build this coop for as little mullah as possible. The total cost for parts ended up being around $75 for our 4x4 coop (2 sheets of OSB, some 2x2's, screws, hinges, locks, wheels, etc.). In truth, I didn't mean to build it quite so big as we only have 7 chickens but hey, they seem to like it and it didn't cost me any more to go bigger. I did steal a few ideas from the feed store coops but made it all my own. I didn't have plans just an idea and I went for it and here's what I ended up with.


My little helper.

I had to pull out the old Pythagorean Theorem here.











I made a pull out floor for ease of cleanup.







I even scored an already mixed the color I needed can of exterior paint for only $7!






After deciding that it would be really hard to turn, I added swivel casters on one side.









It's self contained right now but, I will add the extra run on the side.

After reading the article here on ventilation, I added another vent for safe measure.