When I first decided to have backyard chickens, I wanted to start out small, and I did at first, but then I wanted more chickens. Which meant I needed a bigger coop. After checking out some coop ideas on here I decided on one. Then I had to sweet talk my dad into building it. some of the key features I wanted the new coop to have was nesting boxes that coud be accessed from outside the run, roosting bars on the inside, and sliding chicken door so I could close it and clean out the coop without the chickens inside, and the nest boxes to come out for easy clean. Some other small things I wanted was, windows for ventelation, laminate floor for easy cleaning, and electricity for heat lamp and lights.






I was going for something along the lines of this.


I actually saw a coop similar to this for sale online you could order, but when I saw the price I about pssed out. Close to $3000. I thought surely one could be made for much less than that. So I talked to my dad and he drew up some plans, and "guestimated" on how much materials would cost. So we waited for the weather to get warmer then head to the hardware store to get the first bunch of materials.

First we started on the floor deck.



When my dad drew up the plans he made them so we would waste as little materials as possible. So we decided on a 4X8. Building the deck went really fast. next came the hard part, or at least my dad said was the hard part. Building the walls. He must have built one wall 3 times before getting it right. Of course my littlee nephews had to get in on the building action too.









Windows are in. They are closer together than I wanted but this is the way they had to be because of where the studs were.





We used chicken wire on the back wall for ventelation.


Framed out for the chicken door.


Nest box area.




Got all the plywood cut out to fit and painted.




Starting to look like a chicken coop!


Man Door






First look on the inside.


Inside area for nest boxes.


Dividers for the nest boxes, easy slide out feature for easier cleaning.


Even my dacshunds had to get in on the action.


caulked around the windows so it would be air tight and prevent leaks.


Nesting boxes almost complete.


Door latch on man door.


We made a pull string on the inside incase the door gets closed, and your on the inside


Door flap for back ventelation.


Flap open.


nest boxes.


6 nest boxes all together.


My cord for electricity. All I have to do is run an extension cord for electricity.


Laminate floor laid and back of chicken sliding door.


We even put laminate in the nest boxes.


We put hardwire cloth on the inside of the windows in case the chickens knock out
the screen.


Electrical outlet in case I wanted to plug in a fan in the summer or something else.


Light fixture, can change to heat bulb during winter. also we added styrofoam insulation
on the ceiling to help absorb the heat. It can reach high 90's and sometimes even over 100
degrees here in Southeast Texas.


Inside of vent.


Got all the trim painted and nailed.

Roof on. We used some leftover pieces from my dad's metal shop.






I love the colors!


My dad made some skis, not skids skis, he says theres a diffrence but what ever
he can call them whatever as long as it gets moved.


Trim inbetween the 2 nesting box doors to prevent leaking.


Moving day!!! Finally!!


Chickens enjoying their new house, took them a while to go in it.








But they figured it out eggs the next day!


Steps


added pullystyle string to keep the vent door open.


Still not sure if they wanna go in.


Nest boxes


Fold up roosting bars.


I added a thermometer.



New baby chickies 6 americanas, should be laying by late July.


Overall I am very pleased with the outcome of my coop. My original budget was $500, but I'm
probably more closer to $700. This coop should last many years though. I painted it with oil based paint to last longer. The project took a little over 5 weeks. Hoping to get my egg production back up. I would like to thank backyard chickens for the many ideas!