I built my custom chicken coop with the help of my dad and husband. We started planning knowing I wanted ~10-20 laying hens (do you ever stop acquiring chickens? I'm learning no!). I had chickens in 4-H growing up, and my dad also built that coop from scratch, but it was on a smaller scale.
I wanted a simple shed style coop and my dad drew up some initial plans and a supply list.
I decided after he drew up the designs I wanted a dirt floor to make the deep litter method a little easier, so we did not purchase the supplies for the floor. After it was all said and done the materials for building the shed cost around $1,000.
We started with a cinder block foundation. The trickiest part of this was that our ground wasn't level, so my husband had to use some elbow grease to dig one section down more.
The next step was laying down the treated 2X6 on the cinder blocks. These are connected to the cinder blocks with some posts cemented in the cinder blocks and bolted to the wood. Then the walls started going up!
We used a metal roof and allowed for ventilation with an overhang. There is mesh covering that opening.
The walls are made of plywood and nailed into the studs using a nail gun. A nail gun made this project much easier!
The window was purchased at a resale shop for $25, and allows for more air flow in the coop. The door is a reused screen door.
The coop was completed in one weekend! My dad later bent some metal to go around the roof as trim.
Some indoor projects we have worked on since then includes a roost, 55 gallon water barrel attached to 3/4 inch PVC pipe with nipple waters, PVC feeders, and nesting boxes. The nesting boxes were free old wooden boxes originally used for files that my husband divided with leftover plywood.
The outdoor run is made of fencing panels intended for dog runs purchased at Menard's. Bird netting is over the top.
Thanks for reading! Now all my coop needs is an automatic chicken door
