Top 15 Chicken Coop Mistakes
Chicken coops are the most important part of raising chickens. Protection from predators, warmth, and wellbeing will rely on a well-built coop. In the below article, I will explain all the mistakes to avoid when building your new coop. Or revamping, rebuilding, or improving your current coop. Happy reading!
(I set the list up siting mistakes from least, to most serious)
15. Too many nesting boxes
This may not sound like a big problem, though too many nesting boxes end up as wasted space for you and the hens. For each chicken, you only need 1/4 of a nesting box. So for every 4 chickens, you need one nesting box. It’s fairly common for custom coops, or inexperienced chicken keepers, to build coops with far too many nesting boxes. I know I did.
When building a coop, having too many nesting boxes takes away from the overall space in the coop, and it’s likely the hens won’t use them. They usually prefer a specific nesting box. It creates wasted space, and having to build nesting boxes is extra work for you in the long run. Remember, 1 box per every 4 hens. No need for more.
14. Not raised off the ground
This isn’t a serious mistake, but building your coop raised off the ground can save space in the run, saving you money when you start your run build. A coop has to be fairly big to house chickens comfortably. When you build it sitting on the ground and attached inside your run, the coop can take up run space. By raising it off the ground, the birds can go under the coop still allowing them to use the space. Then you won’t have to spend the extra money making up for the lost run space because of the coop. It also creates shade in tropical climates. In wet climates, it can create a covered area to place feed oyster shells, grit, and freshwater.
If you don’t want the coop inside the run, this may not seem like a concern. Raising it off the ground also protects the floor of the coop from rotting since it allows airflow. Along with protection from flooding, if that ever becomes a concern. Last, it can discourage rats from nesting, which is always a plus with chickens.
13. Hard to clean
This has to be one of the most annoying coop mistakes. I also have to say it's one of the more common ones. When building a coop, keep in mind cleaning is important. Some points to think about when planning a coop that's easy to clean are- is it tall enough to stand in? Are there lots of tight corners that are hard to get a shovel, rake, or broom into to clean out bedding? What substrate is under the roosts? Poop boards, hammocks, or a sandbox can work well under roosts for easy cleaning. Make sure your coop isn't too narrow to easily fit a shovel in as well. Small chicken coops are sometimes too narrow to fit a shovel in the coop easily. Not being able to extend a shovel all the way lengthwise makes cleaning quite difficult.
12. Not enough, or no roosts
I haven't seen this problem quite as often as others, but it can be a problem compromising your chickens' health, and putting yours at risk. Chickens are built to perch in trees in the wild, meaning they are built to roost at night. If there aren't enough roosts or none at all, your birds will find themselves sleeping in the nesting boxes. Chickens poop while they sleep, so sleeping in the nesting boxes will cause the poop to land directly under them and collect on their feathers. Messy behinds are very prone to flystrike, which is a pain to treat, and not a fun one to treat either.
Along with the risk of flystrike, chickens will poop in the nesting boxes, then lay their eggs in the same place. This exposes the eggs to any disease that may be transmitted through the droppings, and the dangers of chicken poop itself. This is then exposed to you when you handle and eat the eggs.
You should have 1ft of roost space per bird, whether these roosts are individual or a single roosting bar doesn't matter, as long as each bird has the proper amount of space.
11. Nesting boxes above the roosts
Chickens like to perch in the highest possible place, so when nesting boxes are placed above the roosts, chickens tend to sleep in the nesting boxes rather than the roosts. I explain why this is a problem in the paragraph above. If you want your birds to sleep on the roosts, making things easier for you to keep clean, and your chickens healthier, you want to place your nesting boxes below the roosts to encourage laying in the boxes, and perching in the correct location.
The photo above shows nesting boxes above the perch.
My birds did decide to perch there instead, so you'll see in a later picture that I remove them.
10. Roosts are too high
This is a concern, especially for heavy breeds. Chickens do like to perch as high as possible, but that doesn't mean they should perch as high as possible. When chickens jump down from high roosts, they are putting a lot of weight and pressure on their feet putting them at high risk for bumblefoot. Bumblefoot is an infection in the footpad created by getting cut, poked, and in this case, having a lot of pressure put on their feet. If you do have high roosts, because of a repurposed area, or something similar, try to use a ramp going up to the roosts to protect their feet, especially heavy breeds.
9. Roosts are too close to the wall
When roosts are placed too close to the wall, the birds end up perching too close to the wall. The birds won't mind, but you will realize the mistake you made really fast. Chickens poop when they sleep, so your gonna have some pretty messy, and unattractive coop walls pretty quickly. Placing a large roost through the middle of your coop, or at least a couple of feet away from a wall should keep your walls clean and maintenance-free.
8. Prefab's
This must be one of the more common mistakes. Don't buy prefabs! They're pricey, not predator-proof, way too small, and are poorly ventilated. Prefabs, like those sold at TSC, are way more expensive than they're worth. I've seen some beautiful coops on here built from recycled materials, and the build only cost 150$, I've seen some that cost less. They were predator-proof, large, easy to clean, and MUCH cheaper than anything you can buy at TSC. Some TSC coops are over 500$!
The only plus of prefabs is that they're easy to assemble. Time is money, I get that, and if you must pay for a coop that's easy to assemble, choose something like a small shed you can buy at your local hardware store. Sheds are usually a great size, and can easily be adjusted to fit the needs of your poultry. You can easily add ventilation, additional predator proofing, nesting boxes, and with the right setup easy to clean.
The above picture shows a TSC prefab coop. It has all the flaws listed above.
Picture by: @BlindLemonChicken
7. No walls
This one I find to be less common, most coops I see on BYC have at least some kind of wall. I added it since I know that I made this mistake, I'm sure others have likely made this mistake as well. For my duck coop, I used a square outdoor dog run, wrapped it in chicken wire, then welded wire, then some chunks of hardware cloth. This totals in 3 layers of additional wire. It has a roof, but I'm telling you, the Pacific Northwest without walls, is a bad idea. The bedding is soiled immediately by rain and then duck poop. I have an igloo in the pen but it's not a huge help.
No walls are dirty, wet, and VERY hard to clean. There's plenty of ventilation, but I would never suggest this setup to anyone. If you want to try to get away with using part of your run, or an old dog kennel as a coop, you'll quickly realize that this isn't a good idea.
If you did build a coop with no walls, an easy fix is adding a 3 sided shelter at the back and use the rest as an open air coop. This means theirs lots of ventilation, but the hens still have somewhere to roost where they can be dry and protected. This is key in any coop.
The above photo shows a coop without walls. I use this for my ducks, and you can see the bedding gets wet very easily.
It's also a good example of "not enough roosts". I had 3 birds in this coop, and you can see they started roosting on top of the shelter.
6. Not made of a sturdy or long-lasting material
When I build my coops I always layer them with some type of wood for the structure, (recycled material) then always do a layer of steel sheet metal around the bottom to protect from rotting, rats, and add additional predator proofing. These layers protect the coop from being easily torn into, rotting, and of course rodents. We have steel siding on the inside where the roosts are, and outside. Any structural run is made out of a 1" steel pipe. It's very important to consider your climate when building your coop. If it's wet, any wood you put on your coop that is exposed is very susceptible to rotting. It's easy to build a coop out of plywood because of how cheap it can be compared to other materials, but this will rot very quickly, and expose your flock to the threat of predators. Consider adding steel siding to the outside to prevent rotting if possible.
Additionally, there are plenty of other options rather than plywood. You can get pallets for free on Craigslist, and Facebook Marketplace. Pallets are a bit more work to deconstruct than use for your coop but are much cheaper than anything you can buy brand new. Sheet metal can be easy to come by as well. Checking Craigslist may help you find some sheet metal at a better price than brand new.
5. Adding heat
This question I see a lot. Far too often novice poultry keepers think that since we need a fire, or a heater, or a thick warm coat in the winter, our poultry does as well. My suggestion to you is to take your warm winter coat, put it on and go outside. Are you cold? Probably not. That's because that coat is built to keep you warm, that's how our chickens' feathers are built as well. Poultry doesn't need heat unless it's in the low negatives. Most breeds can tolerate -20 degree temperatures and be just fine with the correct coop setup. Not only is supplemental heat not beneficial, but it puts your coop at a major risk of fire. Coops light up easily with all that this, warm, cozy bedding, and coop fires happen all too often because of added heat.
Additionally, adding supplemental heat makes your poultry less accustomed to the cold. Say you get a windy, cold, snowy winter storm. I'm guessing it's safe to assume that tonight is even colder than most nights. Your power goes out and your coop loses heat. Now your birds have gone from nothing to worry about, especially keeping warm, to instant cold. You could lose your flock in one night. Heat lamps are dangerous! If you want light in your coop to keep your hens laying, use a timed light that will make up for the lost hours of daylight your hens will be getting. This is much safer than any that lamp, and won't decrease your chickens' natural ability to keep warm in the cold.
4. Coop size
This is a more common mistake. Most people use Google as a primary resource for coop sizing. The common Google answer, 8ft of space per bird in the run, 2ft in the coop, is based purely on chickens used for production, hence having as many as possible crammed into a small space. We should give them much more space than what they recommend for livestock meant for egg or meat production. Plus, a tight coop creates egg breakage, which can lead to egg eating, bullying, and makes it even more difficult to keep clean. I like to give at LEAST 15-20ft of space per bird in the run, 5ft at LEAST in the coop. Always remember the more space, the easier it is to clean since nothing gets dirty, destroyed, or messy as quickly. It’s a pain to clean a coop multiple times a week because it’s too small, your hens will agree. You should really give them as much space as possible, plus that leaves room for chicken math!
The above photo shows a coop that is only 3x3 and housed 5 chickens.
That's much too small for that amount of birds. Also another example of not enough roost space.
3. Not preparing for rodents
Always, always, always, plan for rodents. Chickens bring in the mice and rats. Having to deal with mice and rats after they move in is a huge hassle! They are not easy to get rid of. Rats and mice are hungry, and they won't stop at your chicken feeder to make themselves at home. The best way to protect your coop from rats is by covering things in hardware cloth or steel. They can chew through wood, most metals, plastic, chicken wire, and cement. They can also squeeze through a space the size of a quarter! Basically, anything you can stick your finger through. By wrapping the bottom of your coop in hardware cloth, or steel siding/roofing panels you'll be doing a pretty good job at protecting your coop. Make sure you bury a hardware cloth skirt under your run and coop as well to prevent digging. Keeping food and water inside your house at night, or in a rat-proof feeder can help as well. As long as you don't allow the opportunity for a free meal and housing, you'll be minimizing the likelihood of a rodent infestation dramatically.
2. Poor ventilation
Ventilation is key in a chicken coop. As poultry breathe, they release moisture into the coop. If there isn't enough ventilation to allow the moisture to escape, and fresh air to come in, the coop becomes humid and can frost in the winter. This puts your birds at high risk for respiratory disease, and frostbite.
When putting in ventilation, you should have 1ft of ventilation per bird in your coop. Always make sure the ventilation is above their heads when they roost, so air can circulate without making the coop drafty. Drafts can be life-threatening to chickens in the winter, never place ventilation in a location where wind can hit your birds directly. With correct ventilation, the circulating air helps carry ammonia fumes out of the coop as well. This means less cleaning, and both happy birds and owners.
The above shows ventilation placed in the wrong place. This coop allows drafts to hit the chickens directly which is dangerous in the winter.
Picture by: @BigBlueHen53 - Thank you!
1. Not predator proof
This is a huge concern in backyard poultry flocks. Predators are everywhere! It doesn't matter where you live, city, town, country, forest, or mountains, predators are always a factor to consider. So many chickens are lost to predators, and at least in my experience, predation is one of the top reasons for poultry death.
It can be your neighborhood dogs or the pesky raccoons and coyotes that you're protecting from, your coop always needs to be predator-proof. When thinking about predator proofing, always consider the predators you have in your area, and pick coop building supplies, (wire, wood/sheet metal) based on what predators your coop is going to be exposed to. Raccoons and Weasels will require 1/2"-1/4" hardware cloth to protect from reaching, and crawling through the wire. Bears and Cougars will require a weighted coop with strong "wire to material" connections, steel wire fasteners are what I use. Coyotes and dogs will require a skirt (so will other predators) and a sturdy coop material. Whether that's wood or metal choose something that will last a while.
First and foremost, chicken wire IS NOT PREDATOR PROOF. Coyotes, dogs, raccoons, any hungry or prey-driven predator will tear through it easily. It's built to keep chickens in but not predators out. Weasels don't even have to tear through, they'll squeeze right through the holes. If you want a predator-proof wire, hardware cloth is the way to go. Depending on your local predators, you could try to save money by using 1x2" welded wire, but I would never suggest anything with bigger holes than that. Still, weasels, rats, and raccoons can easily squeeze or reach through that sized space.
Bury a skirt. Digging predators like Coyotes, Weasels, Rats, etc, will dig right under, and into a coop with a dirt floor. If you don't plan on putting flooring in, burying a hardware cloth skirt a foot down will protect the coop, but I've also done a layer of hardware cloth over the dirt floor and connected it back to the coop with success. This keeps the predators from being able to get into the coop once they've dug a hole. Always cover any wire over the floor with bedding to protect your birds' feet.
Additionally, always check your latches! Raccoons are incredibly smart, if a 3-year-old can open them, it's likely a coon can.
Lastly, look for gaps. Anything a raccoon could stick their hand through, they will. Even if they can't get to the birds, they will strangle birds through the gap and leave them when they can't pull the body through. It's a horrific scene and happens far too often.
The above shows a coop and run that is wrapped in chicken wire. This is not predator-proof.
Pic by: @TheCluckyClucker2 - Thank you!
Making a coop plan
When you're building a coop, having a plan with dimensions, an idea as to what predators you're up against, and other climate factors is very important. Building a coop willy nilly is difficult enough as is, and you'll likely find yourself with one or more of these mistakes when you're done. It's always important to keep in mind your climate. Is your area really hot or really cold in winter or summer? For climates that get really warm, having an open-air coop can be a good idea. An open-air coop is a coop with 3 walls, and usually one open wall (covered in hardware cloth) so air can circulate well, and keep the coop from holding body heat or heat from outdoors. Adding misters, fans, and frozen water bottles can be beneficial for heat as well. Poultry tolerates the cold much better than heat, so preparing for heat is always a good idea.
For climates that are very cold, like I wrote above, always try to avoid adding ahead. If you get below -20, or down to -40 you may consider adding supplemental heat. When doing this, always be very careful as not to risk setting a fire. Keep any heat source away from flammable bedding, and secure it so it can not fall.
For the most part, chickens can do just fine without heat. There's a great article on whether or not to insulate your coop here, and whether or not you do, a sturdy, well-ventilated, walled-in coop with plenty of bedding is usually enough to keep your feathered babies warm. Straw is a great substrate for cold temperatures. It does a great job at insulating the coop, and collecting body heat. The deep bedding method is also a good call. It's a way of composting the bedding material in the coop. It's dry, and you don't have to clean the coop out constantly in the winter. It produces a good amount of heat as well. You can read further about the deep bedding method here.
If you ever do have questions about your coop build plan, posting a thread on BYC can be quite beneficial. Members will be able to offer information specific to your issues, and hopefully clear up your questions.
Fixing your mistakes
Maybe you've read through this article and realized you made more mistakes than you thought. I'd like to attach a section on how to repurpose/fix your current mistakes.
Maybe you built too many nesting boxes. External nesting boxes and be boarded off and turned into storage if the hens aren't using them. I've also considered turning one of my external nesting boxes into a perch with a sandbox beneath it. If you remove the dividers and add a 2x4 to the front of the box creating a wall, you could mount a perch to either side of the box, and fill the bottom with sand. Boom, extra perch! You can also easily scoop the poop out of the sandbox underneath keeping your roost very clean.
For most of the perch issues, you can either add roosts using something as simple as a large branch secured to either side of a wall. For perches in the wrong location, free-standing perches can be a good idea. It could be as simple as removing the current roosts, and building or purchasing a free-standing perch for your chickens. This makes it easy for them to hop from perch to perch to reach the top, and older hens can choose a lower perch if they prefer. For roosts that are too high, adding a ramp doing up to the perches can be a simple and effective fix.
For Prefabs, the only suggestion I really have is to add ventilation, and don't overcrowd them! You can use the whole prefab as a coop, and place it in your run. But the amount of chickens that can fit is still a very small number. Another good idea would be to convert your prefab to a brooder and construct your own coop out of recycled materials such as pallets. This is a great article showing lots of different pallet coops at a low cost.
Maybe you made your coop out of cheap material like plywood, adding sheet metal to the outside can be helpful. Sheet metal can usually be found on Craigslist for at least a cheaper price than something purchased brand new.
If you added heat to your coop this winter, starting to ween your hens off of the heat is likely the safest option. To do this I would start turning the light off during warmer parts of the day, and turn it down like you would with chicks. If you're concerned about shocking your birds, just add extra precautions and don't add it next year. Make sure your light is secure. Secure it with chains, carabiniers, and lots of back up encase something fails. Never trust the clips on the lights, they fail very easily. Always pay attention to the weather. If there's a chance your power will go out, either bring the hens inside where they won't get shocked by the sudden loss of the heat lamp, or add a backup heater that will power on batteries, or use a generator.
For coops that are too small, tearing out a wall and extending the coop in either direction can help. If you built a coop with a run attached, you could always try to cover more of the wall, and use the whole coop and run combo as an open-air coop. If you live in a cold climate, you can try to replace the wire in all or most places with sheet metal, or recycled materials.
If you didn't prepare for rodents and now have an infestation, this is a great article on getting rid of rats. After you get rid of them, protecting your coop with steel sheet metal, or hardware cloth in the areas the rodents were entering can help protect your coop. Bringing feeders and waterers inside at night, or investing in a rat-proof feeder can keep the rodents from coming back.
Ventilation can be added by cutting openings near the top of the coop and covering them with hardware cloth. Windows can act as ventilation as long as they aren't placed somewhere that will allow wind to blow directly on the birds. This can be life-threatening.
Lastly, predator proofing can be added by using hardware cloth. You can always wrap chicken wire in hardware cloth for double protection, or use it to cover gaps and openings. Hardware cloth is basically the duck tape of the chicken world. It can be a total lifesaver! For chicken tractors with wheels, some kind of system to raise and lower the wheels for moving can help them sit more level on the ground, reducing gaps under the run. I have a system like this on my chicken tractor coop page.
Thank you everyone for reading! I hope you found this article helpful in identifying and fixing your mistakes. If you have any questions feel free to ask in the comments below. Thanks for reading.
Acknowledgments
Thank you @black_cat and @BigBlueHen53 for the help with the article! I appreciate it!
Chicken coops are the most important part of raising chickens. Protection from predators, warmth, and wellbeing will rely on a well-built coop. In the below article, I will explain all the mistakes to avoid when building your new coop. Or revamping, rebuilding, or improving your current coop. Happy reading!
(I set the list up siting mistakes from least, to most serious)
15. Too many nesting boxes
This may not sound like a big problem, though too many nesting boxes end up as wasted space for you and the hens. For each chicken, you only need 1/4 of a nesting box. So for every 4 chickens, you need one nesting box. It’s fairly common for custom coops, or inexperienced chicken keepers, to build coops with far too many nesting boxes. I know I did.
When building a coop, having too many nesting boxes takes away from the overall space in the coop, and it’s likely the hens won’t use them. They usually prefer a specific nesting box. It creates wasted space, and having to build nesting boxes is extra work for you in the long run. Remember, 1 box per every 4 hens. No need for more.
14. Not raised off the ground
This isn’t a serious mistake, but building your coop raised off the ground can save space in the run, saving you money when you start your run build. A coop has to be fairly big to house chickens comfortably. When you build it sitting on the ground and attached inside your run, the coop can take up run space. By raising it off the ground, the birds can go under the coop still allowing them to use the space. Then you won’t have to spend the extra money making up for the lost run space because of the coop. It also creates shade in tropical climates. In wet climates, it can create a covered area to place feed oyster shells, grit, and freshwater.
If you don’t want the coop inside the run, this may not seem like a concern. Raising it off the ground also protects the floor of the coop from rotting since it allows airflow. Along with protection from flooding, if that ever becomes a concern. Last, it can discourage rats from nesting, which is always a plus with chickens.
13. Hard to clean
This has to be one of the most annoying coop mistakes. I also have to say it's one of the more common ones. When building a coop, keep in mind cleaning is important. Some points to think about when planning a coop that's easy to clean are- is it tall enough to stand in? Are there lots of tight corners that are hard to get a shovel, rake, or broom into to clean out bedding? What substrate is under the roosts? Poop boards, hammocks, or a sandbox can work well under roosts for easy cleaning. Make sure your coop isn't too narrow to easily fit a shovel in as well. Small chicken coops are sometimes too narrow to fit a shovel in the coop easily. Not being able to extend a shovel all the way lengthwise makes cleaning quite difficult.
12. Not enough, or no roosts
I haven't seen this problem quite as often as others, but it can be a problem compromising your chickens' health, and putting yours at risk. Chickens are built to perch in trees in the wild, meaning they are built to roost at night. If there aren't enough roosts or none at all, your birds will find themselves sleeping in the nesting boxes. Chickens poop while they sleep, so sleeping in the nesting boxes will cause the poop to land directly under them and collect on their feathers. Messy behinds are very prone to flystrike, which is a pain to treat, and not a fun one to treat either.
Along with the risk of flystrike, chickens will poop in the nesting boxes, then lay their eggs in the same place. This exposes the eggs to any disease that may be transmitted through the droppings, and the dangers of chicken poop itself. This is then exposed to you when you handle and eat the eggs.
You should have 1ft of roost space per bird, whether these roosts are individual or a single roosting bar doesn't matter, as long as each bird has the proper amount of space.
11. Nesting boxes above the roosts
Chickens like to perch in the highest possible place, so when nesting boxes are placed above the roosts, chickens tend to sleep in the nesting boxes rather than the roosts. I explain why this is a problem in the paragraph above. If you want your birds to sleep on the roosts, making things easier for you to keep clean, and your chickens healthier, you want to place your nesting boxes below the roosts to encourage laying in the boxes, and perching in the correct location.
The photo above shows nesting boxes above the perch.
My birds did decide to perch there instead, so you'll see in a later picture that I remove them.
10. Roosts are too high
This is a concern, especially for heavy breeds. Chickens do like to perch as high as possible, but that doesn't mean they should perch as high as possible. When chickens jump down from high roosts, they are putting a lot of weight and pressure on their feet putting them at high risk for bumblefoot. Bumblefoot is an infection in the footpad created by getting cut, poked, and in this case, having a lot of pressure put on their feet. If you do have high roosts, because of a repurposed area, or something similar, try to use a ramp going up to the roosts to protect their feet, especially heavy breeds.
9. Roosts are too close to the wall
When roosts are placed too close to the wall, the birds end up perching too close to the wall. The birds won't mind, but you will realize the mistake you made really fast. Chickens poop when they sleep, so your gonna have some pretty messy, and unattractive coop walls pretty quickly. Placing a large roost through the middle of your coop, or at least a couple of feet away from a wall should keep your walls clean and maintenance-free.
8. Prefab's
This must be one of the more common mistakes. Don't buy prefabs! They're pricey, not predator-proof, way too small, and are poorly ventilated. Prefabs, like those sold at TSC, are way more expensive than they're worth. I've seen some beautiful coops on here built from recycled materials, and the build only cost 150$, I've seen some that cost less. They were predator-proof, large, easy to clean, and MUCH cheaper than anything you can buy at TSC. Some TSC coops are over 500$!
The only plus of prefabs is that they're easy to assemble. Time is money, I get that, and if you must pay for a coop that's easy to assemble, choose something like a small shed you can buy at your local hardware store. Sheds are usually a great size, and can easily be adjusted to fit the needs of your poultry. You can easily add ventilation, additional predator proofing, nesting boxes, and with the right setup easy to clean.
The above picture shows a TSC prefab coop. It has all the flaws listed above.
Picture by: @BlindLemonChicken
7. No walls
This one I find to be less common, most coops I see on BYC have at least some kind of wall. I added it since I know that I made this mistake, I'm sure others have likely made this mistake as well. For my duck coop, I used a square outdoor dog run, wrapped it in chicken wire, then welded wire, then some chunks of hardware cloth. This totals in 3 layers of additional wire. It has a roof, but I'm telling you, the Pacific Northwest without walls, is a bad idea. The bedding is soiled immediately by rain and then duck poop. I have an igloo in the pen but it's not a huge help.
No walls are dirty, wet, and VERY hard to clean. There's plenty of ventilation, but I would never suggest this setup to anyone. If you want to try to get away with using part of your run, or an old dog kennel as a coop, you'll quickly realize that this isn't a good idea.
If you did build a coop with no walls, an easy fix is adding a 3 sided shelter at the back and use the rest as an open air coop. This means theirs lots of ventilation, but the hens still have somewhere to roost where they can be dry and protected. This is key in any coop.
The above photo shows a coop without walls. I use this for my ducks, and you can see the bedding gets wet very easily.
It's also a good example of "not enough roosts". I had 3 birds in this coop, and you can see they started roosting on top of the shelter.
6. Not made of a sturdy or long-lasting material
When I build my coops I always layer them with some type of wood for the structure, (recycled material) then always do a layer of steel sheet metal around the bottom to protect from rotting, rats, and add additional predator proofing. These layers protect the coop from being easily torn into, rotting, and of course rodents. We have steel siding on the inside where the roosts are, and outside. Any structural run is made out of a 1" steel pipe. It's very important to consider your climate when building your coop. If it's wet, any wood you put on your coop that is exposed is very susceptible to rotting. It's easy to build a coop out of plywood because of how cheap it can be compared to other materials, but this will rot very quickly, and expose your flock to the threat of predators. Consider adding steel siding to the outside to prevent rotting if possible.
Additionally, there are plenty of other options rather than plywood. You can get pallets for free on Craigslist, and Facebook Marketplace. Pallets are a bit more work to deconstruct than use for your coop but are much cheaper than anything you can buy brand new. Sheet metal can be easy to come by as well. Checking Craigslist may help you find some sheet metal at a better price than brand new.
5. Adding heat
This question I see a lot. Far too often novice poultry keepers think that since we need a fire, or a heater, or a thick warm coat in the winter, our poultry does as well. My suggestion to you is to take your warm winter coat, put it on and go outside. Are you cold? Probably not. That's because that coat is built to keep you warm, that's how our chickens' feathers are built as well. Poultry doesn't need heat unless it's in the low negatives. Most breeds can tolerate -20 degree temperatures and be just fine with the correct coop setup. Not only is supplemental heat not beneficial, but it puts your coop at a major risk of fire. Coops light up easily with all that this, warm, cozy bedding, and coop fires happen all too often because of added heat.
Additionally, adding supplemental heat makes your poultry less accustomed to the cold. Say you get a windy, cold, snowy winter storm. I'm guessing it's safe to assume that tonight is even colder than most nights. Your power goes out and your coop loses heat. Now your birds have gone from nothing to worry about, especially keeping warm, to instant cold. You could lose your flock in one night. Heat lamps are dangerous! If you want light in your coop to keep your hens laying, use a timed light that will make up for the lost hours of daylight your hens will be getting. This is much safer than any that lamp, and won't decrease your chickens' natural ability to keep warm in the cold.
4. Coop size
This is a more common mistake. Most people use Google as a primary resource for coop sizing. The common Google answer, 8ft of space per bird in the run, 2ft in the coop, is based purely on chickens used for production, hence having as many as possible crammed into a small space. We should give them much more space than what they recommend for livestock meant for egg or meat production. Plus, a tight coop creates egg breakage, which can lead to egg eating, bullying, and makes it even more difficult to keep clean. I like to give at LEAST 15-20ft of space per bird in the run, 5ft at LEAST in the coop. Always remember the more space, the easier it is to clean since nothing gets dirty, destroyed, or messy as quickly. It’s a pain to clean a coop multiple times a week because it’s too small, your hens will agree. You should really give them as much space as possible, plus that leaves room for chicken math!
The above photo shows a coop that is only 3x3 and housed 5 chickens.
That's much too small for that amount of birds. Also another example of not enough roost space.
3. Not preparing for rodents
Always, always, always, plan for rodents. Chickens bring in the mice and rats. Having to deal with mice and rats after they move in is a huge hassle! They are not easy to get rid of. Rats and mice are hungry, and they won't stop at your chicken feeder to make themselves at home. The best way to protect your coop from rats is by covering things in hardware cloth or steel. They can chew through wood, most metals, plastic, chicken wire, and cement. They can also squeeze through a space the size of a quarter! Basically, anything you can stick your finger through. By wrapping the bottom of your coop in hardware cloth, or steel siding/roofing panels you'll be doing a pretty good job at protecting your coop. Make sure you bury a hardware cloth skirt under your run and coop as well to prevent digging. Keeping food and water inside your house at night, or in a rat-proof feeder can help as well. As long as you don't allow the opportunity for a free meal and housing, you'll be minimizing the likelihood of a rodent infestation dramatically.
2. Poor ventilation
Ventilation is key in a chicken coop. As poultry breathe, they release moisture into the coop. If there isn't enough ventilation to allow the moisture to escape, and fresh air to come in, the coop becomes humid and can frost in the winter. This puts your birds at high risk for respiratory disease, and frostbite.
When putting in ventilation, you should have 1ft of ventilation per bird in your coop. Always make sure the ventilation is above their heads when they roost, so air can circulate without making the coop drafty. Drafts can be life-threatening to chickens in the winter, never place ventilation in a location where wind can hit your birds directly. With correct ventilation, the circulating air helps carry ammonia fumes out of the coop as well. This means less cleaning, and both happy birds and owners.
The above shows ventilation placed in the wrong place. This coop allows drafts to hit the chickens directly which is dangerous in the winter.
Picture by: @BigBlueHen53 - Thank you!
1. Not predator proof
This is a huge concern in backyard poultry flocks. Predators are everywhere! It doesn't matter where you live, city, town, country, forest, or mountains, predators are always a factor to consider. So many chickens are lost to predators, and at least in my experience, predation is one of the top reasons for poultry death.
It can be your neighborhood dogs or the pesky raccoons and coyotes that you're protecting from, your coop always needs to be predator-proof. When thinking about predator proofing, always consider the predators you have in your area, and pick coop building supplies, (wire, wood/sheet metal) based on what predators your coop is going to be exposed to. Raccoons and Weasels will require 1/2"-1/4" hardware cloth to protect from reaching, and crawling through the wire. Bears and Cougars will require a weighted coop with strong "wire to material" connections, steel wire fasteners are what I use. Coyotes and dogs will require a skirt (so will other predators) and a sturdy coop material. Whether that's wood or metal choose something that will last a while.
First and foremost, chicken wire IS NOT PREDATOR PROOF. Coyotes, dogs, raccoons, any hungry or prey-driven predator will tear through it easily. It's built to keep chickens in but not predators out. Weasels don't even have to tear through, they'll squeeze right through the holes. If you want a predator-proof wire, hardware cloth is the way to go. Depending on your local predators, you could try to save money by using 1x2" welded wire, but I would never suggest anything with bigger holes than that. Still, weasels, rats, and raccoons can easily squeeze or reach through that sized space.
Bury a skirt. Digging predators like Coyotes, Weasels, Rats, etc, will dig right under, and into a coop with a dirt floor. If you don't plan on putting flooring in, burying a hardware cloth skirt a foot down will protect the coop, but I've also done a layer of hardware cloth over the dirt floor and connected it back to the coop with success. This keeps the predators from being able to get into the coop once they've dug a hole. Always cover any wire over the floor with bedding to protect your birds' feet.
Additionally, always check your latches! Raccoons are incredibly smart, if a 3-year-old can open them, it's likely a coon can.
Lastly, look for gaps. Anything a raccoon could stick their hand through, they will. Even if they can't get to the birds, they will strangle birds through the gap and leave them when they can't pull the body through. It's a horrific scene and happens far too often.
The above shows a coop and run that is wrapped in chicken wire. This is not predator-proof.
Pic by: @TheCluckyClucker2 - Thank you!
Making a coop plan
When you're building a coop, having a plan with dimensions, an idea as to what predators you're up against, and other climate factors is very important. Building a coop willy nilly is difficult enough as is, and you'll likely find yourself with one or more of these mistakes when you're done. It's always important to keep in mind your climate. Is your area really hot or really cold in winter or summer? For climates that get really warm, having an open-air coop can be a good idea. An open-air coop is a coop with 3 walls, and usually one open wall (covered in hardware cloth) so air can circulate well, and keep the coop from holding body heat or heat from outdoors. Adding misters, fans, and frozen water bottles can be beneficial for heat as well. Poultry tolerates the cold much better than heat, so preparing for heat is always a good idea.
For climates that are very cold, like I wrote above, always try to avoid adding ahead. If you get below -20, or down to -40 you may consider adding supplemental heat. When doing this, always be very careful as not to risk setting a fire. Keep any heat source away from flammable bedding, and secure it so it can not fall.
For the most part, chickens can do just fine without heat. There's a great article on whether or not to insulate your coop here, and whether or not you do, a sturdy, well-ventilated, walled-in coop with plenty of bedding is usually enough to keep your feathered babies warm. Straw is a great substrate for cold temperatures. It does a great job at insulating the coop, and collecting body heat. The deep bedding method is also a good call. It's a way of composting the bedding material in the coop. It's dry, and you don't have to clean the coop out constantly in the winter. It produces a good amount of heat as well. You can read further about the deep bedding method here.
If you ever do have questions about your coop build plan, posting a thread on BYC can be quite beneficial. Members will be able to offer information specific to your issues, and hopefully clear up your questions.
Fixing your mistakes
Maybe you've read through this article and realized you made more mistakes than you thought. I'd like to attach a section on how to repurpose/fix your current mistakes.
Maybe you built too many nesting boxes. External nesting boxes and be boarded off and turned into storage if the hens aren't using them. I've also considered turning one of my external nesting boxes into a perch with a sandbox beneath it. If you remove the dividers and add a 2x4 to the front of the box creating a wall, you could mount a perch to either side of the box, and fill the bottom with sand. Boom, extra perch! You can also easily scoop the poop out of the sandbox underneath keeping your roost very clean.
For most of the perch issues, you can either add roosts using something as simple as a large branch secured to either side of a wall. For perches in the wrong location, free-standing perches can be a good idea. It could be as simple as removing the current roosts, and building or purchasing a free-standing perch for your chickens. This makes it easy for them to hop from perch to perch to reach the top, and older hens can choose a lower perch if they prefer. For roosts that are too high, adding a ramp doing up to the perches can be a simple and effective fix.
For Prefabs, the only suggestion I really have is to add ventilation, and don't overcrowd them! You can use the whole prefab as a coop, and place it in your run. But the amount of chickens that can fit is still a very small number. Another good idea would be to convert your prefab to a brooder and construct your own coop out of recycled materials such as pallets. This is a great article showing lots of different pallet coops at a low cost.
Maybe you made your coop out of cheap material like plywood, adding sheet metal to the outside can be helpful. Sheet metal can usually be found on Craigslist for at least a cheaper price than something purchased brand new.
If you added heat to your coop this winter, starting to ween your hens off of the heat is likely the safest option. To do this I would start turning the light off during warmer parts of the day, and turn it down like you would with chicks. If you're concerned about shocking your birds, just add extra precautions and don't add it next year. Make sure your light is secure. Secure it with chains, carabiniers, and lots of back up encase something fails. Never trust the clips on the lights, they fail very easily. Always pay attention to the weather. If there's a chance your power will go out, either bring the hens inside where they won't get shocked by the sudden loss of the heat lamp, or add a backup heater that will power on batteries, or use a generator.
For coops that are too small, tearing out a wall and extending the coop in either direction can help. If you built a coop with a run attached, you could always try to cover more of the wall, and use the whole coop and run combo as an open-air coop. If you live in a cold climate, you can try to replace the wire in all or most places with sheet metal, or recycled materials.
If you didn't prepare for rodents and now have an infestation, this is a great article on getting rid of rats. After you get rid of them, protecting your coop with steel sheet metal, or hardware cloth in the areas the rodents were entering can help protect your coop. Bringing feeders and waterers inside at night, or investing in a rat-proof feeder can keep the rodents from coming back.
Ventilation can be added by cutting openings near the top of the coop and covering them with hardware cloth. Windows can act as ventilation as long as they aren't placed somewhere that will allow wind to blow directly on the birds. This can be life-threatening.
Lastly, predator proofing can be added by using hardware cloth. You can always wrap chicken wire in hardware cloth for double protection, or use it to cover gaps and openings. Hardware cloth is basically the duck tape of the chicken world. It can be a total lifesaver! For chicken tractors with wheels, some kind of system to raise and lower the wheels for moving can help them sit more level on the ground, reducing gaps under the run. I have a system like this on my chicken tractor coop page.
Thank you everyone for reading! I hope you found this article helpful in identifying and fixing your mistakes. If you have any questions feel free to ask in the comments below. Thanks for reading.
Acknowledgments
Thank you @black_cat and @BigBlueHen53 for the help with the article! I appreciate it!
