Any tips for a new chicken-coop-builder?

[adeechickluv]

Well the title says it all. I'm a little lost here ... been trying to study all these designs & plan one myself

I hear yall know a lot on this subject ... so any general tips? Do you have any recomendations for books that describe building coops?

thanks sooo much,
adrienne

 

[Intheswamp]

Are you planning on a raised coop or a walk-in coop? How many chickens are you planning on getting? Large fowl or more petite chickens? City or rural area? Area of the country (cold? hot?)

Holler back,
Ed

 

[peterlund]

Quote:
How many chickens???? They love perches, they are not fussy. They love ventilation (you will soon find out why) and they are sort of like a small frat house... No need to over-think, they like shelter. If you are raising for eggs, a few nest boxes are in order. It is fairly easy. They are pretty laid back as to what they accept as living quarters.... Again, only from my limited newbie experience... I too was intimidated at first. MUCH easier to keep than a dog..... or spouse!

 

[gmendoza]

This is my"production coop".Its 3'x3'x3' and I tell people either they need a run or free range them and use it just to house the chickens,but not long term housingi.e. vacation or such.It costs 100.00.Its made from 1-1/4" pine pallets.Its so cool to make and the unit cost is only 5.00 for me because that includes buying screws(2.00 a box at home depot,and 5 hinges(2.50) at the restore.Heres a pic at the basic design of it.This one is a duck coop,but the chicken coop also gets roosts and a nesting box.Plain simple,and effective.

10 Large breed hens,one Bared Rock Rooster,one bantam,3 american game hens,two pairsOEG chickens, two khaki campbell ducks, 3 coturnix quail,two black sex link chicks, an 9 eggs under one of the american game hens.

 

[elmo]

Try to think ahead and figure out what you want so that you don't have to go back to retrofit.

I started out building a coop to be put in one place, changed my mind, had to take a fence panel apart and drag the thing through the opening (just fit, barely), built a run around the coop but didn't roof the whole thing. Quickly realized I wanted to roof the whole run. Spent the whole day today trying to add roofing panels onto a not quite square run. Did a lot of swearing. Now I'm not satisfied and am thinking about taking the whole thing apart and redoing it from scratch, right.

 

[adeechickluv]

Thanks so much for the quick replies!!

I am thinking of having the coop/house thing on top of the run. Leaning towards around 3-5 chickens, the egg-laying type, but they also gotta be friendly. I live in the suburbs, in Oregon. The cold AND hot go into the slight extremes ... lucky me.

I've been looking at the coop design pages, and I realized how much hard work i am going to have to go into building this thing. Again, thanks for the help!
-adrienne

 

[midget_farms]

Consider buying a premade or pre-cut yard shed. These are usually cheaper than you can build one on your own & come with all the parts. Plus they can be bought large enough to allow for more birds if you get hooked. If not - you will have space to keep feed & tools out of the weather!

 

[clemson11]

Start with a pre made wooden dog house and add the items to that you need. Nest box, roosts, door. Then just attach a run to it, and your done!!

 

[adeechickluv]

Im thinking ...
I can either
a. buy one
b. convert a tool shed/dog house etc into one
c. make one myself

Should I make one? Is it worth the effort? I think it might be, because you can make it to your liking ... any ideas on that?

 

[cheshie]

I can't help with your questions, but thanks for posting because I am in desperate need of help too. I have been struggling to figure out how to get the best chicken coop for the least amount of money. I live in South Central PA and we get slight extremes in temperature too. I want a nice walk in coop with a large run so that my new family members will have a great home (I would let them free range, but I am afraid my 4 dogs would have a nice chicken supper). I don't mind spending money to get what I want, I just don't want to overpay. I was seriously considering just buying an 8ft X 8ft wooden shed and modifying it slightly to make it a spacious coop. We have a great amish builder somewhat close to us and they build fabulous structures. I am hoping to check out what they have this weekend so that I can move this project along. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!