Best coop for 3 chickens?

[Molliep2]

What's the best coop for three chickens?

 

[moniquem]

I found these plans free online. I'm getting around 4 chickens and have decided to make my own coop, the kits you buy are garbage. This looks sturdy and easy enough to build.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Posting your general location or climate helps, as what works for one area might not work well for another. Also what type of chickens are you planning on getting? I have a prefab that I altered that's about 15 sq ft, so plenty of space for 3 but it wouldn't work for someone in an area with a lot of snow, for example.

 

[jthornton]

I found these plans free online. I'm getting around 4 chickens and have decided to make my own coop, the kits you buy are garbage. This looks sturdy and easy enough to build.

Yea all the kits I've see are not much better than a doll house. I've seen some that are made by local craftsman that look sturdy but are way over rated for capacity.

The structure looks sturdy but the roof construction is a bit weird. A shed roof would be much easier to build but may not be aesthetically pleasing to some.

Dunno why they have 3 nest boxes for a 4' x 4' coop when only one is needed for 4 chickens.

The plans don't show any vents.

I would not cut out the sill plate for the door and would move the door up some to contain the bedding material. Same for the pop door it should be higher up. Just a note here from experience my 5' x 4' raised coop I have doors on both sides to make cleaning easier. I would hate to have to reach out 4' to clean chicken poop.



They don't show the roost location, I assume it would go across the middle or 12" from the back wall and above the nest box 12" or so.

I also would not have the run under the roof like they show, I would have it out the back and just continue the roof out over the run and enclose the underside of the coop with welded wire. The run is built rather strange as well but looks sturdy even with all the complicated angle cut braces. Dunno why they would have the 2x4's going across the floor.

The floor of the coop I would use a 4'x4' piece of plywood and pressure treated 4x4's for the legs. For a 4' x 4' floor 2x4's would be fine for the floor frame, I'd add one across the middle.

Overall that is the best plans I've seen on the internet.

JT

 

[moniquem]

Dunno why they have 3 nest boxes for a 4' x 4' coop when only one is needed for 4 chickens.

Yep, I will make this a bit smaller or just make it into 2 nest boxes.

The floor of the coop I would use a 4'x4' piece of plywood and pressure treated 4x4's for the legs. For a 4' x 4' floor 2x4's would be fine for the floor frame, I'd add one across the middle.

This also seems like more work so would definately use one piece of plywood. I would also cover the plywood with some flooring vinyl.

The plans don't show any vents.

Yes, needs more venting maybe some small windows.
Does need some altering but definately doable