Building first chicken coop

[ssramage]

Hello,

I've been kicking around the idea for a while now about raising my own chickens. I've finally decided to give it a shot and will be picking up my chicks this weekend. I'm going to go ahead and try to get my coop built also. I have a general idea in mind, but don't quite know the dimensions yet. I'm going to build an elevated box essentially with the run attached. Basically a big rectangle. I'm planning on anywhere from 4-6 chickens. How big should the enclosed box be and how big should the footprint be? I was thinking the run, including the space under the coop would be 10'x5', with the coop being 4'x5' and the whole unit being about 5' tall. Is that too big, should I scale it down? Thanks for any suggestions. I've still got to add up the cost of something like this as I may just end up buying a pre-fabbed unit from Tractor Supply or somewhere if it is too much.

 

[Jenismyname]

I would go with the Purina coop. It seems like the easiest design, and the easiest to modify to fit you needs. I can barely screw in a light bulb but I'm pretty sure that I can build or attempt to build this coop.


https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...plan-nice-one-too-on-the-purina-mills-website

 

[jrudolph305]

If you click on my name you will see photos of a green coop and run. The coop is 4 X 8 with the nest boxes inside so you lose a little floor space. The coop is up about 2 ft so there is a run area underneath as well as a 8 X 7 run. I brought the ramp out the bottom. Just keep browsing around this site and you will find lots of coop designs and ideas. Good luck and have fun!!

 

[SomersetGirl]

Hey, I'm new to all of this too!! Can't decide whether to buy a pre built coop or convert my old shed......the more I think about it the more I want to convert the shed but then this could be a massive disaster!!

Have an old dismantled wardrobe in the garage but I just can't decide where to start....so much to think about and so many different idea's to look at.

Girls and DIY never did go well together...

 

[nuchickontheblock]

You are always better off building it a little bigger than you think you will need. You may get more chickens and they take up a bit more room than you think they will. I don't know where you live, but my chickens don't like to go out in the snow or when it is really windy here, so for many months they are confined to the coop and enclosed run. If they will be indoors for much of the time, you will definitely benefit from a bigger coop. Check out this site and you will find tons of suggestions.

Good luck and welcome to ssramage and somerset girl! You will love having chickens - they are lots of fun!

 

[lizm1221]

I would say always plan for a little extra space, at the very least the chickens you do have will have lots of room to spread out. But you will probably just end up filling that space with extra birds! Last spring we got our first chicks. We started with 4 and I said that is plenty, we wouldn't ever need more than that. A trip to the feed store a couple months later and we came home with 1 more because she was just too darn cute to leave behind. Today I just ordered 9 baby chicks (granted we won't be keeping all of them, I ordered extras just in case), but now we are faced with needing to make an addition already and the coop isn't even a year old (our coop is 4x4 with exterior nest boxes, and the run is 11x8). Good luck!

 

[Mtn Laurel]

Below is a link I think will be helpful for you. It's about what coop builders would do differently after living with their coops for a while. We built a small coop last year and are now planning a larger coop for this spring. I refer to this thread often. Lot's of great info and ideas.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...at-would-you-have-changed-or-done-differently