DIY Chicken Coop

[lhsimpleliving]

It’s been five years since I had chickens at the old house. I’m so excited to say that my new coop is finished and the little girls are all running around inside. I had my nephew come down and help me with the foundation, framing and trusses. I took it from there. I had no idea what I was doing and why on earth did I start building a chicken coop in the middle of summer? It was hot, my lips were chapped and swollen but I persevered and got at it! I wanted the coop to be both functional and pretty since it‘s sitting in my garden and close to our farmhouse. I used a lot of things I already had in my barn. The lathe is from our house build. I had all the hooks. I used a piece I cut off from the front door and it’s now holding my tools as a wall rack. The paint was leftover from our house. I did splurge on the cypress siding and the roof. I wanted to make sure this thing didn’t blow across my yard in a hurricane haha. I’m proud to say, it survived Ian.

I documented the entire build on Instagram at @lhsimpleliving. Each video is saved in the “guides” tab in my profile. I also shared a video (about 3 minutes long) with more detail on my feed earlier tonight of the coop part finished. I also have a blog post with more details.

Grab you a cup of hot tea or coffee and enjoy!

Wendy

 

[Colley12]

That's amazing! Can you come to my house and build me a cute little chicken coop/shed like that!! Good job!

 

[SourRoses]

Looks like you put a lot of hard work into it!
In the south I really like to see more ventilation up high. The heat will linger under the peak with humidity and noxious gases. I see you put ventilation in the frame of the roof, but there's several feet of peak above that. Why not cut out a nice big triangle of siding at the front right under the peak.

 

[nuthatched]

It's very pretty, nice work.
However, you need more ventilation like sour roses said, try a peak vents and replace the chicken wire, which is not remotely predator proof, with hardware cloth or expanded metal. :]

 

[lhsimpleliving]

That's amazing! Can you come to my house and build me a cute little chicken coop/shed like that!! Good job!

Thank you! It was definitely a labor of love!

 

[Callender Girl]

My chickens would be thrilled to live in such a beautiful place! My coops are utilitarian, but yours is clearly a work of art AND love. Congrats on being able to recycle so many materials.

 

[3KillerBs]

It's very beautiful, but I agree about the ventilation.

Fortunately, you have allowed plenty of roof overhang on the gable ends, which is exactly where you need to open a space to let warm, moist air and ammonia escape as they rise.

Here's my article on coop ventilation: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/repecka-illustrates-coop-ventilation.77659/

 

[bjdewell]

It’s been five years since I had chickens at the old house. I’m so excited to say that my new coop is finished and the little girls are all running around inside. I had my nephew come down and help me with the foundation, framing and trusses. I took it from there. I had no idea what I was doing and why on earth did I start building a chicken coop in the middle of summer? It was hot, my lips were chapped and swollen but I persevered and got at it! I wanted the coop to be both functional and pretty since it‘s sitting in my garden and close to our farmhouse. I used a lot of things I already had in my barn. The lathe is from our house build. I had all the hooks. I used a piece I cut off from the front door and it’s now holding my tools as a wall rack. The paint was leftover from our house. I did splurge on the cypress siding and the roof. I wanted to make sure this thing didn’t blow across my yard in a hurricane haha. I’m proud to say, it survived Ian.

I documented the entire build on Instagram at @lhsimpleliving. Each video is saved in the “guides” tab in my profile. I also shared a video (about 3 minutes long) with more detail on my feed earlier tonight of the coop part finished. I also have a blog post with more details.

Grab you a cup of hot tea or coffee and enjoy!

Wendy

It's absolutely beautiful! Just the kind of hen house I want. I love it!