How many of you use plans to build a coop???

[Omran]

I am just wondering if I am the only one who does things in kind of crazy way, every time I build a new coop or a shed or anything for my farm I just get my hammer and nails and start working with no plan or any thing, and ofcourse I run to some surprises

I did not expect, but it always be solved on its own.
What funny is that every time i finsh, I tell myself next time I will have a plan

 

[ladyride]

So far we have built 3 buildings no plan they always seem to work out

sometimes have to make some modifications .

 

[CapricornFarm]

I draw up my own plans, but I have built so many now I just wing it.

 

[zookeeper15133]

My first 2 coops/tractors I used plans. Now I just gather what I have and start building. I just started on a large 12x16' coop. The plans are in my head.

 

[bloom_ss]

No plans here. We only built the fully enclosed run though, not the coop. We bought the coop off of Craigslist.

 

[itsmechrissy]

My husband used one of the plans in Chicken Coops for Dummies... he's built other things without plans but I was being picky on how the coop should look. He said the plans were good at first but went down hill about 1/2 way thru, that many measurements were off and they didn't think about alot of factors... so he modified a slight bit. He also wired for electricity and added insulation. Even with his changes it still looks like the coop on the cover of the book. Here's a pic:

Note: I helped with painting and the path/patio installation - but he really did the building of the coop and most of the heavy work --- no wait, those flagstones were darn heavy and I lifted quite a few of them

 

[Patricia Jane]

I kind of used an idea from a premade coop at my feed store but changed it so much as I went along by the time it was finished it didn't look anything like the original idea. It came out better.

 

[Patricia Jane]

Quote:
Love it

 

[Mahonri]

I found plans online for the first coop and modified them slightly to meet my needs.

I planned out both of my breeding pens.

Is there any other way?

 

[BarbG]

None of the plans I saw really worked in the space I had and I couldn't afford a decent-quality mail-order coop. After a few weeks of mentally designing the coop, I built a tiny model to scale out of graph paper. After another few days of tweeking the design, I bought what materials I didn't have. My buddy is a carpenter and we put the coop together over a few weekends - again the design was tweeked a bit as we went along. All in all I'm pleased with the design (easy access, easy to clean, chickens like it). If I ever move again, I will build the new coop based on the available space and it may or may not look like the one I have now. I'm glad I trusted my instincts.