How to build a sturdy chicken coop

[2chicks poultry]

Does anyone know how to make a sturdy, and predator proof chicken coop? If so please give me some instructions. Oh and it has to be fairly easy because Im a woman with no help. Thanks!

 

[LoneOak]

Quote: 2chicks, there are so many ways to do this it would take hundreds of pages of typing to give you just half of the info your asking for. Your best bet at this time would be to do a search of YouTube videos to see what people have built and how they did it. There are also many books you can get that will help you out and point you in the right direction. Amazon is a tremendous source for the books that you need and if you happen to have a Kindle many of them come in Kindle form and are really inexpensive.

Simply do a search on YouTube for Chicken Coops and watch a few, then do an Amazon search of How to Build a Chicken Coop and you will see many things.

Since you don't have experience and help you may want to just do a general search of the internet for Chicken Coops for sale. There are many companies that sell small sturdy coops that are nice and pretty and very easy to put together. Also do a Craigs list search in your area for someone that might build you a custom coop, they are out there. This is just one company that offers Chicken coops for sale, CCOnly and this is not an endorsement for them they are just an example. There coops come in panels that are supposedly easy to put together but you may want to find some help because 4 hands and 2 brains are always better than 2 and 1! Here's another outfit that sells coops, Texas Ranch-Coops.

 

[Triple Willow]

Does anyone know how to make a sturdy, and predator proof chicken coop? If so please give me some instructions. Oh and it has to be fairly easy because Im a woman with no help. Thanks!

I highly suggest a hoop coop. For less than $250 you can have a nice one and they are not too hard to build. Here is a youtube video showing how to make one. Instead of covering the hoop coop in clear plastic - first cover it in 1/2 inch *hardware cloth* then cover that in a good weather proof tarp. Don't use "chicken wire" because it is not predator proof in the least. Good luck to you. I know you can built one of these!

 

[SunnySkies]

There are some books with easy coop plans you can find at the library or buy online.

Art of the Chicken Coop
Reinventing the Chicken Coop

Both have easy plans in them.

But you will need tools, and I have found I can't do much without power tools (also a woman). If you don't already have tools, you have that investment, plus coop materials, and time. Fun if you have time, but not so much when you have chicks growing insanely fast in the brooder!

In a pinch, I bought a coop off eBay, and despite what everyone says about eBay coops, I'm very happy with that coop (Pawhut). No predator has breached it, and we have had many predator attacks, to the point I got two Great Pyrenees. If you get one such coop, you cannot let chicken math take over if you only have that coop and no way to free range all the time. They are very small. I put it together in just a couple hours by myself.

I have built two coops, just free styling it, another based on plans I saw in a book written by BYC members (I can't remember its name), hubby built an A frame based on Internet plans, and he built a small coop that looks like a little house. I have a hoop coop under construction that hubby started and I'm finishing, and I repurposed a trampoline as a chicken run. If I had to do just one, the hoop coop has been fastest. We have spent so many hours building coops it isn't even funny.

Always use hardware cloth.

 

[Arielle]

Building a chicken coop is a good time to learn how to use basic tools!! Go for it! YOu can do it.

 

[Triple Willow]

Check out the hoop coop pictures and information on this page:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/644300/fermenting-feed-for-meat-birds/6300

 

[2chicks poultry]

Thanks everyone for your help and advice!

I think that I will try some of your ideas!

Thanks! But keep posting I like to have lots of different options!