New to raising chickens ... coop design?

[openheartnurse]

I am trying to get ready to start raising 3-6 chickens in town and didn't know if any one had a good coop design or a place to buy good pre-built coop (maybe a little more expensive though)? I have no idea what to look for in a design ... if I need a warmer light for the winter in Central Illinois or anything else.

Thanks!!

Will

 

[coonhoundmama87]

Up at the top there is a tab that says "Coops", click that, there's lot of coops of all shapes and sizes. You won't need any form of heat for your chickens once they are old enough, chickens don't need a heated coop, they just need protection from the elements! There's many threads about that on here. If you know what you are doing you can build a coop for much cheaper than buying one. But there are places that sell them (don't have a clue where tho, always build mine, sorry). Best of Luck!


P.S. Chickens are addictive so watch out!

 

[mikecnorthwest]

You have several options. You can look through the coop designs on this website and try to build one yourself. You can order online plans to build one yourself or have a contractor build it for you. The only online coop plan I like is from www.thegardencoop.com. The plans are downloadable, inexpensive, and very complete yet simple. Or there are a couple of books you can get such as Building Chicken Coops for Dummies or Backyard Chickens Guide to Coops and Tractors. The latter is a new book featuring several coops from this website.

http://www.amazon.com/Building-Chic...8964/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1326743289&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.com/Backyard-Chic...=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1313257287&sr=1-1

 

[mikecnorthwest]

I forgot... avoid almost all of the chicken coops listed on Ebay. They're very poorly made and much smaller than they are made to look in the photos. Many of the online chicken supply stores also sell the Ebay style coops so avoid those also.

 

[bleith]

You really try to build your own. I think it adds a lot to the overall experience. If you're not capable, then you should try to design it your self. I had to to both. the desigh is the best part beacause it is custom for my application in order to meet local ordinances etc... I did study a lot of the pictures of the coops from this site and used ideas to come up with my own. you can see the coop I came up with on my page.. have fun.

 

[lisababes]

I'm in Wisconsin, and we only use a heat light if it gets under 0F. You may not need one, depending how far south in IL you are. The chix adjust surprisingly well. The only thing I find is they dont like wind and snow, so some sort of windbreak for their outdoor area is key in the winter months. But no matter how cold it is, they always choose to be out there, instead of up in the coop (unless it is super windy, then theyll hide for a while)

Our coop was made from an old homemade doghouse we got on craigslist for 50 bucks. its insulated, and we just cut a couple extra holes in it for eggbox, chicken door, etc. Then we hoisted it up on some poles that we buried in the yard with some quickcrete, and built a run underneath the coop and around it. It was the way to go - probably cost under 150 bucks, since we used a lot of salvaged lumber for the non-buried wood. I also buried the hardware cloth that covers the run - that way it can't be easily dug under by a predator. I chose hardware cloth over chicken wire to evade the predators with dextrous fingers - I'd heard some horror stories. Theres a pic on my byc page.

 

[lisababes]

A pic of my coop and the run, that is, not a pic of the horror story