Our handmade coop

[GreyKat]

My husband build our coop last year. And let me just say, a carpenter he is not. Lol. But it turned out pretty good. We used 2x4s for the supports, fence planks for the sides, plywood for the flooring, and smoked plexiglass for the roof. We love the roof. It lets the sunlight in and keeps it warm inside, but not too warm. We made the back of it hinge down for access to eggs and put hinged latches on it to keep it secure. No nest boxes built in. The girls are happy depositing our breakfast in a little office basket or just a mound of shavings in the corner. Both sides are doors to allow access for cleaning. We used 1x1 boards hinged to the front of the coop to hold the dowel rod roosting bar. We tried to have three roosting bars (two short ones only held by one 1x1) but ended up taking the two smaller ones out because they weren't sturdy enough and were mostly in the way. The ramp is just plywood hinged to the coop with 1x1s for ease of climbing. The venting is supplied by all the gaps because we couldn't square the thing for the life of us. Lol. It leans a bit. But the chickens don't care, they're happy! We got all our supplies from Home Depot. All together we paid slightly less than buying a prefab coop, and hopefully it will last longer than those do.

Here is our labor of love.

 

[PD-Riverman]

smoked plexiglass for the roof. We love the roof. It lets the sunlight in and keeps it warm inside,

I was going to comment on the roof, but then I see you Love it. OK---Just monitor the inside on the warmer days---I am sure it will be hot(greenhouse effect). The rest looks good, Chickens do not care---you might be seen my pic of 2 of my pens with free pallet coops in them. I will include the bigger pallet coop you can see in the center of the picture(even pallets under the tin). Work Great.

 

[GreyKat]

Nice! Last summer it definitely got hot inside the coop some days but it cools down considerably at night here so it wasn't an issue. During the day they're out in the very shaded pen. On those hot days we might find an egg in the pen instead of the coop, but that's fine with them and with us. We live in Cincinnati, so the summers aren't too hot (and if they are, as they say "wait ten minutes") and the winters aren't too cold. I like the pallet idea and the way you put yours together. That's a cool setup they've got!