Ideas on Building a Chicken Coop
- Housing Chickensmany chickens on the farm image by Ivonne Wierink from Fotolia.com
If you want to keep chickens for fresh eggs or to show in competition, you'll need a chicken coop. Even two or three chickens in the backyard need basic shelter to be healthy and stay safe. There are many commercial and retail resources for chicken shelters but it's easy to build a coop for your chickens. From simple to elaborate, small or large, building a chicken coop with inexpensive materials and a few tools is within the scope of almost anyone who wants to keep chickens. - If you're not particular about materials and style, you can put together a basic chicken coop with salvaged wood and other found items. A small, three-foot by five-foot shed with a sloped roof, a couple of nest boxes and a chicken-sized door attached to an enclosed run is a weekend project. This coop fits in most backyards, and can accommodate up to five chickens.
- If you don't mind bringing your chickens into the garage or a shed at night for protection from predators, a portable mini-coop and chicken run is a good solution. A small two-foot by three-foot shelter, made from canvas or plastic tarp stretched over an arched frame and attached to an arched three- to five-foot mesh or chicken- wire covered run without a floor is an easy way to move chickens around to forage for bugs in the yard or garden. When they are done in one area, move the coop to another area without letting chickens roam freely or be exposed to dogs or kids.
- A rabbit hutch can nicely house chickens with a few adjustments. Set up the hutch on cement blocks or some other framework, put some milk crates inside for nesting boxes and set a ramp at the door for chickens to run up and down to get in and out of the coop.
- A chicken tractor is a movable coop without a floor, used to move a group of chickens from one area to another to provide the chickens fresh foraging areas and to provide fertilization from the chicken waste. You can make a simple chicken tractor from a large doghouse modified for ventilation and fitted with lawn mower or bicycle training wheels. Attach an enclosed run to the front of the doghouse, cut out a square above the door and in the back of the house and over with metal screening for ventilation and add a handle to move the whole thing easily.
- If you have a chicken coop with a flat roof, consider using the top of the roof as a mini-garden space. Frame the top of the coop roof with wood planks, fill with potting soil and plant small vegetables, herbs and flowers like radishes, basil and marigolds.
