When I built our first
chicken coop we were short on both time and money.
Someday I’d like to build a
bigger and better coop incorporating some of the lessons we’ve learned
over the years since we first started raising chickens.
1. Make the door big enough
for a wheelbarrow.
We took a couple doors off an
old camper and regret not being able to have the extra elbow room. A
regular or oversized door would make coop cleaning a whole lot easier.
2. Use increments of 8 to
choose how big you want to go.
In my opinion the length or
width should not be shorter than 8 feet. Keep in mind a sheet of
plywood is 8×4.
3. Make it a tight fit.
You might get lucky the first
year or two, but eventually a local predator will come sniffing around.
I noticed we’ve got a problem with little birds swooping in to feast on
laying pellets.
Chicken coop construction mistakes
About The Author
Anna & Mark
Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton are a pair of back-to-the-landers who have been homesteading for over a decade.
Here are some mistakes or lessons learned from our urban area as we begin building our second.
1. Chicken Arks are awkward. The space for the birds is small and since they are shaped like a triangle you have to lean in at an awkward angle to clean. The roost is the same height as the nest boxes so they sleep in the nest boxes (poopy eggs.)
2. Plan for deep bedding. Make sure door thresholds and access doors are high enough off the ground so the bedding doesn’t spill out and effect the doors from shutting easily.
3. Removable and/or easy to clean floor. Our new coop will have a tray that will have deep bedding in it (including sides) with linoleum in the bottom so when the bedding is changed it can be pulled out and dumped easily into the compost bin.
4. Make the floor high enough that the bedding can be raked out directly to a wheel barrow (if needed see #3 above). Also make sure the coop is high enough that the feeder can be kept under the coop outside so it is protected from rain. Having the feeder in the run will reduce the footprint of the coop.
5. Predator proof means 1/2″ hardware cloth all around the coop and run when they are unattended.
6. Composting/chickens/garden should be incorporated closer together since they have direct relationships to each other. This means less time moving materials (Garden > Chicken coop > Compost > Garden) and also requires less infrastructure (compost in chicken coop, chicken coop over part of the garden?)
7. Access to electricity for keeping the water unfrozen during the winter is necessary.
8. Making the feeder and waterer easily refillable without having to enter the coop or run is good for out of town trips.