Prices for pre-built and pre-fabricated chicken houses are shockingly high. This is most likely the reason why most people are happy to take the DIY approach to chicken coops. In fact, you can make your own chicken house for under half the price of a construction “kit”. This article discusses your options, and gets you off to a flying start!
Chicken Coop Designs
The term “chicken house” can be misleading. It can be something as small as an a-frame coop, or as large as a complete hen house with attached chicken run. Below is a list of designs that you may possibly be interested in building.
- The a-frame chicken coop
- The chicken arch
- The box-shaped coop.
- The hen house.
Building Equipment And Materials
The next step is deciding what your chicken house is going to be made from. You also need to work out what tools you need. Small chicken coops generally only require a few lengths of wood, some chicken wire, and some nails. Still, think about the following:
- Treated pine is generally the best all-round lumber. However, for a high class finish, go with cedar. It’s naturally resistant against water and rotting.
- Chicken wire is your best friend. In fact, you can build a small, portable a-frame coop with just 12 bits of timber and a heap of chicken wire!
- Plywood and chipboard are fine to use, especially for enclosing nesting areas. Be careful which glue you choose. It can be toxic to chickens!
- Don’t forget to ask your neighbors about any scrap wood they might have. Normally you’ll be able to find at least one person with some bits and pieces you can use.
January 3rd, 2010 at 3:07 am
hey chicken farmers, i want to know how come chickens cant walk backwards. thank you
January 9th, 2010 at 4:39 am
Great read, very Informative.
January 24th, 2010 at 1:40 am
The very first chicken coop has been dated to the 8th century where the town was named Readingum. This is most likely the old English version of reading. The very first of many battles at Reading occurred when the Danes invaded in 871. This is the first known record of the town. They had chickencoops too -
February 1st, 2010 at 10:03 pm
There are certainly a lot of details like that to take into consideration. That is a great point to bring up. I offer the thoughts above as general inspiration but clearly there are questions like the one you bring up where the most important thing will be working in honest good faith. I don’t know if best practices have emerged around things like that, but I am sure that your job is clearly identified as a fair game.
February 5th, 2010 at 4:33 am
Thanks for the post, I stumbled upon
February 5th, 2010 at 10:49 pm
Pretty good post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed reading your blog posts. Any way I’ll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you post again soon.
March 7th, 2010 at 7:57 am
lol a number of the remarks bloggers post certainly are a bit spacey, from time to time i wonder whether these people actually scan through the pieces of content and threads before placing a comment or whether they simply gloss over the article title and write the first ideas that jumps inside their brain. Either way, it really is useful to search sensible commentary from time to time in contrast to the same, old opinion which I frequently notice on the internet. Just love the chicken coop articles! Keep them clucking!
March 12th, 2010 at 2:18 pm
Thank you for all of this and I’ll be back!
May 22nd, 2010 at 2:20 pm
Excellent info. Thanks for that post. I truly miss our prison eggs
May 27th, 2010 at 2:14 pm
Your site looks great and Reads even better! You share some great opinions and insight here. It’s good to find blogs like this so I can remind myself to stay motivated. I cant wait to build my chickencoop!
May 28th, 2010 at 2:28 pm
Hehe, the site was worth it
May 30th, 2010 at 10:30 am
Great post it was definitely worth the time it took to read!
June 2nd, 2010 at 2:37 am
There are certainly a lot of details like that to take into consideration. That is a great point to bring up. I offer the thoughts above as general inspiration but clearly there are questions like the one you bring up where the most important thing will be working in honest good faith. I don’t know if best practices have emerged around things like that, but I am sure that your job is clearly identified as a fair game.
June 3rd, 2010 at 2:44 pm
Thanks to all who posted – more to come as we expand our chicken coop – be sure to check out Dan Kennedy’s book on “Make Your Own Chicken Coop” – its a great read and comes with informative videos!