Family Built Chicken Coop

This post is part of a larger series on cool coop builds: from the first timers to the professionals, some using new materials, salvaged finds or repurposing existing structures like kids’ playhouses.

Donna and Mark’s coop combine some of things I love about keeping chickens: how folks come together to care for their flocks and how creative those keepers are in providing shelter for their birds. Together, with their adult son, the couple used materials at hand to create a shelter to be proud of, that also didn’t break the bank.

My husband, Mark, and I live in Lafayette, Georgia where we’ve kept chickens for about ten years. We started out with Rhode Island Reds; I quit chicken tending for a while and then started back with other breeds, particularly bantam Cochins, Barred Rocks and Orpingtons. I fell in love with chickens again and have continued to enjoy the hobby immensely for many years now.

We have too many to accurately count and we’re hatching more each day. Chicken math is a real thing. I love connecting with others who share the same interest. I initially started with miniature fainting goats, two rescued potbelly pigs, donkeys and horses, but chickens always seem to be my biggest passion. I love bantam Cochins due to their sweet dispositions and colourful patterns. Lavender Orpingtons are a close second due to their pillow-like softness and cuddliness. Over the years of having extremely broody hens and great mothers we now have a barnyard mix which is so exciting to me to see what colours, sizes and personalities will emerge.

This is the third coop we’ve built. One thing has led to another and I am blessed with an extremely handy husband. He has a sawmill and was interested in using his lumber for this project so it cost us next to nothing but our time. We enjoy spending time together creating habitats for the chickens and other animals. We have lived and learned many things from past successes and failures. By no means professionals but we do enjoy it as a hobby, especially when an idea turns out to work for the chickens as we intended.

Our design was the result of past experiences with things that have and haven’t worked well for us. Mark is particularly skilled at problem solving. We researched plans on YouTube and chicken Facebook groups and worked on it for several months, with the help of our 26-year old son Caleb, between working and taking care of the farm.

Budget

We used free lumber from my husband’s sawmill. We purchased the flooring ($50), metal for the roof, automatic door, recycled an old nest box ($20) and hardware cloth for the front and for the boxes.

Coop 10′ x 12′

Features

Automatic coop door
Treadle feeder
Over EZ waterer
Decorative items just for fun
The top of the coop has hinged doors that can be lowered in the summer to allow better air flow
Roosts are wide and removable for cleaning
Dumor plastic rabbit cage trays from tractor supply are used under the roosts and covered by used feed bags for easy clean up
The floor is covered by a water resistant LVP sheet that can be cut to size like plywood
Four individual boxes for hens with chicks or sick/injured birds. The tops the can be raised a little or all the way to access the entire box.