How to Build a Backyard Chicken Coop

Chickens should be kept in a coop to keep them safe.

A chicken coop is where chickens lay their eggs, sleep and nest. Rather than buying and then transporting a pre-made coop home, build your own coop and adapt it to fit the number of chickens you have and the amount of space you need. To build a high-quality coop you will need a fair amount of materials and know-how, but it is a manageable task for most people with basic carpentry skills.

Things You'll Need

• Wood
• Saw
• Nails
• Screws
• Plywood
• Chicken wire
• Door latch
• Hinge
• Staples
• 4 posts, 6 feet long

Instructions

Planning

1. Clear a space for the coop. Pick a site on a slight elevation so that puddles will not affect it after heavy rain.

2. Calculate the size of the coop. On average, one hen will need at least 2 square feet.

3. Design your own coop or download a free blueprint from the Internet. The chicken coop should have a large door allowing for easy collection of eggs. While there are multilevel coops, a single-level coop is the best option.

4. Purchase the materials you will need.

Building the Chicken Coop

1. Cut all of the wood to the proper size. Place four pieces of wood on the ground in a rectangle. Screw them together to create the base of the coop. At each corner, lean a post at a 45-degree angle to create an A-frame. The posts should be about 6 feet in length.

2. Connect the end posts of the A-frame with a length of wood. This will leave you with a tent-like structure with a triangle at either end. Select one of the triangles as the end where the door will be. Using wood and nails, build a simple square door frame and attach it inside one of the triangles using nails or screws.

3. Add chicken wire. Cover the exterior of the coop with chicken wire and secure it with fencing staples.

4. Make the door. Cut a piece of plywood so that it is 1/4 inch smaller than the space left for the door. Attach the door using a hinge and secure a bolt latch on the other side.

Tips & Warnings

• Chicken wire will keep your chickens in but will not keep determined predators out. Investigate chicken predator control techniques.

References

• BuildEazy: How to Build a Chicken Coop
• Backyard Chickens: Large Chicken Coops
• Build Chicken Coops: Building a Chicken Coop -- My Story...

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish