How to Get Supplies to Build a Chicken Coop

Planning ahead on size and style of coop before you purchase your materials will save money and prevent waste.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Chicken Wire
• Fencing Pliers
• Hen Nesting Boxes
• Work Gloves
• Work Gloves
• On-off Timers
• Cement Blocks
• Electric Fans
• Fence Posts
• Light Fixtures
• Measuring Tapes
• Salvaged Windows
• Shovels
• 2-by-4 Boards
• New Or Used Lumber
• Electrical Wires
• Hammers
• Insulation
• Salvaged Doors
• Insulation
• Hammers
• Shovels

1. Decide on style of barn or shed. Each chicken needs around 2 square feet of floor space.

2. Use insulation in walls and ceiling, if you live in a very cold area, to help maintain a comfortable temperature for your chickens.

3. Use old doors or windows to let in light and air in the summer.

4. Wire your chicken house for lights and, possibly, a fan if you have very hot summers. Chickens need 14 hours of light a day to lay consistently.

5. Put your light bulb on a timer for use during the winter months.

6. Decide on the size of your fenced-in run.

7. Use good mesh chicken wire and posts around perimeter of run. Chicken wire comes in all heights and sells by the running foot. Measure the perimeter of your pen and add a few extra feet to allow for overlap onto side of barn.

8. Bury wire in ground to help keep foxes from digging under wire. Or nail 2-by-4s on the inside of the pen around the base and put cement blocks around the outside.

9. Provide nests for your hens - watch farm auctions for used nests or build your own out of milk crates or wooden boxes. Do not use treated lumber.

Tips & Warnings

• A dirt floor is all right for your coop. A cement floor is easier to clean but is more expensive to install. If you decide on a wooden floor, it will need to be raised about 1 foot off the ground. You can use cement blocks as a foundation for the building.
• Watch your newspaper for local auctions for used building materials and supplies.
• Salvage yards provide good sources for doors, windows and cement blocks.

[buildchickencop]

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[helema23]

on 4/10/2007 For most areas if it is possible it is better to dig a hole that is 12-16 inches deep and as wide as the houseing /leanto will be and as long as the depth of the houseing and chicken run line it with plastic, then a wooden box or cement /bricks layed into it and the posts stood into it before filling it!!(make sure you build it higher than the hole) then build the pin and houseing within the area!! the finished product shouls be predator free!! oh and for an easier time put the chicken wire on the posts after half of the hole is filled with the posts securely in place slipping the wire in between the posts and the pit lineing!! then fill the hole up the rest and leaving an opening for the door and tall enough to walk in comfortably then place chicken wire across the top of the pin and the houseing (built within the pin!! and use wire to secure the gaps in the top and the sides then hang your door when this is said and done you should have a good yard with plenty of security!!

on 8/24/2006 We live in an urban area but had chickens eaten by a possum that worked its way between the overlap in the chicken wire and then got into the coop through the door in the back for the light. Very sad. Test out your coop with an open can of cat food and sardines (two favorites of chicken eaters) and sprinkle flour around the perimeter. The tracks it will leave in the flour shows you how it will try to get in. We now have chicken wire all the way around, and for a roof and floor.

on 7/27/2006 I would recommend pine shavings over cedar shavings. Chickens can't handle the cedar oils. Their droppings can be swept up with the shavings on a weekly or bi-weekly basis and composted for yard or garden use. Pine shavings (not pine mulch) can be found at most farm supply stores.

on 7/21/2006 Never use chicken wire for windows or to go around the house. Even though it may seem safe, it's really not . Raccoons will pull chickens, ducks, or any other type of poultry through the wire, usually ripping it's head off.