Vida Winter Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 We are getting chicks in a couple of weeks - they'll be indoors for a while but we need to get moving on building a coop. Primary considerations will be insulation from cold, keeping rodents out, and being able to remove the chicken poop efficiently. If anyone can recommend a plan for a small coop (~6 hens) could you please point me in the right direction? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myfunnybunch Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 Dh built one very similar to this one: http://www.organicgardening.com/sites/all/themes/zen/og/pdf/coop_plans.pdf Cat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peela Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 I have seen so many lovely ones- plans and also ready built. The plans are harder than even dh , who is very handy, wants to do, and way over my head. And the ready made ones are sooo expensive. We have a rabbit cage connected to a big structure we found on the edge of the road. 7 chooks although I am finding one a home soon as it is being bullied and isnt going to last long. Dh and I were out there today looking at how to improve the chook pen. Its not easy to get into although where they lay eggs is accessible. Basically we made one from bits and pieces we found, plugged up the holes with chicken mesh, and it works well enough. I would love a really good one but don't want to spend money on a ready made one and don't have the skills to make the fancy ones I see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 We have made dozens of them over the years. do you want a permanent pen, where you lock the up at night and let them out to roam during the day or a movable pen? An A frame pen is really good for a movable pen. I recommend wire ( chicken mesh ) on all sides to stop animals getting in. A movable chicken coop for 6 chooks would be about 2 metres by 1 1/2 metres. about 1 metre high. If you are building a permanent pen, I recommend finding a corner of your yard, put in some corner posts, with a wooden beam between each post, sort of like a large 3d rectangle. Make sure it is large enough to walk into, I would recommend about 6 foot high. Make sure some of the roof is waterproof, as chooks don't do well in wet conditions. Dig some tin (metal) around about 2 feet on all sides to stop foxes digging under the wire. make nesting boxes , these can be as simple as nailing up some wooden boxes, or we use lawn mower grass catcher thingies. Chocks need to perch, so make sure to put up some perches for them to roost on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halftime Hope Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 Dana, If you google Eglu, you will find a ridiculously overpriced prefab plastic coop, that looks like it was designed by the folks who design Fischer Price Little People. :lol: My takeaway from looking at their coops is that it would be *very* nice to build a washable, pull-out tray into the bottom of a small coop to facilitate cleaning the floor of the nesting and perching areas. To me, that would be the most onerous part of keeping the chickens, so finding a way to make that simple would be essential. As far as insulating a coop, you could check with local folks to know whether it is needed in your area. Here's a long thread on insulating (or not) your coop: http://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=416179 Val, who has chicken envy--can't keep chickens b/c of HOA rules. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparrow Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 I had a father/daughter bonding experience building a modified version of this tractor/coop with my dad two summers ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angela in ohio Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 Ours looks a bit like this one, though our run is longer. We went through all of the plans on Backyard Chicken to design it. It has a screen door at the end of the run, so that ds can go in with the chickens, and it has a top-hinged door across one side of the coop so that we can open it and sweep out the mess. The biggest thing is to raise the coop up, because they LOVE sitting underneath it in the shade. We have six chickens right now, but we built it big enough to house twelve. We didn't insulate it, but we do put a heat bulb in there all winter. It is all contained with the chicken wire, and we have a padlocked small door to the outside for taking the eggs (the nesting boxes are at the back, and the little door opens directly into them.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momling Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 Yes! We built ours last year: http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=630584925594&set=a.630583837774.2204086.317364&theater (Let me know if you can't see the picture and I'll try again) My partner and I built it ourselves without a plan, though with lots of ideas. It cost way more than I expected, in part because we kept buying the nicest materials. Plus, it's entirely insulated. It happily houses our six chickens, who produce between 2-7 eggs/day (in the summer, usually 5-6 eggs/day, in the winter 3-4). It took us three weeks and, honestly, probably around 800$ or so to build. We are handy and not afraid of table saws... but had never done a project like it. It was very satisfying to finish and I have no issues with the design. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vida Winter Posted March 11, 2011 Author Share Posted March 11, 2011 Thank you all for the ideas! The eglu cube would be perfect (just snap it together) but too expensive. One of our problems now is having the time to build it. We're still having snowstorms and the weather is not very spring-like yet. If anyone else has a link to a plan that works please keep them coming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momling Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 I've gotten two requests to try posting the photos again. Sorry! Does this work - pasted directly into the message? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momling Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 Our coop is 4ftx4ftx4ft, raised about 2 feet above ground. There are two roosts on either side (2x4's horizontal) and 3 nesting boxes on the inside. The chickens, however, usually use one of them 90% of the time and one of them 10% of the time, so it probably wasn't necessary to have all 3. They do occasionally sleep in them though... The only design flaw was that below one of the roosts, we could put hardware cloth with the idea that the droppings would go right through it onto the ground. This isn't the case! They stuck straight to it, forming a nasty mess. We switched to a "deep litter" method (which can justify laziness...) and I now just stir up the dirty pine bedding weekly and chuck in some clean bedding on top of it. I do have a sense that the hardware cloth allows for air circulation to get to the composting litter, so maybe it's okay... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vida Winter Posted March 11, 2011 Author Share Posted March 11, 2011 (edited) I've gotten two requests to try posting the photos again. Sorry! Does this work - pasted directly into the message? ETA: Yes! It worked. What an adorable coop! Edited March 11, 2011 by Dana in OR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.