Michelle My Bell Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 I want to build a chicken coop for about 5 chickens for my backyard. I have never built anything and therefore I am terrified. I would love to see your chicken coops, and get inspired. Tell me how you got it. Did you build it? Was it built by someone else? Tell me your stories. By the way this is for my urban backyard. Michelle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tutor Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 Here are plans for a very basic, portable coop. Mother Earth News had plans for a wooden, portable coop, but I can't find it now (my dh called it a glorified wheelbarrow). I'll be interested to see other's pictures. We are hoping to hatch eggs this spring to study chick development and we are hoping our landlord will allow us to keep some chickens. ETA: Ugh. The margins are off, so the article is a bit difficult to read, but you can at least get an idea of the design. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tammy Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 but I only have 2 chickens to house. I went to my local feed store and bought a coop.....it wasn't that expensive (I think about $100). I figured by the time I bought the stuff....and tried to figure out how to build it.....well....I could buy one just as cheap, LOL! Good luck to you! . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Country Mouse Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 I have three banties that live in a rabbit hutch I bought at a pet store. It has a door that folds out into a platform they can walk up and down. They are in a large dog run. Have you been to www.backyardchickens.com? They have a gazillion coop designs and lots of advice for keeping a small flock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myfunnybunch Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 Our portable chicken coop was built by my loving husband, who hasn't built anything since high school woodshop: Chicken coop at Poohsticks At the bottom of the blog post, there's here's a link to the plan he used. Cat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remudamom Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 This will only help if you already have a building, but here goes. This used to be my chicken house when I had near to 400 birds. Now it's a tack building for the horse stuff. When I decided to get chickens again we set up the corner below, which was the "nursery". I used to put my babies in here. It's big enough to hold my 8 banties and my two guineas. Here it is. It's just the corner wired off into a smaller room. Walls are made of chicken wire all the way to the top. There is a little chicken door that you can't see that leads outside. When you open it it makes a little ramp for the chickens to walk up and down. Big door for me to get in. The ugly old freezer holds all sorts of chicken/horse/cat/dog food to keep the mice out. So do you have something you could convert? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texascamps Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 Our portable chicken coop was built by my loving husband, who hasn't built anything since high school woodshop:Chicken coop at Poohsticks At the bottom of the blog post, there's here's a link to the plan he used. Cat I just bookmarked your site, to show my husband. I had seen a large portable coop that was just made from hurricane fencing, but here where it snows we need something to protect from falling snow....Yours looks like it fills the bill. I would love to have one of those fancy Victorian jobs on backyardchickens.com but I want to be able to move my coop around my yard for bug eating, more... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle My Bell Posted March 5, 2009 Author Share Posted March 5, 2009 Wow, thanks for all those ideas. Actually, my favorite is the big metal barn. I have a detached garage I could use in this way. It actually has a window that I could use for the chickens to come in and out of. This might be better for winter however because it could be too hot in the summer unless I kept the door open all day. Keep the pictures coming. I know there are more chicken owners out there! Michelle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 Some chicken-loving animals will easily dig under a coop that has a dirt floor. I had a fox who sat by one of my runs for a good part of an afternnon trying to decide what to do, and was very dissapointed when I opened the run and my chicks ran back to the concrete-floored barn for the evening. A secure floor will help keep your chicks from being snacks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kokotg Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 We bought a pre-made hutch (this one: http://www.rabbitmart.com/shop/index.php?page=shop-flypage-16948 ) and then bought a chain link dog kennel off craigslist. Not the cheapest solution, but we weren't very confident in our carpentry skills. So we have a 6 by 10 foot dog pen and the hutch inside it, and then aviary netting over the top with a tarp over part of it. Then we put hardware cloth around the bottom half (so nothing could reach through the chain link and grab the chooks) and covering all gaps. And then we put cinder blocks all around the outside to keep animals from digging in. The whole thing is also in our backyard, which is enclosed by a 6 foot wooden fence, so it's sort of an extra layer of protection. We've never had any trouble with predators (knock wood). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remudamom Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 Michelle, I don't know how your chickens would use a window for a door, but it was easy for dh to cut a hole in my wall and attach a ramp/door. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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