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Has anyone built their own chicken coop/hutch?

celestialsdoxies

16 years ago

Need something simple. Has anyone made a chicken coop with spare wood, aside from purchasing the chicken wire?

I have many 2 x 4's, 2 x 2's, etc., a hammer and can get the wire, but that is about it. Needs to be raccoon and night time predator safe.

I am looking to build one big enough for 2 hens.

Marie

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Comments (7)

Carol_from_ny
16 years ago
Raccoon proof you'd be better off to find either one large dog kennel or two smaller ones and put a lock on them at night. The type I'm thinking of are use for travel...are mostly plastic, have wire doors and windows. You can lock them. They are easy to clean and you can move the birds inside to a garage when the temps take a dive.
annielu
16 years ago
There's a website- www.backyardchickens.com that has some very good ideas and lots of info. I have 9 chickens myself, and my son built my coop. Go on that site, there are coop ideas and some people can tell you how to make one with what you have.
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We have a 10x10 coop 3 pop doors, 4 bathroom windows (salvage), no insulated but does have siding. Wood floor coverd with shavings. The only place I use hay is in the nesting boxes. I take a pooper scooper at dinner time and scoop, always dry and clean, never smells. Clean their run the same way. No heat lamp, body heat only we live in New England also. Their perches are wide so they can cover their feet during the winter. Sun comes in windows warms the coop during the day nights they huddle. Their run is completely covered. 6 dog kennel sections wrapped in chicken wire. The wire flaps at the bottom and is covered with large size rocks. The top is also covered with double chicken wire braced with wooden slats to hold the weight of the snow. They do have a heated water dish in the coop during the winter. They have a light that comes on just before dark they go in 1/2 hr lights out. Summer doors and windows stay open all day they come and go in their run/coop. Winter just after they go in (same time every night) I close all doors and open again in morning. They have 24/7 grain/cracked corn in hanging feeders but after work they get left overs any veggie/potato/meat/pastas. I warm it in winter and in summer they get watermelon, frozen yogert. yummy. We throw nothing away. Can't figure out how to post pictures.
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Comments (7)
These actually look well thought-out and fairly strong, with an eye towards good, sensible construction when it comes to chickens. Depending on how many birds you want to get, they look fine. Some things to keep in mind--they MUST be predator proof. This means everything from rats & mice (carry disease, attracted to chicken feed and can squeeze into any space they can fit their heads into) to raccoons, skunks & possums (smart and can reach through chicken wire with their little hands and tear the backs out of birds) to the neighbor's dogs, coyotes and, depending on where you live, larger predators. NEVER buy anything with chicken wire (poultry netting)--it's designed to keep chickens out of a garden, NOT protect from predators. Both the coops you listed use hardware cloth, which is perfect--it's strong, doesn't rust and get brittle and the small holes don't allow vermin or raccoon hands to pass through. I've heard nothing but horrific stories of mass slaughter from people who wanted to save money and used chicken wire. Their regret was massive. :( For roosts we use 2x2's that we slightly sand on each edge to avoid injury and make it comfortable for the chickens' feet to grip. It works for standard breeds and bantams equally well. Branches of varying size can work too. You should be able to get to your birds no matter where they are in the run/coop (in case of illness/injury), and for cleaning the thing. They WILL poop on everything, and if it's possible for them to hurt themselves on it (wire sticking out, etc.) they'll freakin' find a way. Make plans for where they'll go when you are cleaning the coop or moving it. If it is to be their full-time home, the run should either have a hardware cloth bottom or should be anchored to the ground and hardware cloth buried at least 6 inches down and bent outwards to thwart digging predators--predators LOVE a chicken dinner and will work all night to get one. We constructed our own coop/run/nests, it was cheaper in the long run and we could design it to fit our yard & needs. Enjoy your chickens! :) Velvet ~:>
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Comments (4)
I use a mask and positive air pressure to force the dust in one direction while cleaning. I bought some old furnace squirrel cage fans from a neighbor that has a heating business (about $20. each). Cut a hole in door side of building that was about 10"x12" (the opening of the fan exhaust) and mounted the fan on the outside of building. Built a wooden box with the bottom open to protect it from weather-putting 1/4" hardware cloth over the bottom opening to keep birds from getting in there and being sucked into the fan. Then on the opposite side of coop cut an opening about 2'x2' to let the dust out again covering this opening with 1/4" hardware cloth. Both openings have a plywood hinged door (covering) that is latched closed when not in use. This made it possible to clean on a regular schedule without much of a reaction. Try to stay with the air flow coming from your backside so that dust is blowing away from you. Since using this I've not had breathing and rash problems.
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Comments (11)
My chickens and coop don't smell, even if you stick your head in the coop. Any conscientious pet owner takes regular care of their pets' needs, including cleaning up after them. Folks who let dog poop accumulate for long periods around their yards or cat boxes left uncleaned have homes or yards with bad smells. Same with chickens. It is people who totally neglect their chickens or keep more chickens than their space can handle that have "smelly" coops or chickens. Treat them well like your other pets, and they won't be smelly. If you let chickens free range, make sure you set up your yard so they stay off of patios, porches, and furniture. If they poop on that, it can get unsanitary and you'll be doing a lot of hosing down of the surfaces. Baby chicks raised in the house could potentially be smelly if you don't change the bedding a couple of times a day. They also make a lot of dust in the house. I usually clean under the roosts most days in my coop since that is where the majority of the droppings end up, but have let it go as long as a week with no real noticeable smell from the outside of the coop. Typically, I only clean the rest of the coop really thoroughly every few months. If chickens will be confined to a coop for a long cold snowy winter, an owner will need to make it extra big for them to have lots of room while they are shut in in order for them to have healthy conditions. I would recommend maybe doing more research to support your case if your husband isn't on board with chickens. www.backyardchickens.com is a really good online resource to start with where you can get all sorts of chicken questions answered. There is a large community of chicken keepers there, both rural and suburban. Here is a link that might be useful: Backyardchickens.com
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sunflrlvr
16 years ago
Marie,
Here are some sites I favor for small coops.

http://www.chickensecrets.com/info/index141.html
http://www.plamondon.com/chicken-coops.html#Intro
http://www.chicken-house.co.uk/
http://chickencoopguide.com/chickencoops/
mariend
16 years ago
We built a double chicken pen that was completly inclosed. Used redwood dug done about 2 feet, nailed chicken wire to the base, and burried it so cayotes, lynx, etc could not dig in, also made about a 6 inch barrier around the edges etc. top was heavy chicken wire. Didn't have many raccons in area.
But we did have sticky plants around edge and some animals did not like it.
mariend
16 years ago
Forgot, at night the chickens were in their house, windows covered with hardwire, again burried wire in ground deep around outside, and we could lock the door, like a doggie door from cage to house.
chrisha1
12 years ago
My wife and I built chicken hutches from recycled window frames and chicken wire. Elevate the coop on legs a foot or two and make bottom with wire so droppings fall through and predators can't get in. See pictures at our blog, http://www.echickencoopsandruns.com.

Here is a link that might be useful: DIY chicken hutches
PRO
Vinrac Wine Racks
2 years ago
Always remember to make it predator proof, chicken wire on the floor is important, also if you can around the perimeter just underneath the soil as this will stop the sneaky foxes and mice from digging in around the edges.

The other point I'd like to make is that quite often (unless you really want to do it yourself) the cost to build one from scratch is more expensive that purchasing a coop through a company that ships them.

Not just in materials but also in time and tools that you may need to go purchase. If you've got all the tools and some excess building materials around the yard, then sure it might be worthwhile - there's some good info here:

https://www.coopsandcages.com.au/chickens/chicken-coops/

These guys give you a fairly accurate guide on comparing the DIY or ready to assemble chicken coops.

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