Search Chicken Coop on Pinterest and a wide array of pins pop up. Coops in a variety of sizes, shapes, colors, and materials are in no short supply. There are pins with directions on how to convert a backyard shed into a chicken coop, and design plans for how to build a chicken tractor (Look it up! It’s not what you think it is.). You can even order ready-made coops online from many different farms, hatcheries, and retailers like Amazon and Wayfair. Just a warning, they aren’t cheap.
I had been researching chicken coop designs and functions for several years now. This isn’t our first time raising chickens as I’ve mentioned before, but from our first experience, we definitely learned what NOT to do. When we were ready to raise chickens again, I wanted to make sure we were doing it right!
My husband often finds me at Home Depot or our local hardware store showing some unexpected captive pictures of our coop. It’s become pretty hilarious. These poor souls are usually just guilty of asking me what project I am working on. In return I end up bombarding them with information about coop doors and nesting box sizes. The term “crazy chicken lady” exists for people like me!
Features and Design
Once our chicks were purchased and on their way to us, the clock began ticking. We knew that meant we had about 6 weeks to get the coop & chicken run built. That’s about the length of time chicks are in the brooder before moving outside. Luckily for my husband, I had a Pinterest Board designated to chicken coops! Although, I don’t think he saw it that way.
Safe & Sound
Our first coop years ago was home build. We had no idea what we were doing. We slapped some plywood together and hinged a couple doors on for easy access. In front of the coop, we made a run by wrapping some chicken wire in a circle and zip tying it to some metal fence posts that we stuck into the ground. Easy right?
Well, easy ended up not being safe. We lived in the mountains in Utah at the time. There were many predators that roamed our yard at night. By some bit of luck, we only ended up losing one hen. The chicken door to our coop was made of flimsy 1/4-inch plywood and the roosts (which they sleep on at night) ran right next to the door on the latch side.
We woke up one morning to white feathers and chicken parts scattered around the yard. Mel told me to keep the boys inside and away from the windows while he cleaned things up. Our Leghorn Chicken, Houdini, was missing from the coop. She’d earned her name by being the first to escape from the brooder and each modification we made of the coop. The raccoon prints in the dirt and the cracked corner of the chicken door told this sad story though. We learned a painful lesson that day.
Chickens are most vulnerable at night. Humans frequent the backyard in the daytime which can keep cats, dogs, hawks, and foxes away. After dusk, hens instinctively roost for the night. Sleepy hens are too scared to move to a safer location after dark which makes them easy targets for nighttime predators like raccoons, opossums, skunks, weasels, and coyotes to name a few. Also, Chickens do not have night vision so they wouldn’t know the difference between you and a hungry raccoon popping in.
Predator Proofing
Using Hardware Cloth instead of Chicken Wire is my first recommendation for good predator proofing. Chicken Wire is fine for keeping chickens in somewhere, but it isn’t actually good at keeping anything out. It’s flimsy enough that a raccoon or skunk can spread open the holes with their nimble fingers. Hardware Cloth is thicker, tougher, and has much smaller openings.
If your coop isn’t easily visible, or you don’t go into your backyard often, then I highly suggest you bury that Hardware Cloth down and out 6 inches on all sides of your chicken coop and run. Taking a one foot-wide strip of it, bending it like an L down the middle, and burying it along the sides will keep predators from digging under the run to get to the unsuspecting hens. I highly recommend this method if you’re a first-time chicken raiser. Here’s a great example.
We chose not to do that this time only because we built this coop like Fort Knox. Seriously, nothing is getting into that Hen House. In Southern California we use our backyard year-round. We are out back most of the day when the girls are in the run. We will be using something else around the sides of the coop. I’ll talk more about that in another post.
Birds of Prey
It’s a good idea to have a roof so some kind over your chicken run. Open air runs seem like a good idea, but unfortunately all you’re doing is serving up chicken dinner in a basket to a hawk or other winged predator. There’s also the elements to consider. An unexpected downpour can spoil their food if it doesn’t dry out. Not to mention there’s a whole list of illnesses chickens can get from wild birds dropping poo into the run as they fly over.
Fresh Air
The hen house part of the chicken coop will need fresh air and ventilation, all while keeping predators at bay. This can be tricky. Doors and windows are cute, but too many or too large of ones will leave your flock vulnerable.
Did you know that raccoons can fit through an opening as small as 3 inches? They practically turn themselves into liquid to get where they want. It’s crazy! We decided to go with 2 1/2-inch vents instead of windows for this reason. We also covered the vents with hardware cloth to keep egg stealing rats out at night.
Whatever you choose, make sure you have enough ventilation to not only let fresh air in, but the ammonia vapors out. Yes, chickens’ poop where they sleep and chickens, like all birds don’t actually pee. They don’t have a urethra so instead they coat their feces with uric acid as they poo. That’s probably more information that you were expecting here but knowing the needs of your hens or any pets you have is the first step of responsible pet ownership. Plus, with chickens, you’d better get used to their poo!
Optional Features
Once you’ve narrowed down the features you absolutely need, you can start shopping for or designing your coop. With your list of must haves in hand, you can search online for other optional features. Do you want your hen house to have a ramp? What kind? Does the ramp need a landing porch? Will your coop be on concrete, grass, or dirt? If it’s not on a concrete slab, you’ll need to raise it up to keep the wood flooring from rotting allowing access for predators. How high do you want your chicken run to be? Do you want to be able to stand inside to clean it, or will a short one with a hinged top do? How many nesting boxes and roosts do you need?
These are just some of the optional features you will need to consider when choosing the best chicken coop for your flock.
In my next post, I’ll be sharing the completed design of our new coop, and giving you more information for to help you choose the best coop for your flock.