20 Free Plans for an Easy DIY Chicken Coop (2023)

FAQs

What is the cheapest way to build a chicken coop? ›

Another option is businesses, which may have leftover scrap wood or old pallets that you can use. A single 2×4 makes a perfect roost. This should be the cheapest part of your coop, honestly. As long as you have a foot apiece for each hen to call her own, the cheapest building material here is, for once, the best.

Use a trampoline, swingsets, dressers, cabinets, cribs, playhouses, pallets, armoire, cars and more.

Small chickens, like Bantam breeds, can be housed in a coop as small as two feet per chicken if they're free-range. Medium breeds like Leghorn would need three square feet of coop per chicken, while larger breeds like Plymouth Rock would need at least four square feet.

Building a coop is usually cheaper than buying one. But here's the catch: constructing an abode for your flock takes know-how, tools, and time. If you don't have these, then it makes more sense to buy — and there are many nice chicken coops for sale out there.

Large Chicken Coops (10-15 Chickens)

So, your coop needs the following amount of square feet: 11 Chickens: 22-44 square feet. 12 Chickens: 24-48 square feet.

How big should your chicken coop be? A chicken coop should be 2.5-4 square feet per chicken for chickens who have a large run, and 5-10 square feet per chicken for chickens who have a small run.

Use a naturally rot-resistant wood (like cedar, redwood, or tropical hardwoods) Choose a softwood (like Douglas fir, hemlock, spruce, or pine) and apply a nontoxic sealer or treatment. Choose a plywood designed for exterior use and stain or paint it.

Concrete

Concrete is the best floor option for a chicken coop. It is safe and prevents burrowing predators from getting into the coop. After installing the concrete, it is also low maintenance and easy to clean. You simply hose it off during the warm months using a hose or pressure washer.

Sand. Sand is an excellent addition to permanent (non-removable) coop floors that lay flush to the ground. It not only absorbs moisture and waste for easy cleanup, but it also provides material for chickens to dust bathe and scratch within.

What is the best bedding for chicken coop? ›

What is the best chicken coop bedding for healthy, happy chickens? Medium- to coarse-grained sand is the best chicken coop bedding as it's non-toxic, dries quickly, stays clean, is low in pathogens, and has low levels of dust. Sand is a much safer choice than all other bedding materials.

Winterizing the Chicken Coop

If space permits, you can generate a little bioheat with bales of hay placed under the roost or along the outer walls of the coop. To help small coops retain heat, cover them with blankets or tarps during the coldest months.

Usually, one nest box for every 4-5 hens is enough. It is not uncommon for all the hens to lay in one or two favorite nesting boxes, even when you've provided many other nesting options! These elevated nest boxes work well for this flock.

Chicken Run

Chickens, generally, will not hang out in the coop. They go into the coop to lay eggs, drink and eat, and to roost at night. The outside run is an important feature to the coop. If you have a garden, you'll want a chicken run so the chickens don't eat your garden produce and plants.

A good rule of thumb is to provide one nesting box per 4-6 hens.

Thus, a 4′ by 8′ coop would be adequate for about 8 birds. If you keep your chickens confined to the coop at all times, then you should provide 10 square feet per bird.

A chicken coop should be built on high ground to avoid flooding, mud problems, or any buildup of water and moisture. If you can not find high ground, you'll need to build an elevated coop to keep your birds dry.

A coop off the ground has increased air circulation underneath it. Not only does this help to keep the floor dry, but it may also help to regulate the temperature within the coop. The increase of airflow in the summer may help to keep the coop floor cooler.

You can build a DIY chicken coop for as little as $100. The typical cost range for a chicken coop is $300–$2,000. A large, high-end chicken coop can run $4,000 or more.

A chicken needs about 4 square-feet per bird inside the coop. That means a 10x10 coop would comfortably hold 25 birds. Remember, they also need about 10-12 inches per bird to roost on at night.

How many chickens will a 8x10 Coop hold? ›

8x10 Super Coop

This model is the perfect chicken coop for 40-45 chickens.

Cottage Style 4x6 Chicken Coop (up to 15 chickens)

A good rule of thumb is a ratio of one nesting box for every four chickens. Constructing boxes from found materials can save on costs and give character to the backyard coop. Boxes need not be square, but should be roomy enough to contain a laying hen, yet small enough to feel secure.

Many roosters can co-exsist peacefully in one pen as long as there are no hens to fight over. Don't separate the boys from each other or they might forget that they know each other and start fighting when they are re-introduced. That would guarantee you would need to re-home one of them.

Estimated space for 7 to 9 chickens.

Not all chicken coops need floors, particularly those that use the deep litter method, have soil that drains well, and are well-designed to keep out predators. However, many coops without floors allow easy access for rodents and burrowing predators, are difficult to clean, and add too much moisture to the coop.

Chemicals can leach out of treated timber. And chickens are curious – they will peck at anything. If you are keeping chickens so you know where your food came from and what went into it, metal and concrete are by far the best chicken coop materials.

Wood chips help keep the run from getting muddy, especially since we have an open section with our pergola. The hens still dig huge holes and take dust baths in there, or maybe they are also digging holes to try to escape.

The solution is to install a small, chicken-sized gate, with hinges and a latch, at the point in the pen nearest the corral. Then cut a chicken-sized opening into the corral fence. Linking the hen pen to the corral with a “Chunnel” — short for chicken tunnel — allows the birds to come and go on their own.

To build a Chicken Coop, access the Crafting Workshop. The Chicken Coop is located on the Animals tab. Level 1 has no auto feeder. Level 2 has a trough where you can place 15 Pet Food.

Should I put straw on the floor of my chicken coop? ›

Straw is one of the best materials for bedding. It has the same advantages of pine shavings and provides something for chickens to scratch and peck through. Either of these materials can be found at your local feed or farm supply store.

Straw is one of the most popular chicken coop bedding choices for northern chicken keepers. Straw is an excellent insulator, which makes it great to use during cold winter weather. Not only is it a good insulator, but it is also easy to maintain and chickens love sorting through straw!

Coarse sand (also known as builder's sand, but not the finer play sand) has become increasingly popular as a flooring in the chicken coop, and it's certainly helpful in keeping the flock cool in the summer months. Easy to maintain and a boon in keeping flies away, for the small to medium sized run it's a good option.

Should the chickens' feeders and waterers go inside the coop, or should they go outside in the run? That's a good question! Chickens need to have access to their food and water at all times when they're awake.

After you've got rid of all the bedding, scrape out all the chicken feces, cobwebs, dust, dirt, and any other materials in the coop. Using a pair of gloves and a face mask will help you from getting any dust or dirt getting into your body, especially if you have allergies.

Painting the Inside of a Chicken Coop

By painting the interior wood surfaces of a coop before adding chickens, you are helping to protect it from pesky chicken parasites.

Light Breeds

For lighter breeds, like the White Leghorn, chickens that are allowed to forage outside during the day should have at least 3 square feet per bird, so a 4′ x 8′ coop could house 10-11 birds.

8 Chickens: 16-32 square feet. 9 Chickens: 18-36 square feet. 10 Chickens: 20-40 square feet.

Inside a coop, place roosts eighteen inches or higher from the ground. Some breeds are better able to reach higher roosts and mounts may be placed as close as eighteen inches from the ceiling of the coop for larger or more agile breeds.

Craftsman 4x6 Chicken Coop (up to 15 chickens)

How big of a run do I need for 6 chickens? ›

In terms of roaming, each chicken, at a minimum, will require 15 square feet. So if you have 6 chickens, you will need around 90 square feet (6×15).

How often you should be cleaning a chicken coop? You should provide fresh food and fresh water every day, and you should clean the bedding out once a week or once a month(the deeper the bedding layer the less often you have to clean it out). It's best practice to do a total clean-out at least twice a year.

Chickens generally will only poop in the nesting boxes if they are sleeping in them at night. Often young pullets who have just been introduced to the big girls coop will try to sleep in the boxes instead of on the roosts with the older hens.

How many: You do not need a nest box for every hen, but you also don't want to provide too few boxes, which can increase the likelihood of drama in your flock and could lead to broken eggs or "yard eggs" being laid outside the nesting boxes. Usually, one nest box for every 4-5 hens is enough.

Do Chickens Need a Ramp? Chickens will need a ramp for access to the chicken coop if their chicken pop hole door is higher than ~18-24 inches above the ground (12 inches for fluffy breeds, like Silkies). If a coop has a very large pop hole door, chickens may be able to access the door at 24 inches.