How to Build the Perfect Chicken Coop

Archicoopture /ˈärkəˌko͞op SHər/

noun

1. the art or practice of designing and constructing chicken coops.

Full disclosure, that is a word of my own making. But it really has become “a thing.” The simple notion of a chicken coop has morphed into a statement of personal style and ingenuity.  A short perusal of Backyard Chickens is all one needs to see the endless variety and inventiveness in housing even the smallest flock of birds.  Clearly, there is no right or wrong to coop design.  But having combed through countless examples online and in person, plus having lived with the pros and cons of my own chicken house for three years, I think I can offer a worthy summation of the most important features to include in one’s own backyard Archicoopture:

-          Make it easy to clean.  Seems obvious but having a wide access point set precisely at wheel barrow height and width will make your future coop cleaning so much more pleasant and quick.  Lining the coop floor and nesting boxes with vinyl flooring material will also have you thanking yourself for such forethought.

-          Make it easy to control airflow. Aside from permanently open, screened air vents at roof level, your birds will likely need some degree of “air conditioning” on warm days, and heat containment on cold ones.  In addition to their fun design potential, doors and operable screened windows will help keep your flock healthy by enabling better management of temperature and weather extremes.  Windows also provide more light which means more eggs!

-          Make it deep enough to hold several inches of pine shavings.  Especially in colder climates, you’ll want those shavings to build up, meaning your bird’s entrance and nesting boxes should be raised several inches above the coop floor.

-          Make sure you have enough height for one or more roosting bars where your girls will like to sleep; that they are removable for easier cleaning; and that they are placed higher than the nesting boxes so those aren’t used for anything other than egg laying (another pro tip to keep your cleaning chores to a minimum).

-          Make sure you include enough nesting boxes, at least 1 for every 2-3 chickens.  They should also be accessible to you from the outside to enable easier egg collection.  And your nesting box design should include a slanted roof for the same reason as noted above (to deter lingering, because, well, chickens tend to poop a lot when they stay in the same place).

Here’s a just-built front view of my coop before being moved into place and stained. The base height of the coop is precisely at wheel barrow level, and the double doors in front open completely for easy cleaning.

From this angle you can see the nesting box section on the left. The nesting box roof can be raised (see the hinges?) to access the inside. We also hinged the vertical back wall of the nesting box section so it flips down for easy cleaning.

Here are my peeps newly installed in their coop. This inside view shows how the nesting boxes are raised higher than the floor to hold in plenty of shavings. It looks like quite a jump up to the nesting area for the girls at this stage, but trust me, they get a lot bigger!

Here’s an evening peek inside at my “Board of Directors” from the nesting box end of the coop. They like to sleep together on the roosting bar, which despite their collective weight (see how it bows?), still hasn’t broke after 3 years.

And finally, here’s one of my favorite shots of the finished coop. The front windows are propped open for air flow, and screened with hardware cloth as well to protect the birds. So glad I included the window box for decoration. Always makes me smile.