How To Build A Small Chicken Coop

If you are interested in how to build a small chicken coop and don’t want to spend a boat-load of cash like everyone else, then you will find this blog post interesting because I was in your shoes not long ago.

The key to not spending hundred of dollars is in doing proper planning before you begin. This is because the fewer mistakes you make, the cheaper your build will be.

I have found that one of the best places to begin is with a complete guide that has details on everything you need on how to build a small chicken coop including cost saving ideas.

Using the guide on how to build a small chicken coop, I was able to get about 80% of my construction supplies free from just scouting around my backyard, garage and talking to neighbors about giving me stuff they did not need – especially old wood and plastic buckets to build simple feeders.

>> Click here for a guide on how to build a small chicken coop <<

How To Build A Small Chicken Coop And Save On Feeders And Waterers

If you really want to save big, then you want to consider not just how to save on your construction materials like wood for the structure, but also some of the important items are waterers, feeders, nesting boxes and flooring materials.

1. Feeders:
Here are a few samples of home made feeders that have been used by creative folks to save a bunch of money by using some simple items you find around the home.

How To Build A Small Chicken Coop Home Made Feeder	How To Build A Small Chicken Coop Home Made Feeder
How To Build A Small Chicken Coop Home Made Feeder	How To Build A Small Chicken Coop Home Made Feeder

The cost to build any of these is absolutely ZERO!

2. Waterers:
Here are a few samples of home made waterers that have been used by creative folks to save a bunch of money by using some simple items you find around the home.

How To Build A Small Chicken Coop Home Made Waterer

Once again, the cost to build any of these is absolutely ZERO! NADA!

So now that you can see how easy it is to start a hobby keeping chickens and may be you can get to enjoy some organic eggs from your own backyard and avoid uncle sam’s restrictions on what you can eat or keep in your yard, let me show you some good resources to get ideas on how to put everything together.

How To Build A Small Chicken Coop: Resources

If you have been looking around on the internet you will realize that there is a world of information and sometimes you never know what actually works until you try it. So rather than waste your time with that, here are two resources I’ve used to learn how to “cut corners” and so have other chicken enthusiasts too.

1. How To Build A Chicken Coop EBook

This is a great book that will provide you with lots of plans on how to build a small chicken coop. It also includes ideas on how to save on the construction materials as well as the feeder and waterers.

It also includes very detailed step-by-step instructions on the construction, all the factors you need to consider before you decide on exactly what size of chicken coop you need and a wealth of information on how to take care of chicks and chicken.

Before you build a chicken coop, keep in mind that even if you start with a small folk, the chicken will lay eggs and if those end up hatching to chicks, then your flock will grow. I know this first hand and so I ended up expanding my orginal one.

That is okay but looking back now, I’d rather have started with a medium chicken coop. The good thing about this guide is that it has designs that cover from 1 chicken to 50 or more. It’s all up to you.

2. Chicken DIY Guides – Easy Step-By-Step Instructions

A lot of chicken enthusiasts have also used this guide as it is geared to how to build a chicken coop with easy step-by-step instructions.

What I like most about it is that it is geared towards clever designs that are easy to build and therefore yo don’t have to worry if you are not much of a carpenter or handyman or handy-woman.

It also comes with a video library that you can watch some of the easy steps to building your chicken coop.

It will teach you everything you need on how to build a small chicken coop and it has scalable designs too so you can grow with your design.

Here are some other interesting blog posts:

Plans To Build A Chicken Coop

Ready for your new hobby? Wait a minute! Before you start putting together your plans to build a chicken coop, it is important that you consider some of the important items that will need to go into the chicken coop.

This is crucial because it determines the size of the chicken coop you need to build to make sure your birds are comfortable and stay healthy. It will also make it very easy for you to perform the various chores you need to perform such as cleaning out their droppings and taking care of the chicks and chickens.

Whether you intend to start out with baby chicks or chicken, you have to adequately prepare them for their life in your backyard.

Here is a list of things and supplies you need to buy and make sure they properly fit into your chicken coop.

If you are looking for plans to build a chicken coop that takes everything into account and accommodates all the things you need, you can try the guide on plans to build a chicken coop. My neighbors and I have used it and found it to be quite sufficient.

Have plans to build a chicken coop?

Here Are 6 Items You Need To Get For Your Chicken:

1. Waterer and Feeder

The best type of waterer you can get are those that automatically refill so you do not have to worry about your chicks or chickens everyday when they have already moved to their coop.

Make sure that the design is suitable in such a way that they can not poo in the drinking trough and that they can not overturn it. The same holds true for the feeder, make sure they can not overturn it as well.

This means that it should be a bit heavy especially if you plan to start out with full grown chickens.

2. Food

Although chicken can eat a wide variety of foods in the garden or yard, it is recommended to start with chicken feed. It is the easiest to buy since they are regularly available at pet stores and farm supplies and are of the complete mix of vitamins, minerals, proteins, carbohydrates and fat that baby chicks need.

You have a choice of organic and conventional types and when your chickens start laying eggs there is also a layer feed available for them.

You’ll be able to feed the chickens some of your left-over scraps from your food like certain veggies and fruits. You can get that info from the plans to build a chicken coop guide.

3. Scratch

Scratch, a mixture of corn, wheat, oats and rye, is considered a treat for chickens. You usually just throw scratch on the ground for them to peck at. However scratch should not be a regular part of their diet as it does not contain all of the nutrients they need. It is meant to be part of their diet and not their sole diet.

You can also get this premixed at your local pet stores and farm supplies or you can get the individual ingredients and use some ratio to mix them up to come up with a good mixture.

>> Click here to try the plans to build a chicken coop <<

4. Grit

Chickens do not have teeth and they need something else like sand or gravel which they store in their crop to help them digest their food. You can mix grit with their feed or put it in a special container for easy access.

Don’t worry about getting your chickens sick as their digestive systems can handle this. Just be careful about how much you actually give them

Many folks prefer to just have it laying around somewhere on the floor and near their feed so they get to take what they need as part of their natural consumption for digestive purposes.

5. Bedding

Bedding keeps your chickens happy and healthy. It provides a soft surface for chickens to walk on as well as absorb droppings and odor. The nesting boxes should also have bedding so that the eggs will not break when they land on the nest floor. The best recommended bedding is pine wood shavings and should be at least 1-inch thick.

Normally, you can get these free if you go to a local woodworking shop where they work with pine to build furniture or just buy from your local farming supplies shop.

6. Dust Baths

If you plan to let out your chicken from their coop then you don’t need to prepare a dust bath for them. If they would remain in the coop all throughout then you need a box about 10 to 12 inches high filled with 6” thick of equal parts ashes, road dust, sand and loose earth.

Chickens love to take dust baths because this is their way of preventing parasites like mites and lice from finding a home in their feathers and legs.

If you are worried about predators when your chicken are out, then a great way to handle this is to incorporate a simple fence structure as part of your chicken coop.

You can get some great ideas on how to do this from the guide with plans to build a chicken coop.

Here are some other interesting blog posts:

Small Chicken Coop Plans

The key to finding the right small chicken coop plans is by doing some due diligence to fully understand exactly what “small” is for your personal needs.

If you want to build a small chicken coop then you want to be sure that all the important needs of the chicken are taken care of and will fit in your chicken coop comfortably.

In the building a chicken coop guide, I found good advice and help on some of the important things you must consider including how many feeders and waterers I needed, the right nest boxes for my chicken, and how to properly position my chicken coop to keep the chicken comfortable in all weather conditions.

If you want to plan out your build in the right way with a step-by-step guide, I recommend that you try the building a chicken coop guide which includes several small chicken coop plans.

>> click here to try small chicken coop plans and guides <<

Construction Materials For Small Chicken Coop Plans

You are now ready to buy your construction materials and supplies. To save on expenses, it is recommended that you shop for your chicken coop building supplies from second hand shops. You never know the kind of bargain you will be able to find in these shops.

Check the chicken coop plan you have decided on (I used the building a chicken coop guide and got a list of materials) and copy the list of materials of the plan. If you will have less than 4 chickens in the coop, ensure the size of the coop is sufficient but for future expansion purposes and to preclude building another coop after a year or two, it may be best to double (or triple) the original size of the chicken coop.

Make sure that all of the basics are taken care of before you buy a single piece of lumber.

If you got good advice to use used lumber in building your chicken coop, then one of the problems you’ll face is getting them all in the same lengths – don’t worry, you can always cut them to size but bear in mind that the shortest piece you should get should also be the dimensions of the smallest piece in the chicken coop plan that you have chosen to avoid unnecessary joints.

I strongly advice that you first check around your backyard or garage before you go out and buy some lumber. I also checked with a couple of my neighbors and asked if they may have any old wood or wood structures that they were thinking of demolishing. I managed to save almost half my lumber costs by helping an old lady clear out her yard for free and I got the free lumber.

How to choose your lumber pieces:

Choose wood pieces that are bigger or longer than the actual dimensions specified (you need to sand them clean yet) which means they’ll become a little bit smaller.
Choose lumber that you can cut in half to make two equal pieces of the same length.
Don’t worry about the cracks in the wood, the age of the wood guarantees that they are dry and will not split.

Buy as much as you need that are available in the second hand shop, you’ll discover what a bargain (not to mention fun) it is to build your backyard chicken coop.

You can also read about some of the other posts on how to build a simple chicken coop and how to build a cheap chicken coop.

There are many more great tips you should know of in the building a chicken coop downloadable ebook if you want to get small chicken coop plans and how to build them cheap.

Here are some other interesting blog posts:

How To Build A Cheap Chicken Coop

If you want to learn how to build a cheap chicken coop, then you need to plan ahead so that you get a good idea of where exactly you can save money by avoiding unnecessary material purchases.

Just because you want to build a cheap chicken coop does not mean that you should end up with a cheap looking one or one that is unsturdy. Actually, if you get the most important things right, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at what you can build.

Before you begin building a chicken coop, the very first thing to do is survey the area where you plan to put the chicken coop. Decide whether you plan to build a chicken coop that will be portable (movable), semi-permanent or fixed.

Regardless of the type of backyard chicken coop you will build for your chickens, you have to make sure that you provide them with the best available comfort, cleanliness and security since this is where your flock will sleep and lay their eggs. This is very important. This is where your chickens will eat and sleep. The right planning in the beginning saves you from a lot of headaches down the road.

Your coop will also need to keep them safe from potential predators. It is possible to buy a pre-made chicken coop and that is a good option for you if you have the money and don’t have the time to build one on your own. I tried this option at first but the cost was just ridiculous to me and I decided that I needed to build one myself.

Actually, since I have had mine for a few months now, I have expanded because my chicken laid eggs, eggs hatched with no problem and now I have seven chicks. All natural!

I was glad that I got a comprehensive guide on how to build a cheap chicken coop, and all I had to do was review some of the plans and expand my original one.

You’ll want to think about this too before you start building your hen house.

>> Click here to try the guide on how to build a cheap chicken coop <<

How To Build A Cheap Chicken Coop:

Pre-Planning and Site Selection Basics

Choose The Right Plan and Design: It’s important that you discuss with your family about how many chickens you plan to have and then choose the right plan and design. That way you already have an idea as to how big the chicken coop should be and what type you would build.
Feeders And Waterers: Once you know how many chickens you plan to keep, then you want to allocate 4 chickens per feeder and waterer.
Nest Boxes: You should build the nest boxes at the same time you build the chicken coop to save time and money as they can be easily integrated into the chicken coop design.
Location And Position: You want to strategically position your chicken coop depending on whether its is semi-permanent or a fixed chicken coop. Make sure that the area will have the right amount of sunlight and is not directly in the direction of the wind with predator threats kept to a minimum. Also consider how you will clean it and how to get rid of the waste (manure).

All these factors will enable you to come up with a comprehensive plan on what you need to get and then you can look around your backyard or garage and see what you can use for some of the construction materials before you run off to the hardware store.

You can also read about how to build a small chicken coop by clicking here.

I got these and a lot more tips from the building a chicken coop guide. It does a great job of explaining everything and guides you on how to build a cheap chicken coop.

Here are some other interesting blog posts:

How To Build A Simple Chicken Coop

If you are excited to start a new hobby of raising chickens and you want to learn how to build a simple chicken coop, there are a few things that you should consider before you rush off to the hardware store.

It is always a good idea to think things through and have a plan laid out on what you are going to do in a step-by-step process. At least that’s what I had to do in order to get my project done in one weekend.

I didn’t know that there were some key things to consider until I actually got some real help with building my chicken coop.

It took me a while just reading through forums on the internet and I ended up getting this wonderful downloadable book on how to build a simple chicken coop which was exactly what I was looking for.

Here are some of the provisions I think you need to think about before you begin.

Some Tips On How To Build A Simple Chicken Coop:

Chickens are like any other animal and just as you would care for your dog, you should take good care of your chickens which includes making sure they stay in good physical shape, content and happy.

You want to make sure that your chicken coop is predator-proof from all sides. Make sure that all openings are protected with the correct size of wire mesh – 15mm square so that predators can not reach inside the coop!
Make sure that the area surrounding the coop is protected with wire-mesh fencing with the base buried at least 30cm below ground level to prevent foxes and rats from burrowing into the area. Rats would especially be drawn into the area because of chicken droppings.
Make sure the coop is well ventilated (but not directly in the flow of air) to prevent respiratory diseases. Although chickens can stand cold weather they can not withstand being in the direct path of the wind.
Make sure the coop is easy to clean. This takes care of keeping them healthy and keeping diseases out.
You should provide roosting poles for your birds because that is where they sleep! Make sure that there is adequate spacing so they don’t crowd out one another.
Put 1 nest box for every 4 or 5 birds in a dark corner of the coop to encourage your chickens to lay eggs. Nest boxes should be a little bit off the floor but lower than the roosting pole inside.
Make sure the coop is roomy enough for the birds to roam around when they are inside, at least 4 square feet per bird.
There should be a waterer and feeder inside the chicken coop.
For easy disposal of droppings, place a removable plastic tray under the roosting poles.

Those are just a few of the considerations to think about when deciding how to build a simple chicken coop.

If you are having trouble with putting everything together, you might want to do what I did and just get help from someone that had already done it well and documented the process in a step-by-step process. Believe me. When you have clear and concise instructions, its just a breeze.

I got a copy of a guide called Building A Chicken Coop by Bill Keene. This was pretty much the answer to all of the questions I had about where to begin and how to get things organized.

It is laid out in a straight forward way where it simply almost guarantees that you cannot go wrong. I even had my 8 year old son help me with the construction since it was so easy and turned out to be lots of fun.

Building A Chicken Coop: Pros

You will enjoy a well written with clear and detailed instructions guide that leaves absolutely nothing out. Even if you are a beginner like I was, you will not get frustrated.
You will be able to plan out your build using the plans to start with as small as 1 chicken to as many as 50 chickens. You will be able to grow and expand your chicken coop as the number of chickens you have increase so you don’t have to worry about buying some more plans later. (I already expanded mine after just 3 months.)
You get a lot of flexibility in the materials you can use so the cost ends up being very cheap if you can use some of the materials you already have laying around in your backyard. Following the expert tips, you’ll be surprised at what materials you can use from around the house.
You will get some cool tips on how to decide where to place your chicken coop for the birds to be happy. This keeps your chickens warm in even the coldest of climates.

Building A Chicken Coop: Cons

There is a lot of material to take in if you decide to go at it all at once. You should simply follow the guide step by step and go out there and get it done. I suggest that you print out just the plan you need and go out to your backyard and start laying it out. You’ll be surprised how fast it all comes together.

Before I got my copy of this guide to learn how to build a simple chicken coop, I searched quite a bit online because I wanted a comprehensive guide that I just buy once and get everything that I need from one place. I kinda like saving money!

The bonuses I got were pretty cool too. Here are a few that you might be interested in and they are all included in the guide.

How To Best Position Your Chicken Coop: This one will surprise you because it takes into consideration some obvious things such as the general direction of the wind, where you place the chicken coop to keep it warmest or coolest depending on your climate.
How To Build Nesting Boxes For Free Out of Common Materials: I built mine out of wood shavings that I had around from my last carpentry project. Didn’t spend a dime on this.
The Best Materials For The Ground: These are pretty easy to get and go along way in keeping your chickens happy. We enjoy watching them take dust baths.
The Cheapest Materials To Build Your Coop

Here’s what some other chicken enthusiasts are saying about the guide:

…If you are considering keeping chickens in your back yard, you must read this book. Whether you have a tiny courtyard or acres to play with, Keene’s advice will stand you in good stead and help you build the right chicken coop. The focus of the book is on being well-prepared for your flock before they even arrive. Keene ensures that you consider every issue before you spend a cent on birds, feed or equipment. He discusses which species is appropriate for your garden, what they should eat and, as the title suggests, how you should house them. Anyone with basic do-it-yourself tools and a patch of land could follow his instructions. The drawings and diagrams are easy to interpret and the lists of materials and tools needed are very helpful. Keene also appreciates that the value of using recycled materials in your chicken coop – cheap and environmentally friendly. Keene encourages responsible husbandry – his reminder of tasks to be completed weekly, monthly and sixth monthly should be replicated onto the calendar of any careful poultry keeper. The level of detail is just right, from a list of the color of the egg you might expect from you hen to a description of healthy hen’s poop! If you follow his tips, your happy hens will be very productive. Next we need a cookbook for ideas to use up all the spare eggs…

Tracyann – Amateur Chicken Farmer – Devon, United Kingdom

You can also read about how to build a cheap chicken coop by or small chicken coop plans.

I recommend this guide if you want to learn how to build a simple chicken coop and do it in one weekend without worrying whether you are doing the wrong thing or not.

Build A Chicken Coop

How To Build A Small Chicken Coop

How To Build A Small Chicken Coop

>> Click here for a guide on how to build a small chicken coop <<

How To Build A Small Chicken Coop And Save On Feeders And Waterers

How To Build A Small Chicken Coop: Resources

1. How To Build A Chicken Coop EBook

2. Chicken DIY Guides – Easy Step-By-Step Instructions

Here are some other interesting blog posts:

Plans To Build A Chicken Coop

Plans To Build A Chicken Coop

Have plans to build a chicken coop?

Here Are 6 Items You Need To Get For Your Chicken:

>> Click here to try the plans to build a chicken coop <<

Here are some other interesting blog posts:

Small Chicken Coop Plans

Small Chicken Coop Plans

>> click here to try small chicken coop plans and guides <<

Construction Materials For Small Chicken Coop Plans

How to choose your lumber pieces:

Here are some other interesting blog posts:

How To Build A Cheap Chicken Coop

How To Build A Cheap Chicken Coop

>> Click here to try the guide on how to build a cheap chicken coop <<

How To Build A Cheap Chicken Coop:

Here are some other interesting blog posts:

How To Build A Simple Chicken Coop

How To Build A Simple Chicken Coop

Some Tips On How To Build A Simple Chicken Coop:

Building A Chicken Coop: Pros

Building A Chicken Coop: Cons

The bonuses I got were pretty cool too. Here are a few that you might be interested in and they are all included in the guide.

Here’s what some other chicken enthusiasts are saying about the guide:

Addional Info On How To Build A Simple Chicken Coop

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