Hello,
I am looking to see if anyone has any designs for, or has built, backyard chicken coops. I know there are a bagillion available online, however there is the being able to pick the brain of someone who has completed one before.
Thanks
Gaib
I built my own from scratch, not from design. I don’t know how much help I can be, but I’ll see if I can answer any questions.
Automated chicken coops are occasionally discussed on the Arduino forum…
https://www.google.com/search?q=coop+site:forum.arduino.cc%2Findex
Which occasionally leads to well documented projects like these…
http://www.electrichen.co.uk/
And subprojects like this…
I have seen a lot of “just build it” blogs, but I am personally not that familiar with coops to know what are good and bad ideas. Can you describe the basics of yours? As for specific questions: did you seal it, insulate it, and what did you do for the roof?
That is pretty, but currently I just want to get the coop built. I have Zero experience with either Arduino or Raspberry Pi, but I would like to automated the coop in the future. Definitely going to keep this around for ideas.
Chickens aren’t really very picky about where they live. I only kept about a dozen at once. The coop I built was basically just a box on stilts made of 1/2" plywood on a 2x4 frame. I built a box of 12 nesting boxes with a base big enough to prevent it from falling over but small enough so that I could get it out the door. On the far end I put several rows of sticks going up at about a 45 degree angle as chickens like to roost at night. I made it so that I could scatter wood shavings on the floor and still have enough room to rake them out now and then to clean the coop. Since I also had a fenced in yard I made a couple of small doors leading out of the coop to the yard with a stick ramp from each. I drilled a couple of rows of holes 1/2" or so at the top and bottom of the north and south side for extra ventilation. I made the whole thing just big enough for me to go inside comfortably thru a plywood door at the end so I could collect eggs and tend any chickens that needed. It was probably about a foot off of the ground. The roof was just sheet metal roofing with a little overhang so the chickens had a little shelter from the rain. It was angled at about a 30 degree angle for the rain to run off.
If I had to build another one it would probably be similar ONLY I might put another big door so that I could rake it out a little easier when needed and I would make the fencing way tougher than chicken wire. I lost all the chickens because we had raccoons break in through the fence and kill a couple of chickens every time. The design above that closes the doors automatically at night would be great as raccoons, owls, and other animals get in at night if the chickens aren’t closed in at night.
Not to be a spoil sport, but some cities don’t allow keeping “farm animals” - as long as your neighbors are cool and no morning crowing, probably not a problem. But if there’s a complaint it’s a code enforcement violation.
Ok, change all my above comments to “how to build a dog house.”
2 Likes
My experience was in San Antonio, which definitely allowed backyard flocks in the city limits, although there were regulations that specified how many could be kept at what distance away from a house and different numbers that could be kept in combination with rabbits.
My building skills are near zero, so the coops I made were chicken arks - easy to build, easy to move; and a box-on-stilts style using galvanized connectors for the angles.
Structurally they worked fine, but no coop is critter-proof. Everything eats chicken, even other chickens.
Perhaps this is why everything tastes like chicken?
3 Likes
And snakes eat the eggs and can get in almost anywhere. If you start finding eggs shells around suspect a chicken snake.
You asked about insulation. I had Rhode Island Reds which are pretty good in the winter and I have lots of shade in the summer so I didn’t bother insulating. If it was really cold at night I ran a sunlamp in the coop to help them stay warm.
I didn’t bother insulating, but then I was in San Antonio. Chickens are remarkably hardy.
I live in grapevine and hens are a non-issue here. Roosters however, break the noise ordinance but luckily I (and by that I mean my GF) don’t want breed chickens.
I built one previously that was basically a square on stilts, like the “ark” on described by @Terrence.
The powers that be, aka GF, decided that without insulation the hens needed to be brought in if it dropped below freezing (converted XL dog cage in the garage). I personally would like to avoid that fiasco, hence building a new coop.
If a good how to & wiring diagrams are available in @Brian’s reply, then I will probably go with something similar. Looks like overkill but keeping the predators out is always a good plan.
I had to look it up for Southlake, but it appears that each household with <1ac can have up to 6 fowl.
Does the new ordinance change the numbers of hens, other fowl and small animals that I can have on my property?
No. The existing provision, which will remain in effect, allows no more
than six (6) fowl within the City limits, which will remain in effect.
I’m actually quite surprised that it is allowed at all in the city limits, given our overly-authoritarian nanny state.
1 Like
I’m surprised too, but I’m guessing chickens typically outlawed there via homeowners association bylaws?
Fortunately, we have no HOA. Hurrah! No additional layers of bureaucracy.
1 Like
I build a “Chicken Tractor” which is a mobile chicken coup. The nice thing about a chicken tractor is that you can move it around the yard so the chickens won’t completely destroy your grass in any one spot.
I used PVC pipes, 1/2 inch hardware cloth, 3/8" plywood and a couple of 5" wheels to build an “A frame” style movable coup.
1 Like
The 1/2" hardware cloth, while it cost more will keep most predators out.
1 Like
Yeah, I started out with standard chicken wire, and a raccoon reached thru and dismembered a couple of birds. 1/2 hardware cloth cured that issue.
1 Like
I have a copy of Chicken Coops - 45 Building Ideas for Housing Your Flock. I’ll bring it to the DMS on Thursday, 3 Dec if you’d like to take a look at it. Perhaps you can draw inspiration from it.
Ask around for Mike Churchill between 6pm and perhaps midnight.