Chicken Coop Build Guidelines

Before you start building a chicken coop, it's important to know what makes a good chicken coop. A coop is going to be the home for your chickens and chickens have needs. A chicken coop without key features will negatively affect your chickens including their health and mental well-being. Your chicken coop needs to server both your needs and your chickens needs.

Size

Obviously, the first thing to consider when building a chicken coop is how many chickens you plan on having. Chickens need space. Not a lot, but they do have requirements. Plan on having at least 3 to 4 square feet of floor space per chicken. So if you are planning on only having 3 chickens, the bare minimum recommended since chickens are social creatures, then you will need at least 12 square feet of floor space for your three chickens (4 X 3 chickens=12sqft)

Smaller Bantum chicken breeds need less per chicken than regular or large sized chickens as you might have guessed. The reason I say minimium is not because more would be better for the chickens but instead because more is unlikely to hurt and more allows you to expand your flock if you so desire.

Location

Location is everything is the saying and that certainly holds true with your chicken coop. Ideally you want your chicken coop to get some sunlight during the day. I would say morning sun would be the best as that will warm it the quickest in the morning but not broil your chickens during the hottest parts of the day. This may vary if you live in the Far North. Also, keep in mind that a deciduous tree will provide shade only during the growing season, but not during the winter months. This could be a nice advantage in the northern climates where winter time sun would be welcome at all times.

Strong winds are not a chicken's best friend so protected areas with windbreak are a must for some environments. Conversely, if you live in the Deep South where the wind is always weak except when hurricanes come by then a more open breezy area might be preferred.

Your chicken coop will be a place for your chickens obviously, but also a place for you. If it is only 4 feet tall because chickens are short then prepare to be hunched over any time you are in the coop. This becomes a bigger and bigger issue as the numbers of chickens increases. Chicken are not clean and more chickens means more chicken poop to clean up. More poop, more time.

Chickens make noise at times and they smell at times. Consider proximity to your house when building. Is it too close, it is putting your house in the predominant down wind direction?

Amenities

Nesting box: What good are chickens if you don't have nest boxes? You do not need to have as many nest boxes as you have chickens but 1 per every 2 chickens are 2 per every 3 chickens is a good general ratio to have. Nest boxes are roughly 1 foots square boxes or cubbies and should be off the ground a foot or two. Access ramp is also a must. If you don't do this job properly they will just lay their eggs outside on the ground and that is not going to end well.

Windows: your chicken will get diseases if they have no light and no ventilation. Windows solve this issue. You do not need glass to have a window. Any opening will do. Just be sure it has shutters or something like that. You will need to be able to open the window during the day and close it at night to protect from the cold and predators.

Feed and water will also be needed. Chicken have this annoying habit of wanting to eat and drink every day. Often the food can come from somewhere outside the coop, but hey we all know that the weather isn't always perfect. Sometimes food will need to be provided inside.

Roost: Chickens love to sleep on perch for safety reasons. When picking roost perch height and branch diameter consider the chickens you have. Smaller chickens equals higher perch allowed vs big chickens. Don't worry to much about this. Just keep in mind that big chickens jumping down from higher perches could injure their feet and that chickens do not grasp the branch with their feet like most birds. Instead, they basically just balance on the perch like you or I. Two small of a branch could cause issues in extreme cold. Smaller branches will restrict the blood flow and frostbite is a potential issue. Smaller chickens means you should tend towards smaller diameter perches. Try not to place your roost branches in a position where one branch is directly over other roosting branches. This prevents chicken from pooping on each other.

A Run: A run is and outside are that the chickens always have access to, but is fenced off to keep them in and predators out. Certainly your chickens will be allowed outside the run but I would advice against that when you are not around to help out if a hungry pack of coyotes arrives.

Removable Poop Boards: Place something beneath the roosting branches so that you can more easily clean out the poop. I prefer to have a two boards for every spot so that one can be brought in while the other is taken out and cleaned for reuse.

Dust Bath Box: Chickens need to clean themselves with dust to stay healthy and a simply raised area under constant shade can provide them with a dusty are with to use as a bath to deal with nasty parasitic bugs that want to live on your chickens.

Ramps: Chickens aren't the most flighty of birds and having ramps to move from one elevation to other makes for less injuries and just easier access for the chickens. Keep in mind that if your ramp is smooth like a piece of lumber then you might need to add something like rungs to the board to allow them to grip the board and not always fight sliding down. These grooves are protrusions need to be close, a chicken's stride isn't very long.

Oh, one more thing... a roof! LOL. So now you can successfully build whatever type of chicken coop you want, whatever size you want or need.

---