The Best Coop

...is a simple coop, easily cleaned and easily maintained. Beauty is nice if you have the time and money, but it isn't essential for chickens. Our home had one coop when we moved in, but I quickly needed another one. There was a three-sided lean-to, so we simply slapped up an oxboard wall and had another coop in a day. We kept the inside simple, too. Roost bars and nesting boxes. In the photos you will see wires, which is where I hang the feed and water during the winter. In warm weather, I feed them in a shady, breezy building area so they will be more comfortable.

Let me give you an example of beauty not always being best. As I researched online about roosts, I loved the photos of neat stair-step roost bars. They were so artistic. But then I read about the arguing that goes on among the chickens for the top bar- and decided that, though not beautiful, a flat roost area with no top bar would be in the best interest of my flock. Keep in mind when building for chickens that their welfare is top priority, not an artistic masterpiece.

Roost bars are important. They need to be spaced far enough apart so chickens can sit on each bar and not push each other off. Since I raise Bielefelders, Wyandottes, and other large breeds, my hope was to give them plenty of room, so I spaced mine at 18". (Believe it or not, the roost bars are still almost too close!) And don't worry- smaller breeds don't mind the extra space, either. I built my roost bars 36" off the ground, which isn't all that high. But for some of the big breeds, that can be quite the hop to get to bed! 2 x 4s- with the narrow end up- made building it easy, and the chickens must find them comfortable since they willingly go to bed on them even before the sun sets!

One rule to remember: nesting boxes should always be lower than the roost bars to discourage overnight visits.

Nesting boxes should be big enough for your hens. Not so large that they don't feel secure, but big enough that they can comfortably turn around and lay facing anyway they please. I built mine 15" all directions, and even my largest hens fit. But my smaller Leghorns love it too. I also kept mine fairly close to the ground- remember, the tops need to be lower than the roost bars- and they all seem to enjoy them.

Here are a few photos of the "old coop". It has a run which is entirely enclosed with chicken wire, and we call it the chick area, because this is where all our chicks grow out, at least for the first couple months.

After ordering chicks in May, and again in July, I realized I was going to need a third coop area, because the May chicks weren't big enough to go with the adult chickens, and they were too big to put the July chicks with. So...we built a divider.

As you can see, the nest boxes are quite a bit higher than in the new coop, and have a bar in front of them to allow the hens to walk in and out of the boxes instead of flying up to them and risking already laid eggs. They are also 12", so on the smaller size. Never build your nest boxes smaller than this.