Where can I find free chicken coop plans?

February 20, 2008 1:29 PM

Can anyone point me out some free plans for a small chicken coop?

I would like to make one which would house less than 6 chickens. Apart from that anything goes! The more interesting the better!

posted by aqueousdan to home & garden (6 comments total)

Mother Earth News always has stuff like that. See here.
posted by Alpenglow at 1:32 PM on February 20, 2008

http://www.buildeazy.com/chicken_coop_1.html
posted by parmanparman at 1:36 PM on February 20, 2008

Have you considered a chicken tractor?
posted by buggzzee23 at 1:44 PM on February 20, 2008

I did a Metafilter post about this subject three years ago. I still think the Eglu is pretty damn cool and probably your best bet for a ready-to-go chicken house and run.
posted by Asparagirl at 3:48 PM on February 20, 2008

I made an old station wagon into a coop, it was great. And free. Just gutted the inside and filled it with sawdust. Any hatchback would work (old rabbit for a small coop?) so that you can open the hatch and shovel it out. Pretty great insulation in the winter, and I just hooked a heating lamp up from the roof of the car to keep them laying. In the summer I could roll the windows down for them (always important to put your chickens away at night).
posted by Acer_saccharum at 4:00 PM on February 20, 2008

There are a lot at backyardchickens.com.

I built mine sorta like this one. (It's bigger, taller, and the run is longer. I only have two chickens, though; it could easily handle 6-8.)

One lesson I learned: Make sure you have easy access for cleaning. The one I designed seemed at the time to allow easy access to the floor of the coop (which I keep covered with hamster/small animal bedding). It's not nearly as easy to get in there as I'd like, though, so that means I don't clean it out as often as I should.

The chickens will be happy with pretty much anything, so long as they stay dry and warm in winter and have good ventilation in summer. Your big concern should be that the coop is convenient for you.
posted by mudpuppie at 7:02 PM on February 20, 2008