The chicken coop

I hope these pictures give you an idea of how we built the chicken coop. I originally had a piece of cattle panel on the back, but then decided I preferred a solid back to the coop so I changed it. The first tthing we did was to put the four bottom pieces together. The coop measures 6 X 8. We then attached the cattle panels with fence staples. Next we cut corner braces and screwed them in. I hope to attach L brackets to the outside corners at some point to further strenghten the corners. We then built the nesting shelf. I built it with a solid bottom but I think I will take it out and take the bottom off and put chicken wire on the bottom for easier cleaning.

I attached the shelf by cutting a notch in the 2x4 and slipping the shelf onto the cattle panel. For the perches I cut 1x2's to length and drilled a hole about 2 inches from the end on each end. I slid the 1x2's onto a section of the cattle panel where I wanted the perch to be and used a zip tie to fasten it to the cattle panel.

Then we attached a tarp to the top of the structure for shade. I attached this with zip ties. Then we attached a light weight bird netting that covered all areas of the cattle panels to prevent the birds from getting out and predators from getting in. I later decided it is too light weight but will add chicken wire to the front door panel later.

Next we added more tarps which were stapled and zip tied where needed. The front cattle panel made the door. We attached it on the left side with zip ties and the right side is closed with bungee cords. The top of the door is open so we draped the net over that for protection.

The chickens seem happy and are learning about the perches. Soon we will be able to take the heat lamps out and there will be more room. Also we can move the coop by sliding a two wheel dolly under one side and dragging the coop to a new area. Of course we have to remove the food and water before we move the coop.

I am working on finding instructions and making a feeder that they cant waste so much feed. We put a cardboard flat under the feed and it catches a huge amount of feed which they then peck out of the box.

I hope these instructions are not too confusing and you can understand the methods to my madness. If you have questions on how we built this just leave me a comment.

I forgot to mention that I built a door on the back by the shelf for egg removal. It is covered in silver insulation wrap stuff and held closed by a long bungee cord.