Build a Happy Chicken Home with Our Free Chicken Coop Plans!

Building the coop is perfect if you love do-it-yourself projects and sustainable living. Plus, you can save hundreds of dollars by building your chicken coop instead of buying a commercially available one.

1. DIY chicken coop from pallets

Wooden pallets offer a quick and easy way to construct a chicken coop. And pallets are more cost-effective and environmentally friendly than some other options. Typically, a brand-new pallet costs between $9 and $12, meaning you might spend less than $100 to build a sizable coop. And, of course, you can often find free pallets, which will dramatically reduce your construction costs. Here is a complete guide on how to build a chicken coop from pallets.

2. Lumber

If you buy lumber to build the coop, the type of wood you select will impact the overall cost. Softwood, such as pine, is a budget-friendly framing material and costs $2 to $3 per board foot, depending on quality. Pressure-treated lumber is popular because it’s rot-resistant and prevents insect infestation; it’s available for $7 to $10 per board foot on average.

Redwood or red cedar are great choices because they’re both naturally weather resistant, but they’re relatively expensive, costing about $10 to $12 per board foot.

3. Fasteners

The hardware that goes into your chicken coop depends on the design and size of the coop. To construct a typical coop, you can expect to spend about $20 to $50 on fasteners. Ensure that all the fasteners and hardware are rated for use outdoors.

4. Flooring

Chicken coops do not necessarily need floors; the bare ground is acceptable. However, depending on where you live or where you are building your coop, a floor can help keep your birds safer from predators. Plus, floors are more accessible to sweep clean than bare ground.

Plywood is an excellent choice for flooring; it’s quick and easy to install and comes in large 4×8 ft. sheets. However, it tends to absorb odors and could be chewed through by some predators. If considering plywood, it costs about $10 to $20 per sheet. And pressure-treated plywood is much more weather resistant than untreated plywood. Protect plywood with two coats of exterior-grade polyurethane varnish applied to both sides. You can also install vinyl sheet flooring over a plywood floor. Sheet vinyl costs about $2 to $8 per square foot. Another option is to make the floor out of solid-wood boards, such as 2x6s or pressure-treated decking. Wooden flooring ranges from about $6 to $10 per board foot.

A concrete floor will be the best option if you live in a region where predators pose a severe threat. However, at around $110 per cubic foot poured, it’s also the most expensive type of coop floor.

5. Walls

Wire mesh fencing, commonly called chicken wire or poultry netting, is ideal for covering the walls of your chicken coop. It’s inexpensive and resistant to predators and the weather. A roll of good-quality 4-ft. x 50-ft. roll of chicken wire costs about $50. Depending on the size of your coop, you may need more than one roll.

Solid-wall options include plywood and corrugated metal. Each option costs roughly $10 to $20 per sheet. Covering part of the coop with a solid wall and the remaining walls with chicken wire creates two spaces for the chickens, one indoors and one outdoors.

6. Roofing

Any roofing used on your home is suitable for a chicken coop, including asphalt shingles, metal roofing, or wood shingles. You could also use pressure-treated plywood. It all depends on your preference. Depending on the size of your coop, you can expect to spend about $70 to upwards of $200 on roofing.

7. Chicken Run

Unless you intend to keep your chicken entirely indoors, you must provide a safe space for them to roam and explore. A chicken run is essentially an enclosed pen that provides a protected outdoor area.

Chicken runs are effortless to construct, requiring just a few posts, some chicken wire, and a roof. Depending on the design and size, you can expect to spend $100 to $300 to construct a chicken run.

Safety gear

• Garden tools: shovels, rakes, etc.
• Tape measure and pencil
• Saw
• Post-hole digger
• Hammer
• Drill/driver
• Level and square
• Wire cutters

Please read our complete guide about the costs of building a chicken coop.

Many chicken breeds are relatively hardy. However, they need somewhere to escape the elements and frigid weather when winter rolls around. They must also live safely in a clean environment with enough running space.

Here are some basic things you need to keep in mind when building your chicken coop:

1. Shelter from the weather

While it is true that chickens are hardy birds, protecting them from severe weather conditions is imperative. No matter the style of your coop, you want to shelter them from prevailing winds, rain, cold, and snow.

Building your chicken coop on high ground can help prevent flooding and mud issues, but higher areas are windier, which can drive rain inside. To create a comfortable environment for your chicken, try these tips:

• Build the shed on a level ground
• Sandbag the perimeter to keep water at bay
• Equip the interior of the coop with enough sleeping roosts for the chickens
• Provide a protected, roofed outdoor space for your flock to frolic in all types of weather
• Monitor temperature and humidity inside the coop, and add additional insulation, if necessary

Remember to maintain good coop ventilation to provide a safe and comfortable environment where your chickens are protected from the elements and harsh weather. Good ventilation will prevent stagnation of moisture, ultimately reducing the risk of frostbite, moldy bedding, and possible respiratory infections.

2. Protection from predators

One of the most important considerations when building your coop is how to protect your birds from the threat of predators. Coyotes, raccoons, fisher cats, foxes, bobcats, dogs, and snakes are some predators that pose the biggest threats to chickens. While most predators attack hens when foraging outdoors, some may take a more conventional approach and try to break into the coop through the door.

Raising the coop about 8 to 12 inches off the ground is advisable to protect your chickens from predators. Elevating the coop will help keep away most predators without limiting the chickens from walking underneath. This can also prevent wood rotting, ensuring longevity.

Whether you build your chicken coop on or off the ground, it is imperative to use sturdy wall materials and set it on a reinforced foundation to deter digging predators.

3. Space

Regarding chicken coops, the main concerns are noise, odor, and flies. When choosing a spot for your coop, be considerate, as you don’t want yourself or your neighbors to be bothered by any of these annoyances.

Chickens also like to explore and look for a meal. When deciding where to build the coop, consider a location with natural foraging areas. Chickens eat nearly everything, ranging from grass, insects, plants, seeds, worms, and small rodents, so they will live happily in a space where they can forage.

4. Lighting and electricity

Whether or not to add artificial light to a chicken coop is a hot debate among flock keepers. Well, supplementing lighting in the chicken coop is practical and beneficial. However, before running electricity from your house to the chicken coop, you want to know the pros and cons of lighting up the chicken coop and maybe what type of lighting is best for your birds.

Lighting a coop can help your chickens stay warm during winter and keep egg production consistent. Adequate light helps you see everything when cleaning the coop or caring for your birds. However, there is a catch: Electricity in the chicken coop poses a fire risk. And, by forcing hens to continue laying eggs, supplemental lighting could be the root cause of health problems.

When choosing lights, most birdkeepers agree that red lights are best for chicken coops. Red light soothes your flock, and chickens won’t continue laying eggs because they do not perceive red light as daylight. As such, using red lights in your coop can help prevent issues resulting from overlaying chickens.

5. Water Hygiene

You, of course, have to provide a steady food supply for your chickens, but it’s equally essential always to have drinking water available. The water should be changed frequently to ensure it’s always clean and fresh. And in winter, a heater may be required to prevent the water from freezing.

6. Ventilation

Every living creature loves fresh air, including chickens! For this reason, every chicken coop, no matter the size, should be well-ventilated. Ventilating chicken coops allow heat, carbon dioxide, and ammonia fumes to flow out while permitting fresh air to flood the coop, ultimately helping ensure the health and happiness of your feathered friends.

Chickens need indoor ambient air temperature of 68 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Ventilating their home will ensure they feel comfortable all day and night.

It’s worth noting that chicken coops need much less ventilation during colder months. In hotter climates, much ventilation is needed to cool the coop’s interior — chickens handle cold better than heat. Coops with organic bedding also need more ventilation than those with inorganic bedding.

7. Cleanliness

Cleaning your chicken coop is one of the essential maintenance practices. Generally, if your chickens spend most of their time outside, you won’t do as much cleaning as you would if they stayed entirely indoors.

Keeping your coop clean can go a long way to reducing the chances of your birds getting diseases. Depending on the size of your flock, you may want to consider a daily coop cleaning routine, then thorough cleaning weekly.

To make cleaning more manageable, you may also want to consider these tips:

• Invest in a droppings board
• Install removable roosts
• Use inorganic bedding, preferably plenty of sand.
• Staple empty feed bags on the walls – removing and replacing them is more accessible than scraping poop off walls

Cleaning the chicken coop gives your birds a clean, comfortable environment and helps with moisture control, helping ensure your chickens grow happily and healthily.

8. Temperature control

Stress in chickens due to less-than-ideal coop temperatures is one of the problems many breeders have to deal with. That’s why it is vital to commit to managing the temperatures of your coop. So, how do you control coop temperature?

Depending on the breed you are keeping, you need to understand what temperature is too hot or too cold, then find ways of keeping your chickens in ideal temperatures.

The optimal temperatures for most chicken breeds are 68°F to 80°F. For every drop by one degree Fahrenheit, it is advisable to feed each bird 1.5 grams daily of added protein. When the temperatures drop too low, you may consider using a UL-approved chicken coop heater.

If you live in a region with wide temperature swings, from very cold to hot, it’s advisable to build a coop whose design is optimized for temperature control and insulate it as needed. While the food you give your chickens can help them stay at ideal temperatures, you want to make them comfortable and healthy. Most expert breeders advocate for natural methods when controlling chicken coop temperatures.

9. Nesting Boxes

Nesting boxes are one of the most crucial chicken coop components. They offer a place for your hens to lay eggs. And while chickens are not particular about where they lay eggs (they can and do lay where they feel secure), having nesting boxes can encourage them to lay eggs in a safe and clean environment. What’s more, they make egg harvesting super easy when built correctly. This is vital, considering no one wants to hunt for eggs, except perhaps at Easter. 

When building your chicken coop, you want to include enough boxes for the flock you want to keep and make them attractive to hens. Precisely, you want to ensure they are:

• Quiet
• Darkened
• Secure
• Private

Notably, even though hens need plenty of light to maintain peak egg production, the nesting boxes have to be placed in a relatively dark and not too busy area. Otherwise, the hens won’t use it.

The number of boxes you need will depend on your flock, and it is recommended to have one for every 3-5 birds. Please, read our complete guide about how to build a chicken nesting box for more information.

10. Feeding and Watering Systems

It is a no-brainer that chickens need access to food and water to stay healthy and happy. Most importantly, your chickens need a steady, balanced diet and water supply to maintain optimal egg production. For this reason, it is vital to determine where to place your feeders and waterers when building your chicken coop. 

Moreover, whether you are a novice chicken grower or a seasoned pro, you can reduce waste with automatic chicken feeding and watering systems. Building yourself spill- and mess-resistant feeders and waterers is one of the easiest ways to avoid tipped feeders and soiled waterers. 

Talking about placement, it is advisable to place your feeders and waterers inside the aviary, not the coop or outside. Inside the coop, your feeding and watering systems can quickly get messy, while outside, food can be rained on and form mold. Outside chicken feed can also attract rodents and predators, threatening your birds. In the long run, building automatic feeders and waterers and strategically placing them will give your flock easy access to feed and water and help you save time as you enjoy the excellent antics and eggs.

Find more great tips and tricks by reading our complete chicken housing guide.

There are many reasons why anyone would want to raise chickens. Whether you consider chicken rearing a hobby or part of sustainable living, knowing the specific needs of the breed you are considering before bringing any birds home is imperative. This is vitally important because raising chickens can be a long-term commitment.

Each chicken breed has unique characteristics make it best suited for egg production, meat, or an exhibition. Depending on why you want to raise poultry, here are general requirements for each category and breeds best suited for that purpose:

1. Egg Production Breeds

Breeds: Brahmas, buttercups, Ameraucana, anconas, Cochins, Campines, Hamburg, Leghorn, Minorca, Polish-Bearded and Non-Bearded, and Welsummers.

While all hens will lay eggs, their egg production will vary. Surprisingly, the best layers usually have relatively smaller bodies. 

Egg colors will also vary between breeds, with white and shades of brown being the common egg colors. 

Regarding nutrition requirements, chicks need a diet that aids rapid growth and feather development. When mature, layers need extra calcium in their feed to support shell development. On average, hens lay one egg every 26 hours, but there are days when a hen will not lay an egg at all.

2. Meat Production Breeds

Breeds: Cornish and New Hampshire Red

Chickens bred for meat production have two characteristics in common: They grow faster and are poor egg layers. To support their faster growth rate, their diet should be rich in proteins and require a more significant amount of feed than layers.

3. Dual Purpose Hens

Breeds: Buckeye, Delawares, Dorkings-Single Comb, Jersey Giants, Maran, Orpington, Plymouth Rock, Rhode Island Reds, and Sussex.

Dual-purpose breeds are excellent layers that grow big enough for meat production. Unlike meat birds, dual-purpose hens have lower protein requirements and will grow large enough for meat over time. However, they grow slower than chickens solely raised for meat.

4. Chickens for Shows and Exhibitions

Breeds: Dominiques, Faverolles, RedCaps, Shamos, and Wyandottes

Some chicken breeds have attractive traits, making them almost exclusively exhibition birds. Breeds in this category are usually bred for their appearance and can be found in various colors. Some breeds may have unique features specific to them. For instance, the Faverolles have five toes, a characteristic that would pique any passionate chicken grower. 

If you are new to chicken rearing and are choosing what breed to keep, you will also want to decide on an ideal chicken temperament. While individual bird behavior is unpredictable, some breeds are known to be docile, while others have a reputation for being nervous and occasionally aggressive. Generally, breeds raised for commercial egg-laying and meat production are best left to experienced chicken growers. 

For novice backyard chicken growers and families with young children, it is best to adopt docile breeds like Orpington, wyandotte, and Plymouth Rock. Whatever your goal for raising chickens, the idea is to choose a breed whose temperament is compatible with your family. The only way to know the right breed is by gathering as much information as possible. 

Building a chicken coop can save you a lot of money. Thankfully, you don’t need any special skills. You can easily build a good home for your flock with basic woodworking skills. All you need is a detailed chicken coop plan. Depending on the number of birds you want to keep, grab a plan and start building your chicken coop today!