A good chicken coop should provide a safe, comfortable, and healthy environment for your chickens. It needs to be secure from predators like foxes, raccoons, and hawks, using sturdy materials and possibly burying wire mesh around the perimeter.
Proper ventilation is crucial to prevent moisture buildup and ammonia from chicken droppings, so include windows or vents that can be opened and closed as needed. Ensure there is enough space for your chickens to move around comfortably, with at least 2-3 square feet per chicken inside the coop and 8-10 square feet per chicken in an outdoor run.
Nesting boxes are essential for egg-laying, with one box for every 3-4 hens, lined with straw or wood shavings for comfort.
Chickens prefer to roost off the ground at night, so install roosting bars at different heights. Design the coop for easy cleaning, using removable trays or droppings boards to manage waste and maintain hygiene.
Natural light is important, but you may also want to include artificial lighting to extend daylight hours in the winter, which can help maintain egg production. Depending on your climate, insulation may be necessary to keep the coop warm in winter and cool in summer.
Ensure there are feeders and waterers that are easy to access and keep clean, and if possible, provide a secure outdoor area where chickens can forage and exercise.
Using these elements, you can create a chicken coop that keeps your flock happy and healthy.
Creatures of Habit
Ever notice how your chickens seem to follow the same routine every day, like clockwork? Chickens are creatures of habit. After leaving the coop each morning, they follow the same paths around the property, scratching and pecking until just before dusk. Then, they all head for the coop at about the same time.
The chicken coop is arguably the most important tool in your chicken-raising toolkit because it is a haven that your birds can count on through thick and thin to provide safety, comfort, and a private place to lay eggs.
The grand finale to my chickens’ daily routine ends up with them on their cozy roosts in their sturdy coop, where their private nesting boxes and adequate food and water supply are found.
Sleep comes easily in a draft-free, quiet, and peaceful environment where the faint scent of lavender, thyme, and jasmine wafts through the air from the aromatic herbs placed in the nesting boxes.
The solid, sturdy wood floors are covered with a few inches of pine shavings, which do more than make the coop easy to clean; they also catch eggs falling from a nesting box when one of the hens gets a little frisky.
If it rains or snows, my birds are sheltered under a sturdy roof that doesn’t leak. In fact, the entire coop is free of holes large enough for even a mouse to get through.
These are some chicken coop essentials that make up a good chicken coop.
Size Matters
The best chicken coop design provides enough space for chickens to be happy and healthy. Full-size birds need more space than bantams, while Jersey Giants need more than most. The rule of thumb for normal-sized chickens is 3-4 square feet per bird in the coop.
If a coop is too big, there will be too much space for your chickens to keep warm with their body heat during colder months. Too small, and there won’t be enough space for the birds to be comfortable, which can lead to injuries, aggression such as feather picking, and even cannibalism.
A chicken coop should be small enough to keep your chickens thermally comfortable, large enough to house necessary internal components, and large enough to enter for cleaning.
An 8-foot-x-8-foot structure would benefit the hobby chicken farmer for a flock of 16-20 standard birds. But you can’t just nail up an eight-by-eight box, throw in some chickens, and tell them to go lay an egg.
No, several components go into how to build a chicken coop, which is essential to providing optimum conditions for egg laying.
Inside Equipment
Proper bedding is essential. The type of bedding you use will determine the amount of housekeeping needed. While straw, hay, or wood chips can be used, I prefer coarse pine shavings. They are absorbent, easily obtained, and large enough so chicks don’t mistake them for food.
Here’s a breakdown of the pros and cons of each bedding type for chicken coops:
Straw
Pros:
- Insulation: Straw provides good insulation, keeping chickens warm in colder months.
- Availability: It is widely available and generally inexpensive.
- Comfort: Straw is soft and comfortable for chickens to nest and rest on.
- Easy to Compost: Straw breaks down relatively quickly in compost, making it easy to recycle.
Cons:
- Moisture Retention: Straw tends to hold moisture, which can lead to mold and mildew if not managed properly.
- Cleaning Frequency: Due to moisture retention, straw often requires more frequent cleaning to maintain a healthy environment.
- Pest Attraction: Straw can attract pests like mites and lice if not kept dry and clean.
- Dustiness: Straw can be dusty, which might not be ideal for chickens with respiratory issues.
Woodchips
Pros:
- Drainage: Woodchips provide good drainage, helping to keep the coop dry.
- Durability: They are more durable and don’t need replacing as often as other bedding types.
- Natural Look: Woodchips give the coop a natural and aesthetically pleasing appearance.
- Low Dust: Woodchips are relatively low in dust, which is better for chickens’ respiratory health.
Cons:
- More challenging to Clean: Woodchips can be harder to clean or remove when it’s time to refresh the bedding.
- Cost: Woodchips can be more expensive, depending on your location, than other options.
- Potential Toxicity: Some wood types (like cedar) can be harmful to chickens due to the aromatic oils they release.
- Composting: Woodchips take longer to break down in compost compared to other materials.
Hay
Pros:
- Availability: Hay is readily available, especially in rural areas, and can be relatively inexpensive.
- Insulation: Like straw, hay provides good insulation, making it suitable for colder climates.
- Comfort: It’s soft and provides comfortable bedding for chickens.
Cons:
- Moisture Issues: Hay is highly absorbent, which can lead to mold, mildew, and ammonia buildup if not regularly maintained.
- Frequent Replacement: It can become soiled quickly, requiring frequent changes to avoid unhealthy conditions.
- Pest Issues: Hay is prone to attracting pests like mites and lice, similar to straw.
- Mold Risk: Hay is more prone to mold than other bedding materials, which can pose health risks to chickens.
Wood Shavings
Pros:
- Absorbency: Wood shavings are highly absorbent, which helps keep the coop dry and reduces odor.
- Low Dust: High-quality wood shavings are typically low in dust, reducing respiratory issues for chickens.
- Comfort: Wood shavings provide a soft, cushioned surface for chickens.
- Long-Lasting: They tend to last longer before needing to be replaced compared to straw or hay.
- Composting: Wood shavings compost well, especially if mixed with chicken manure.
Cons:
- Cost: Depending on the type of wood and your location, wood shavings can be more expensive than straw or hay.
- Cedar Concerns: Some wood shavings, particularly cedar, can release aromatic oils that are harmful to chickens, so it’s important to choose the right type.
- Ingestion Risk: Chicks might mistake small wood shavings for food, which can be harmful if ingested in large amounts.
- Availability: In some areas, sourcing quality wood shavings might be more difficult.
Each bedding material has its strengths and weaknesses. Straw and hay are excellent for insulation but require careful management to avoid moisture-related problems.
Woodchips offer durability and drainage but can be more expensive and harder to clean.
Wood shavings are highly absorbent and low in dust, making them a popular choice, but care must be taken with the type of wood used.
The best choice for your coop will depend on your specific needs, such as climate, coop size, and the amount of time you can dedicate to maintenance.
A method of layering shavings goes something like this: Start with a couple of inches of shavings on the coop floor. Let the birds use it for a week, then sprinkle a couple of cups of diatomaceous earth on top and add another layer of shavings. You can do this for several layers. The diatomaceous earth will kill mites and other tiny critters while adding another absorbency factor.
Feeders and watering feeders are essential. Both components should be suspended seven or eight inches or placed atop a block so that the chickens can reach the food and drink, but they won’t be able to fill the feeders with shavings or poop.
Something to note is that chickens drink more efficiently if they don’t have to reach down to get a beak full of water. Watch them, and you will see that they get water and then tip their heads back to drink.
Waterers hung or raised to the height of your chickens’ backs will keep debris out of the waterer and allow them to take larger gulps.
An excellent alternative to the common open-water feeder is a nipple feeder with a spring-loaded pin that allows water droplets to flow when the chickens peck it. Baby chicks learn quickly where their water comes from and how to get it.
Nesting Boxes – A Safe Haven
If you’ve ever been to a farm with chickens but no area designated for laying, then you know that eggs can be found almost anywhere as long as that place is secure, relatively dark, and quiet. Nesting boxes provide a haven; you don’t have to play hide-and-seek to find your eggs daily. There are basically two types of nesting boxes. The first is an individual box that is roughly one square foot in size and is meant to house one bird at a time, although when a chicken’s gotta lay, sharing can be, and is, done.
The second type is a community box. This structure is four feet wide, two feet deep, and a foot high. Your entire flock of up to 35 hens will share this box. You would probably want to put a hinged top on the community box for easy access to the eggs and spot cleaning. Put a bedding layer in your nesting box(es) to keep the hens comfortable and the eggs from rolling around. Broken eggs are no fun to carry or clean up.
Windows And Ventilation
Windows are optional. Chickens respond to the length of daylight by laying fewer eggs during the darker months. Fourteen hours a day of light will yield consistent production, and the light doesn’t have to be sunlight.
You can set a light on a timer to turn on in the morning and off fourteen hours later. You can also do the same thing manually to keep yields steady. I prefer windows anyway. A stiff screen over the window keeps the chickens from breaking the glass.
Ventilation is not optional for two reasons. Firstly, chickens give off quite a bit of heat. In the summer, ventilation helps keep the hens cool. Coops should also be properly insulated to provide warmth in the winter and cool in the summer. Secondly, the buildup of manure gives off ammonia gas that needs to be removed continuously. Regular cleaning of the hen house helps keep this in check.
Built with Love
You can purchase a hen house if you don’t have a structure on your property already. Small backyard units come all set up to put some bedding into and house half a dozen hens. There are wooden sheds at the DIY mega stores that can be easily retrofitted to make a perfectly fine chicken coop. If you’re moderately handy, you can build your own.
Chickens know what makes a good chicken coop – it’s built with love.
Okay, maybe love is a little intense. Maybe I’m not in love with my chickens, but I like them a lot and appreciate what they give me daily. Every evening, when I close the coop door, I thank my hens for the day’s eggs. They haven’t said you’re welcome yet, and when they do, I will probably need to seek professional help.
Thanks a lot for reading. Let me know if you have any questions.
Dave
Chickenmethod.com