Create an ideabook for your next remodeling project!
Browse more than 1,000,000 photos from top designers and save your favorites
Backyard Living: The Scoop on Chicken Coops
Perk up your morning with fresh eggs and chickadee clucks when you build a chicken coop in your own yard
I am a freelance editorial and wedding photographer and Houzz contributor based out of Hershey, PA. Come visit me at 'A Nest for All Seasons' where I write about design, photography and modern garden living!
I am a freelance editorial and wedding photographer and Houzz contributor... More »
Forget designer duds and furnishings ... the latest must-have is of the avian nature. Whether you are living in the country or shacking up in the city, it might be possible for you to have a chick or two (or six) in a chicken coop of your very own. It is important to check zoning laws before buying chickens, but it is surprisingly possible to raise hens (though usually not early-crowing roosters) in a small yard. With a smaller space, there is a need to be fastidiously clean in caring for the birds, but the rewards are worth it.
Fresh eggs, soothing clucks, free fertilizer and recycling machines are a few of the benefits you can expect with chickens. The most important matter of business before purchasing your hens, however, is to build a coop.
Fresh eggs, soothing clucks, free fertilizer and recycling machines are a few of the benefits you can expect with chickens. The most important matter of business before purchasing your hens, however, is to build a coop.
| Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
|
| Coops are available in various shapes and sizes, from luxury accommodations to the bare minimum. You can purchase a prebuilt coop for several hundred dollars or create your own using scrap wood and chicken wire. There are coops built specifically for small spaces and chicken "tractors" that you can wheel around the yard to fertilize various sections. Our coop was built onto the side of an existing shed. |
| Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
|
| There is nothing quite like the chirping of baby chicks waking you up in the morning. Chicks need to stay warm, so educate yourself on the care of chicks before taking charge of these little lives. In the early days they are housed indoors (a cardboard box works at this point) with a heat lamp. A little food, water and newspaper, and your chicks will spend happy days pecking around and sleeping in their cage. You can buy chicks at your local feed store or try an online site like this Hatchery for rare breeds shipped to your home when they are one day old. |
| Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
|
| Before you know it, those sweet little chicks quickly turn into full-feathered chickens complete with dust and chicken poop. You will not want these creatures inside your home after this point, so a coop is a must. |
| Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
|
| Whether your coop is custom made, catalog ordered or homemade, there are a few mandatory components. First is safety. Chicken wire is a must, and it should cover every surface of the coop. Chicken wire should also cover the floor of the coop if it rests on land. Raccoons would think nothing of digging a tunnel under the coop and gobbling up your chickens. You can see another version of this basic design at Natalme by Natalie Wright. For more photos, coop plans and information on raising chickens in urban areas, check out urbanchickens.org. |
| Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
|
| Hens will begin laying eggs at around six months old, so getting laying boxes up early is good practice. Once the chickens start laying, they prefer to lay in the same place, so you want to train them to lay their eggs where it is convenient for you to collect them. |
| Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
|
| These laying boxes are located directly across from a full-size (chicken-wire covered) door for easy access. The bottom of the coop is lined with grass and hay. |
| Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
|
| Chickens tend to go to the highest spot to roost, so provide ladders and enclosed space for them to sleep. This space is lined with wood shavings, but hay, straw and dry grass also work well. |
| Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
|
| If your chickens are not allowed to roam during the day, they will need dirt baths. A dirt bath is simply a box of dirt with a little sand mixed in. The birds roll in the dirt to clean themselves; without it, pests can be an irritant. Karen puts a dirt bath in a tub for her chickies. Check out her amazing designer chicken coop at The Art of Doing Stuff. |
Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
Whether you decide to tackle the building of a coop yourself or purchase a premade model, make sure your hens are safe, with room to roost and lay, bedding and a dirt bath. It takes a bit of work, but the rewards of chickens running their two-legged wobble across the yard and laying fresh eggs every morning is well worth the effort.
Tell us: Do you keep chickens? Share a photo of your backyard chicken coop below.
More: Chicken coops and coop-inspired home products
Tell us: Do you keep chickens? Share a photo of your backyard chicken coop below.
More: Chicken coops and coop-inspired home products
Ideabook updated on Feb. 23, 2012.
What are you working on?
News From Our Partners
Latest Ideabooks
People found the photos in this ideabook after searching for:
View over a million photos:
And bury the fencing a good two or three feet into the ground as this deters digging aninals from getting inside the area. And dont over look screening the top area since hawks, owls love chicks and a raccoons can climb up a fence and inside unless there is top screening.
Side note: I haven't had probems with predators and chicken wire around the coop and run. It has been enough to protect our chickens. Our entire property is enclosed around the back with barbed wire, so perhaps larger predators don't come anywhere nearby. However, I know we have a resident skunk and groundhog and thus far, they have not been able to get in and at the eggs. Being overcautious is never a bad thing though!