DIY Chicken Coop

(Ignore this weird box... not sure what happened, lol)

Ack!!! We finally got our chickens :) We've been waiting for this moment for years, so naturally, it was the first project we took on. It's also the very first woodworking project we ever even tried. Sooo, while I know the construction probably isn't perfect, I could totally care less. It functions just the way it should and it's cute. I love this little coop we made and I'm proud too :) I've included the link to the free plans we used below.

 First, can I just say - look at those cute little baby chicks! We brought home 10 of these little stinkers. They were cute little balls of fluff for about 30 seconds. Seriously, there's a reason everyone who owns chickens tells you to have the coop finished before you buy the chicks. They didn't last long in our bathtub (yes you read that right). We were in a mad dash to finish up building before these little cutie pies outgrew their home. Which they did. Multiple times. Thankfully we were able to improvise enough along the way so they were always comfortable and had enough space until it was warm enough to move them outside.

Below are a few progress pictures of our coop.

All framed and ready for walls...

Walls up and ready for paint and trim.

 We have the cutest little helper, with shoes on the wrong feet and still in pj's at 2pm...

Framing out the run.

 We modified the run by making it a little 5.5 feet tall - high enough for me to walk in without having to hunch over. We wanted the birds to have plenty of room to stretch their wings too. We let them free range while supervised, but otherwise they need to stay in their run because of predators.

We cut out a door with a latch for the chickens to get from their coop to their run. We also made little inserts to put in the windows for potential nasty storms.

The kids love to be with the chickens. They are an endless stream of entertainment for us, those goofy little birds.

Up close with Flight

Here's the link to the plans we followed, with some improvising along the way to suit our needs.

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to sign up with your email you never miss a post.

- Lisa