We eat lots of eggs and our soil is depleted, so in 2023 we started raising chickens. They will play a key role in our regenerative homestead.
First step – designing a place for our new flock to call home.
We decided to build our own coop. We considered buying a pre-made coop, but the ones we found online were too small for the number of chickens we wanted to have. Plus, my husband was keen to try building a simple structure as an experiment. We did lots of research (resources linked below) and settled on the following goals to guide the design of our coop.
Chicken Coop Goals
Our coop will…
- Have space for 12 chickens
- Be easy to access, especially for cleaning purposes
- Use materials we have on hand plus standard cuts available at our local lumber store
- Accommodate a deep bedding/litter system
- Be kid-friendly
- Have ventilation up high
- Be connected to a covered run – a place for chickens to be outside and sheltered from rain/snow
- Be beginner-builder friendly
- Be as predator-proof as possible
chicken Coop Challenges
Slope
One of the biggest challenges we have to building on our land is the slope – it’s everywhere, with only a few ‘benches’ of flat areas here and there. The spot we picked out for the coop that’s close enough to the house and to the garden, was also sloped. There’s no avoiding it.
Novice builders
We are also novice builders so the design needed to be clear and simple. We got lucky and a neighbour with building experience helped us!
Predators
Lastly, we have allll the predators here: racoons, mink, eagles, owls, hawks, and of course rodents.
chicken coop and run design
Create two terraces of flat ground with a cinder block retaining wall between. The coop will be on the uphill terrace with the run below.
Both the coop and run have an 8 ft x 8 ft foot print. That allows us to use 2, 4ft x 8ft sheets of plywood for the floor (and the walls) and gives us 64 sq feet of interior space. For the coop, we went with the recommendation of a minimum of 4 sq ft of interior space per chicken, so our 12 chickens need about 48 square ft of interior space, leaving room to expand our flock in the future. For the run, although the 64 sq ft of exterior space isn’t enough for 12 chickens (assuming an 8 sq ft/chicken minimum), we planned on having additional outdoor space for the chickens. The run would mostly be for really inclement weather or a space to retreat from aerial predators.
The walls of the coop and run are about 7 ft to 6 ft tall with a sloped, metal roof that lets rain drain away, and leaves us the possibility to collect rainwater off it in the future. This height lets us stand up easily in both the coop and the run to clean and do chores. We considered using the clear, plastic corrugated roof, but because our coop is under large maple and fir trees that can drop limbs and easily break plastic, we went with sturdier metal.
We set the door frames up about 6 inches above the floor to allow for the accumulation of plenty of bedding in a deep litter/bedding system.
The nest boxes sit exterior to the coop. This maximizes space inside the coop for roosting, adding a broody hen area, an isolation area (e.g. for an injured bird), etc. It also allows our kids to collect eggs while standing outside the coop. Since they don’t open the big coop door, there’s less chance of the kids letting the chickens out of the coop or predators in! The front of the nest boxes hinges down, opening a small space to reach a hand in to collect eggs. It could also hinge up instead.
We predator-proofed with ¼ in hardware cloth. The coop has a kind of skirt of hardware cloth that wraps around it. It starts about 6 inches from the bottom of the coop, bends at a right angle where it meets the ground and then extends out 12 inches across the ground. We covered the hardware cloth on the ground with dirt. This should prevent rodents from getting between the floor and the ground and deter digging predators from tunneling in. In addition, the eves in the coop and any spaces between the walls and the roof are covered with hardware cloth. The entire run is screened in with hardware cloth and also has the skirt I described for the run.
chicken coop and run cost
This coop and run cost us about $CAD 700 to build in 2023. That doesn’t include materials we had on hand, including some lumber. The cost of lumber has been fluctuating wildly here in British Columbia, Canada, so that can really affect the cost of the build.
We built most of it over a couple weekends with the help of our neighbour!
Our coop and run are now complete and are serving our young flock very well. We’re making small tweaks as we learn and they grow. I share updates on Instagram.
Resources
Here are things to read and people/places to ask questions that really helped us!
- As absolute beginners the books Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens and The Homesteader’s Natural Chicken Keeping Handbook were very helpful.
- The simple 8 x 8 shed coop design that we based our coop on.
- External nest box design we based ours on.
- In our Pacific Northwest climate, ventilation is really important. Here’s some info about why.
- Deep bedding in a coop and how it differs from deep litter in a run.
- Connect with your local poultry club! Our, Salt Spring Island Poulty Club members have been so generous with advice and help when we really needed it.
- Backyard chickens is a very helpful resource with both information on all things chicken-related and message boards where you can ask questions. I received very quick and helpful suggestions here!
