Homemade Chicken Coop

Kevin thought long and hard and this is what he came up with. Our original discussions were for a single level 8 foot square type of house, elevated off the ground a bit with two doors and ramps for the chickens. After thinking about it, he decided this would be better.

He picked up some pallets for free, broke them apart, and used that wood to build it. He used some particle board that was left in the garage for the roof and then used roofing shingles that were also left in the garage - so it's roof matches the roof of our house. He built in 4 wheels but they don't roll so well on the grass so we will have to put boards under it when we want to move it around the yard.

Here's the initial frame work and the chickens temporary pallet housing.

Now the roof is finished, the wire mesh is on each level and the ramps. The nesting boxes are on the top level ready for egg laying season. They have gotten really good at getting up to the top level for night time but during the day they have a hard time getting to the food that I put on the second level. I don't know why that is... so I have to put the food down on the ground a couple times a day and they go into a feeding frenzy! Silly chickens.

Kevin will be adding walls to the outside. The walls on the nesting box level will have hinges on them so that we can get to the eggs. But for now, this is where our chickens live.

Maybe this is why they like to hang out by the gate. Now they perch in the house rather than on the fence so that makes us happy.