My friend Frank a while back asked me about chickens so I devote this step-by-step tutorial to him and his future “poultry pursuits.”
I suspect he’s already thinking about some aquaponics integrated designs, but this tutorial should be helpful to any aspiring farmer or homesteader looking to create a cozy, functional home for a backyard chicken flock.
Chicken Coop Designs for 25 Hens
For me building a chicken coop was a great first step into discovering the many benefits of raising chickens and also understanding the costs involved. This coop cost me back in 2007 about $300 to build and took a few weekends to complete by myself.
Here’s some of my design considerations to start:
- Roomy enough for 25 hens.
- 3 sq. ft. of space as a minimum per bird. I did an 8′ x 10′ layout. (80 sq. ft. total)
- 4-5 hens can share a nesting box for eggs, so I made 6 boxes.
- Design it for easy access to eggs and other tasks.
- Try to use salvaged wood & materials and recycle as much as possible.
Materials and build
Luckily I had a great sawmill close by in Ghent, NY. The guys there were also great about helping me size up the amount of lumber I would need for an 8′ x 10′ size coop.
Buying rough sawn lumber no doubt saved me money. My mom had just redone her kitchen and had thick plywood boards with vinyl flooring glued to them that I saved for the coop’s flooring.
I used galvanized metal sheets for the roof as these will last a real long time and work well to catch rainfall.
The chickens themselves just need draft-free & dry shelter.
The fact that the coop faced South did provide some warmth on sunny Winter days.
I also used small gauge mesh under the coop and around corners to keep out any mice, rodents, etc… as they will steal eggs or set-up shop in your coop.
What I have below is about 57 photos detailing the build of a chicken coop I designed back in 2007. The coop is happily being used today by the folks who currently rent our house.
Chickens can be addicting!
For some of us, chickens are a gateway drug to stronger farming desires.
There is something about having the freshest, tastiest eggs right in your backyard that gets you thinking about all the other forms of homegrown edibles that could be produced uber-locally and (m)organically.
It was this first step with chickens that led me to where I am today.
I hope that you find my chicken coop designs helpful and that they provide you a “gateway” into other ideas towards your own sustainable, self-reliant homesteading journey.
I’m here to help!
I’m hoping to have an eBook developed over the next few months as we get our farm up and running.
So be sure to subscribe to my blog to receive future updates on that.
Also feel free to post any questions or comments you have below and I’ll get back to you straight away.
Do you have a supply list that I can use to gather up the lumber needed to build this chicken coop?
Hi MT, I’ll see what I can do but you see my saw mill figured that all out for me after telling them the 8′ x 10′ floor plan, walls and roof idea. I wrote done very little as I just figured it out as I went along. Hopefully with the pictures and a visit to your local saw mill – that’ll get you off to a good start. Let me know how it goes.
When you say the coop faced the south, did you mean the windows?
Yes, that way they can absorb the sunshine and help to warm up the coop in colder weather. I did also use a heat lamp in deep winter but facing south definitely helped take advantage of the sun.
Hey was wondering if you have the plan for your chicken coop because I am going to start raising ducks and chicken and I like the coop you built. And do you have 25 chicken and if you do how many eggs do you get a day
I don’t have a floor plan available but you could look up most shed style plans for the basic structure and that would work nicely. Right now I have 35 chickens and I collect about 2 dozen eggs a day. A good rule of thumb is that one chicken (especially a breed that lays prolifically like New Hampshire Reds, for example) will lay on average 5 eggs per week. So if you have 25 hens you should expect about 16-18 eggs per day when they are in full swing.