We buy our homestead in 2021 and named it the “ Lil S Farm . ” Our first major project after building the household was building a chicken hencoop . We spent hours looking at C of different eccentric of coops and even bought plans for several of them .
In the last , no single plan suit our demand . So , I made my own — a 6 - by-4 - foot cage with a 20 - groundwork running .
Read more : Here ’s how to get your kit chicken coop ready for wintertime ,
Keep It Dry
One issue with coops is keeping the run ironical . Usually , this is rectified by intensely grading the area , but this can be costly .
To save money , I designed our chicken coop with a lean - to ceiling rather than a gable . This allows the water to throw away to one side , which makes grade much easy and cut down our costs .
With the roof , we used corrugate asphalt instrument panel rather than blade , tin or traditional shingles . The mineral pitch panels were much easier to cut , handle and tighten than the other material .
Our cap has already withstood a very high-risk storm where we had winds up to 70 miles per hour . Choosing asphalt panels was one of my best decisions on coop construction .
Ventilation
The coop itself has two very great window with two minor windows build in the two cage door . This allows plenty ofventilation . Our girls have sex to sit on their roost and look out the windows .
The third window above the egg hut is a Plexiglas window that does n’t open . For design purposes , this was easy to build because of the lack of headway above the hutch ’s roof pane . But it also turn over the chickens a wonderful view when it rain down . powerful before we shut the coop up for the night , the pecking order obtain quite competitory on who gets to roost by that windowpane .
Security First
For protection , we have PVC - coated1⁄4 - in hardware fabric throughout the running , on every window , and skirted around the whole cage . We also have lock in latches on all openings .
A team of raccoons has test multiple times to get to our girls without success . Our coop has proven to be predator - proof .
Around the chicken coop , we have benches so we can sit in the mornings and good afternoon to talk to our girl . It has become a full family affair to congregate in the evenings around the henhouse . Our girls seem to fuck their home , and our family have intercourse have them on our “ Lil S Farm . ”—Brad , Katie & Meekin Stokes , Chapin , South CarolinaThis article originally appeared in the November / December 2022 consequence ofChickensmagazine as a “ Cool Coop ” lineament . Have a cool coop you ’d wish to share?Email us a short write - up ( ~250 to 500 word of honor ) about your crybaby coop along with a few picture tochickens@chickensmagazine.comwith the subject lineOne Cool Coop , and admit your name and mailing address . contain outChickensmagazine for current dirty money and competition rule .
This article originally appeared in the November / December 2022 consequence ofChickensmagazine as a “ Cool Coop ” feature . Have a nerveless hencoop you ’d wish to share?Email us a light write - up ( ~250 to 500 speech ) about your chicken henhouse along with a few images tochickens@chickensmagazine.comwith the subject lineOne Cool Coop , and include your name and posting savoir-faire . mark off outChickensmagazine for current plunder and competition formula .
