How to Make a DIY Chicken Coop

I had the pleasure of collaborating with Luisa from www.peachestopearls.com to design and build this farmhouse chic chicken coop for her backyard and absolutely love how it turned out!  Complete with board and batten trim and an arched door, this HOA friendly chicken coop gets you the look you love for much less than store bought versions.

This coop will house about 12 chickens, has 4 nesting boxes, and a 6′ run.

If you’ve ever spent much time around a circular saw and hammer, this project will be a breeze for you.  If not, follow along and you’ll be ready to tackle building this chicken coop in no time.

To make it even easier, I have plans available for this exact DIY chicken coop so there’s no guesswork involved!

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Build a DIY Chicken Coop

• Build chicken coop foundation
• Frame walls of chicken coop
• Install walls
• Install roosting rails
• Sheath walls
• Build chicken coop nesting box
• Build entry door
• Frame and shingle roof
• Board and batten
• Build run
• Delivery

 

Build Chicken Coop Foundation

To start off with, I tackled making the floor for the coop from pressure treated 2X4s.  I butted up the joists to the stringers and shot two 3” ring shank nails through the stringers into the end of each joist.

With the basic framing done, I opted to add a boarder of pressure treated 2X4s to dress up the appearance just a bit.  This also allowed me to use non-pressure treated plywood for the sheathing, which kept the chickens away from as much pressure treated lumber as possible.

With the boarder complete, I secured 7/16″ plywood to the joists with 2” ring shank nails.  The flooring should only cover the inner foundation.

Frame Walls of Chicken Coop

With all of the pieces for each wall cut to length, I laid out the items per my plans and started by nailing the studs to the bottom plate.

With all of the studs secured to the bottom plate, I positioned the top plate per the plans, checking for square by measuring across the corners, and then securing it to each stud as I did the bottom plate.

Install Walls

Once each wall is framed, I moved on to securing the walls to the foundation.  I did this by first positioning each wall section per the plans and then shot 3” nails through the base plate into the foundation.

Install Roosting Rails

To install the roosting rails, I leveled and secured blocking between the studs on the front and back walls.  I then positioned the roosting rails on the blocking and nailed them into place.

Sheath Walls

The next step is to sheath the walls.  I cut the sheathing so that the seams fall in the middle of studs where necessary.

I used 2” nails to secure the sheathing to each stud.

With the walls sheathed it’s time to cut some holes in it!  There will be openings for the nesting box, entry door, chicken door, and window.

Build Chicken Coop Nesting Box

This nesting box is constructed with 2X2s and 7/16″ plywood.  You could also build it from 3/4” plywood and use pocket hole construction if you preferred.

To make the box, I rough cut the ends and dividers first.  I then clamped them all together and used a flush trim bit in my router to make them all identical.

With that done, I secured 2X2s to each end piece.  Then I added the remaining pieces to make the box.

After that, the dividers were installed per my plans and the lid was attached.

Build Entry Door

I chose to keep things simple on these doors and used 2X4s and pocket hole construction to build them.

With the door frame constructed, I sheathed it with 7/16” plywood using countersunk exterior grade screws.

Next, I cut the arc in the door.  I first drew the arc with a string and pencil.

I then cut the arc as accurately as possible with my jigsaw and smoothed the cut with my belt sander.

With the door all wrapped up, I installed the hinges and a standard gate latch.  Gate latches are easy to install and operate, but do be mindful that you could lock yourself in the coop inadvertently if you don’t prop the door open while inside.

Frame and Shingle Roof

With this roof, I built each side as a panel and then installed them onto the frame of the coop.  If your coop is much larger than this one, I would recommend building the roof frame on the coop and then shingling it in place, as the weight of each panel may be too great to safely install.

For the roof frame, I used 2X4s and pocket hole construction.  Once it was framed out, I cut one edge at an angle per my plans.

I then sheathed it, installed the drip edge, and attached the tar paper using 7/8” galvanized roofing nails.

I then installed the shingles per the manufacturer’s instructions.  This was my first time installing shingles and the process was surprisingly easy.

With each panel shingled, I lifted them into position with Kathleen’s help and then secured them from inside the coop through the top plate and into the roof frame.  The final detail was to run a course of shingles along the roof’s ridge.

Board and Batten

With the roof on, doors installed, and all of the sheathing finished up, it’s time for a little detail work.  I simply ripped down some of the left over sheathing into strips and nailed it onto the coop using 1-1/4” ring shank nails to serve as board and batten trim.

Build Run

Now if you’ve gotten to this point in the build, making the run will be a piece of cake.  I framed it out run per the plans and secured everything using 3” exterior grade construction screws.

The entry door for the run is built using pocket hole construction.  I plugged each of the holes just to give it a more finished appearance and reduce the likelihood of water collecting and rotting the door.

To finish off the run, my customer installed hardware cloth (not actually fabric) after painting the coop and run.

Delivery

Delivery day was very exciting and required some of my best trailer maneuvering to date!  We used a come-along anchored to a stout tree along with a set of ramps to pull the coop off of the trailer and into position.  We then secured the run to the coop and called it a day!

Luisa and her husband were thrilled with their new chicken coop (the chickens seemed happy, too) and have since posted some great photos of it on her site.  Be sure to check those out here!

 

Want to build one? Grab the plans that are complete with the necessary materials and cut list and get started!

Want to skip the DIY process and have one built for you?  Contact me here!

 

And last but not least, if you build one, make sure to use #woodshopmikeibuiltit so we can see your beautiful new coop!

***Staged photos of coop were taken by Shelby Rae Photographs!  Her site is www.shelbyraephotographs.com.  Be sure to go over and check out more of her awesome work!***