Build the Perfect Chicken Coop

With things you can buy at the hardware store and a little assembly, you can have chickens in your backyard.

Cheryl Long
September/October 2007
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If having your own fresh eggs is on your to-do list, one of the first things you need is a way to keep your chickens safe, while making sure that they can get the best diet possible in your yard. This coop is secure, low-cost, easy to build, light enough to move easily and scaled to fit well even in small backyards.

RELATED CONTENT

Portable Chicken Mini-coop Plan 

From the GRIT Bookshelf

Here are just a few of the titles found in GRIT’s Bookshelf.

Go to Books & Products for ordering.

Chicken Coops: 45 Building Plans for Housing Your Flock by Judy Pangman
Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens by Gail Damerow
Barnyard in Your Backyard by Gail Damerow
Keep Chickens! By Barbara Kilarski
Living With Chickens by Jay Rossier

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Archived Comments

  • MT Mi Mi 4/5/2009 12:36:00 AM

    This was a FABULOUS article. I'd been tossing around some ideas I'd already gleaned from other sites, and was almost satisfied with my finds. But this is the best yet, esp. the wire above and below. And the pics made it PERFECT. I had some difficulty understanding (I'm not the mechanical type) how to convert the dog house. The best thing about all this is that I can do it in steps (financially), starting with the pen, and adding the house later, since I have a place to put them in now, but wanted a safe free range method, in case I didn't get home early on a particular evening. THNX AGAIN I just found your site via a Master Gardening postcard offering your magazine.

  • Jennifer Nemec 1/5/2009 10:05:17 AM

    Hi John,

    To see the image of the finished chicken coop, click on "Image Gallery" on the front page.

    Or this link: http://www.grit.com/multimedia/image-gallery.aspx?id=1338&seq=3

    We're sorry that it was difficult for you to find.

  • new Farmer John 1/2/2009 7:08:15 AM

    Thanks for the article, but if I can't see how the chicken coop looks, there's not much sense in building it.

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