When we decided to move and embrace more country living, the first thing that came to my mind was we can have chickens! Luckily I married a man that is fully on board with most of my crazy ideas and he signed up to build me a coop.

I bought what my friend called the chicken bible. I started googling and watching reels about chickens. I jumped in with ultimate enthusiasm and I here I am now, a few months down the line, with the chicks officially transferred to their permanent home (and no longer in the house, which David is thrilled about), and I can tell you with all honesty: it’s just as fun as I thought it would be!

I love our little flock and could just sit out there and watch them poke around, chase each other, and explore with curiosity for hours. We have the nesting boxes blocked off with cardboard at the moment and will open them up for use as they get closer to when they begin laying eggs. (between 4-6 months of age).

I could leave it here and just show pictures and brag on David, but in hopes off being a little helpful for anyone interested in building their own coop, here are a few details on our process.

There were a few hoops to jump through first, like deciding where to put it, obtaining HOA approval, researching to decide exactly what we wanted, and then prepping the site. However, when I placed the order for chicks with a hatchery in February for a June delivery, it really pushed us forward into full throttle mode.

In January, David started researching coops and drawing plans. Together we had a list of preferences that we outlined as we researched. Some of those included:

• the ability to stand up inside the run
• use black wire mesh so we could see into and through the run more easily
• to install a predator apron around the outside
• build a Dutch door so we could just open the top and throw scraps in
• the nesting boxes to be accessible from the outside to gather eggs
• to have a peaked roof versus a lean-to style
• windows for ventilation
• to have a slim lower door on the back of the coop to keep shavings in the coop when we open and close the larger doors
• to make it as secure as possible with latches and carabiners

How big did we want it? Well, you can do a calculation based on number of chickens and square footage and we went beyond that because David gets over ambitious with building projects and got a little carried away. You won’t find me complaining though; I love the size! It’s nice to have the extra space. If you asked him, he would say if he could do it over, he would probably make the run bigger and the coop smaller.

We used linoleum floors in the coop for easy clean up. We chose hemp bedding for less dust and because it is longer lasting. The only wood that is pressure treated is the wood that touches the ground. Other than that it’s non pressure treated to keep it safe for the chickens to peck.

We put a basic mulch in the run and David built a ladder instead of a ramp because the ladder can be a steeper angle and supposedly it’s easier to clean. He used plexiglass for the windows and inexpensive wood for the frames. Then over Father’s Day weekend we all got out there and painted!

The roof is made of galvanized corrugated metal chosen for the aesthetic and because metal roofs last a long time. It was easy, but it created gaps in each “wave” so he had to fill it in with Great Stuff. If he could do it again he says would probably still do metal but not the wavy metal. He also mentioned that Carolina Coops has great videos and advice if you’re looking to build one yourself.

If you have any questions about it, I’m happy to answer them (AKA: ask David and get you the answer). And I’ll write another post with all my chicken favorites, as I’ve researched that well and we are starting to transition them over to their big girl watering system, feeder, etc. I’m trying not to get too attached to them because wiser people have told me that things can happen, but I’m not heeding that advice very well. I sure do love these little fluffballs!