Chook Me!

does anyone have a simple blueprint for a chicken coop? it will need to be big enough for 12 hens...?

this is my first attempt at raising chickens... i have 3 rhode island reds, 3 anconas, 3 plymouth rocks, and 3 white leghorns. i plan on making a large run for them, but i'm not exactly sure how i want to design a coop... do all the hens need their own laying box? any blueprints or advice would be appreciated! thanks!

Public Comments

1. Since this is your first experience raising chickens, I would suggest going to a library or bookstore and get a book for it. There are a lot of other things to know about raising them. You need feeders and waterers and roosts plus the laying boxes.
2. I don't have a blueprint, but if your raising any chicks be sure and catproof where the chicks will be. The hens need their own laying box, also. Good Luck!
3. Six nest are sufficient. Your best bet is to go to a good Feed Store and see if they don't sell books on "How To" . Any smart operator in a feed store will sell books to encourage people to keep a pen of chickens, raise some fryers, keep a milk cow, raise some ducks, etc. Those books will provide you with needed information. Let me know when you get down the road a way and I will send you your "Old McDonald Badge"
4. As a former, long time Chicken and grain farmer, I'd suggest buying a wooden lawn building, and modifying the interior. No blueprints here, but your idea for a design could be similar to a pre-made. YES they should all have their own nesting box, all off floor level, and probably either along one wall on two levels, or opposing walls. It's possible the breeds will remain in proximety. Will you have a Rooster? or 4? Or just raise as a hobby and collect eggs? The boxes can be 15 to 18 inches wide, by 18 or 20 inches long, by 8 or 10 inches deep, with nesting material, deep enough that the eggs won't roll or be kicked out. For any double row of boxes you might consider a perch for the top layer, AND that any double layer of boxes be set back from the lower layer, allowing adequate open space above for the bottom row of Chickens. There should either be a window for ambient light or electricity for lighting and some level of warming the coop in Severe winters. There should be adequate water sources close. Feed should be kept apart, and in Galvanized trash cans with lids that can be fastened securely. The roof can be a single slope, with an overhang all around. The coop itself can be on pier blocks, using beams as flooring supports/framed in, and the interior using 2 x 4's on 24 inch centers. to the ceiling heights, just as a wood frame house is constructed. The siding need not be elaborate, even T 111 will be suitable, all the wood should be treated. The roof can be shingled and be structurally sound. The door way need not be any different than the rest of the structure. The RUN can be chicken wire on fence posts, and I suggest 6 to 8 ft high, perhaps even wired above. There should always be water and feed materials available in the run area. Steven Wolf Just my two "sense"