Plans for Small Backyard Chicken Coops

Keeping chickens in your back yard is becoming more common in urban and suburban environments (check your local codes to see how many and what types of animals you can keep). Having chickens allows you to recycle your uneaten food by giving it to the birds and receiving fresh eggs in return. First, your fowl friends need to be protected from the elements and potential predators that roam the urban jungle.

Things You'll Need

  • 9 two-by-fours, eight foot long
  • 2 four-by-eight foot sheets of 3/4 inch plywood
  • Framing screws
  • 72 square feet chicken wire
  • 2 gate hinges
  • 1 gate latch
  • 1 small hinge
  • 1 hook latch
  • Miter saw
  • Skill saw
Show More

Instructions

    • 1

      Cut 12 pieces of two-by-fours four feet long. Then cut the ends to a 60 degree angle with the miter saw so that you can form four triangles with the boards. Make sure you slant the angle cut the same direction on both sides of each board so they will fit together. Screw the triangles together. Set them aside.

    • 2

      Cut the sheets of plywood in half into four four-by-four foot squares. Lay two of your triangles over top of one of the squares so you can fit both of them inside the four-by-four foot area. Draw a line around the outside of each triangle with a pencil. Cut out the plywood triangles.

    • 3

      Cut an arch in one of the plywood triangles large enough for a chicken to pass through. Screw the small hinge to the cut-out piece and the plywood triangle. Attach the hook latch to the new door and the plywood triangle.

    • 4

      Attach the gate hinges to one of the square plywood pieces and two of your two-by-four triangles so that you form a gate on one side of your coop. Screw the plywood squares on the other side and bottom of the coop. Attach the plywood triangles to the front and back of the coop.

    • 5

      Screw the uncut pieces of two-by-four to the remaining triangles with one triangle at each end to make an eight-foot long area. Cut the chicken wire so you have two eight-by-four foot sections and one four foot equilateral triangle. Screw the chicken wire to the two long sides and the front of the chicken run.

    • 6

      Set the coop and the run in your back yard so the small door of the coop opens into the enclosed run. They can still separate for easy cleaning and moving.