Raising your own backyard chickens is a fun and fulfilling endeavor that has several benefits. You can get healthy, home-grown organic meat, delicious organic eggs, and great fertilizer for your vegetable gardens. Chicken coops are simple structures that for the most part, can be built over a weekend and don’t cost much money. You can make your chicken coop as elaborate or as simple as you like, and the building cost will be impacted by how many chickens that you are aiming to keep.
Remember that your coop will be your chicken’s home and needs to not only be comfortable but also safe from predators. The health and happiness of your chicken flock will depend largely on them having a comfortable and safe place to live, so you’ll need to carefully consider the size, placement, and materials used in your chicken coop.
That said, building your own chicken coop is not difficult, even if you have no building experience. To help the process along, we scoured the internet for the best plans available!
The 20 DIY Chicken Coop Plans
1. DIY small (and easy to clean) chicken coop
This small coop is ideal for a backyard flock, measuring 8×8 feet with an attached 6×16-foot run. The coop looks great, is easy to clean, and should take no more than a weekend to complete. The coop can fit two to four chickens and has roosting perches and a small ladder built in. Due to the simplicity and low cost, this is one of our favorite plans.
2. DIY chicken coop and run
If you are looking for a large coop to keep a dozen or so hens, this coop with an added run is a great option. The coop is easy to build but has large pieces that you may need help with moving and constructing. The coop has built-in nesting boxes to collect eggs and a great ventilated run to give your chickens plenty of space and sunshine.
3. Pallet chicken coop
There are seemingly endless uses for pallets, and a DIY chicken coop is another to add to the extensive list. Pallets are usually easily found for free, and one person’s trash is another’s chicken coop! This will take only a few hours to make, with an elevated design and door that doubles as a ramp, and it can easily house four to five chickens.
4. Predator-proof chicken coop
If you live in an area where predators can be an issue, this plan details exactly how to make your coop predator-proof! The coop is surrounded by tough mesh that is bent and fastened to wood beams to prevent sneaky would-be predators from breaking in, with a fully-covered mesh top that will even stop eagles and hawks in their tracks. It may be expensive to purchase all the materials, but your flock will thank you in the end!
5. Small chicken coop and run
This coop and run has a 4×8-foot hen house, plenty of space for up to eight hens, and an enclosed run to help keep your chickens safe from predators. The hen house is raised to prevent the wood from rotting and extend the coop’s life, with screened windows for airflow. The coop is complete with nesting boxes and roosting bars, as well as a convenient ladder so your chickens can come and go as they please!
6. Chicken coop condo
If you’d like your very own backyard flock but have limited space, the “chicken coop condo” may be just the ticket! This coop has a great little enclosed run underneath the hen house to keep your chickens safe, but they will still have room to forage and stretch their wings. There’s an elevated henhouse complete with nesting boxes. The design is inexpensive and easy to build and is a great space saver for urban environments.
7. Large chicken coop
If you want to take your egg and chicken production to the next level, you’ll need space to house at least a dozen chickens. This coop plan is elaborate and requires DIY expertise and skill, but the result is certainly worth it! The coop will be able to house around 10-12 chickens comfortably, complete with nesting boxes and a large run that is predator safe. This is more than simply a chicken coop, it’s a chicken mansion!
8. Shed conversion chicken coop
If you have an old shed in your backyard that is not being put to good use, then you can save some cash and convert it into a functional chicken coop. The plans include a large run attached to the coop that is largely predator safe, and detail the entire conversion process, from tools to materials and coop placement.
9. A-frame chicken coop and run
This great little chicken coop is portable and inexpensive and will only take a day or two to build. With nesting boxes above and roosting perches and a protected run below, this is a great coop if you’d only like to keep three to four chickens. The elevated nesting boxes keep your chickens safe while keeping them shaded and cool in the run.
10. Miniature barn chicken coop
If you’re looking for a truly unique chicken coop to grace your backyard, this “miniature barn” design is gorgeous. It may take a bit of expertise to build, but we think that the finished design is certainly worth the effort! The coop has enough room for up to 12 chickens, has drop-down sides for easy cleaning, and has a nifty ramp for easy access.
11. Small pallet chicken coop
A pallet design that will cost next to nothing to build, this small coop is big enough for three to four chickens and will take a weekend to build. It is elevated to keep the wood from rotting and has built-in nesting boxes and roosting perches, as well as a door to keep your birds safe at night.
12. Large pallet chicken coop
If you like the idea of using pallets but need more space, this plan is perfect. The elevated design gives your chickens a place to escape the sun and keeps the wood from rotting, and you can build the coop basically for free. Best of all, this coop can fit around a dozen or so chickens with the included nesting boxes and roosting perches.
13. Mobile chicken tractor/coop
Having a coop that you can move around to different parts of your yard is not only great for your lawn, but your chickens will also love it! This coop plan is an A-frame tractor design with a small nesting house and enclosed run. It can accommodate up to four chickens comfortably, with easily accessible boxes to collect your homegrown eggs.
14. Small and simple chicken coop
This design is great if you don’t have much DIY experience and want to keep two or three chickens at home. The plan is as simple as it gets, with two nesting boxes, a mesh screen in the front that doubles as a door and ramp, and a simple lean-to roof design. The coop is also easy to move and will take only a few hours to construct.
15. Urban Chicken Coop Plan
Building an urban chicken coop means you have to make the most of the space available to you. This coop is designed to fit conveniently in the corner of your yard or outdoor space. It is quite compact, but it’s also attractive and it offers plenty of room and features for your chickens. It primarily uses wood for the construction, and it did take 5 days to build, but that’s hardly surprising when you’re effectively building a small outdoor house.
16. The Palace Chicken Coop
The palace chicken coop is a little bigger than the urban chicken coop above, but it is still made from wood and it still looks great once constructed. It has been designed to be resistant to flooding, benefit from the deep litter method in the coop and the included run, and has excellent ventilation while being big enough for a flock of about half a dozen hens. The layout provides 10 square feet of space per bird in the run and 3 square feet of coop space per hen. There are also roosting rails and a nesting box.
17. DIY Chicken Coop Plan
This chicken house is built to be compact and to look good. Nobody wants a coop that is ugly taking up space in the yard. It has an integrated, which sits under the coop, and it even features a raised flower bed so that you can really improve the aesthetics of the design. It is built using builder-grade lumber and ply. It has a weather-proof roof, ensuring that your hens will be fine throughout the year.
18. How to Build a Chicken Coop
This chicken coop is a little larger and offers a comfortable amount of space for around eight chickens. It has a run area, as well as a nesting box, and it can be modified according to your requirements. Some important factors to consider when building a backyard coop is whether you have any local predators and what the weather conditions are like. Chickens are quite hardy but they will suffer if they are left exposed to too much wind and rain.
Similarly, while you might not see any predators in your garden, that doesn’t mean they’re not there, and one thing that is guaranteed to bring them out is the installation of a populated chicken coop. Ask around, speak to neighbors, and do as much research as possible.
19. Portable Chicken Mini Coop
This portable chicken mini coop is ideal if you have a field where your chickens can graze during the day but you need to move the coop closer to your main buildings at night, to prevent predation. The whole coop cost around $100 to make and took less than a day, and while it doesn’t have wheels for easy movement, it is light enough that it can be picked up and moved as and when required.
20. How to Build a Chicken Coop
A lot of backyard chicken coops are designed to hold up to eight birds, but this chicken coop plan will hold as many as 18 chickens. It has enough nesting boxes for three hens but it is quite a sizable construction, taking up more than 130 square feet of space. It does require a lot of materials, but while it takes up a lot of space, it makes very good use of that space so your chickens are comfortable and have everything they need.
Keep your creativity going with these other DIY chicken projects:
- 15 DIY Chicken Run Plans You Can Make Today (with Pictures)
- 12 DIY Chicken Tractor Plans You Can Make Today
- 10 DIY Chicken Brooders You Can Make Today (with Pictures)
- How to Choose a Safe Paint for Decorating Your Chicken Coop
- DIY Chicken Coop Doors You Can Make Today (with Pictures)
- 15 DIY Chicken Nesting Box Plans To Build Today (With Pictures)
Featured Image Credit: JPR03, Shutterstock
