“This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase using this link. Please see my disclosure for more details.”
Update Aug. 2022: Simple DIY Chicken Coop still working out great. See the last paragraphs for what I used.
Making our First Coop
With all of the moves, we have learned to make a simple DIY chicken coop that functions and looks good. We started out with ones that were functional but not so pretty.
The first was an easy cheap chicken coop made out of a large wood table. I’ll try to explain it to you well enough so you can envision it.
The First thing we did was bring a wood table into the barn (which was a large metal building). We placed the table on its side with the legs facing toward the wall. To make sure it was secure we screwed 2x4s into the metal of the barn wall and then screwed the legs to that. The table legs were acting as a frame.
Using the tabletop for the front of the coop my husband cut a hole in it for a door making sure it was big enough for me to crawl through to clean it and collect eggs. He used the wood he cut out for the opening of the door. Just have to add hinges and a knob.
Then all we had to do was add chicken wire to the areas that were open. Which were the sides and the opening at the top. As I mentioned earlier we used the legs as a frame, securing the chicken wire to the legs.
All that was left was to go outside and cut the hole through the outside wall into the inside coop area. Then add a door made from scrap wood to keep the chicken safe at night. This area was already framed as a pig pen with chicken wire when we bought the house.
It was a very simple DIY chicken coop to make. Just wasn’t the prettiest.
I would say it was a success in keeping them safe. We have barn cats and they weren’t able to get inside. They sure enjoyed laying on top of it and looking at them.
PVC Pipe Chicken Coop
The next one was in Tennessee we started out inside a barn. The barn already had stalls. Having to make it quick because we needed to put the chickens somewhere in a hurry. We made a quick chicken coop out of PVC pipe and chicken wire. This most definitely was not pretty.
What we did was get PVC pipe and joint connectors and made a rectangle shape. Cover it with chicken wire all around except for the bottom. We also were able to put a door into it by using more PVC pipe and joint connectors and wire ties. Getting inside though was tough. We had made it only 4 feet tall. But it worked.
The thing with this one was it was hard to get into. This resulted in more chickens and roosters. : ) I didn’t collect eggs as often as I should of.
We did use this method in another move to house our chickens and roosters in our garage while we built the permanent coops. Like I said it does work in a pinch.
Below is a picture of the PVC coop we used for the chickens and roosters on the move to Indiana. It works great to house stray kittens too.
Making One That Looks Pretty
We then decided to build a chicken shelter that really looked like a coop should look like. We went on the internet and looked at a lot of pictures and came up with this one below.
It took a bit to build but it was nice. It lasted while we lived in Tennessee. As you can see we used 2x4s, plywood, and chicken wire with a metal roof. There are a lot of plans on the internet if you want to make one like this. It’s just not the simple DIY chicken coop.
Another Coop to Build
Off we went to Indiana where we had a barn but no coops. This is where we used the PVC pipe method in the garage for a bit. Here we used most of the barn for the coops. By this time we had so many roosters and hens that had different ones needing to be separate. We had 4 areas inside with 3 smaller areas. They were made out of 2×3s and chicken wire. It was easy to make. Each one had a separate area outside. For the outside, we used wood fence panels instead of chicken wire. It made it so we couldn’t see the chickens outside. Inside was our viewing area which was great because of the rainy weather. I don’t know why we didn’t take any pictures. If I find some I will make sure I post them.
We know how to build a chicken coop now.
Here we are in Arizona with 25 Bantam chickens, 8 hens, and 17 roosters. Once again we found ourselves needing to keep them in the garage. I bought these small chicken coops for a temporary fix. We needed a permanent home for them. Knowing that we didn’t want our roosters and hens to live together and we also didn’t want 6 different areas. We decided to build 2 separate coops. One area for the hens and one for the roosters. We made sure the area was big enough so the roosters hopefully would get along.
DIY Simple Chicken Coop with a View
Remember the last chicken coop we DIY”d we couldn’t see them outside? This time we knew we wanted to be able to enjoy them while we were out in the yard. We chose to go with this chicken coop enclosure. We bought 2. Putting it together was simple. Follow along with the instructions. My husband put the piping together by himself. The chicken wire was a family process. One person could do it but it would take more time. The enclosure comes with a roll of wire and plastic ties. I used the wire by cutting it. When I ran out I started using the plastic ties. Boy was the plastic ties easier. They also hold the chicken wire tighter to the poles. Make sure you don’t have big gaps in between each wire or tie.
Predator Proof
Nothing is 100% predator proof but try and make it as much as you can. Raccoons and other animals can get through the chicken wire if they really want to. The best thing to use is hardware cloth like this especially if you don’t lock your chickens up at night.
What we did was make a simple DIY chicken coop out of 4×8 pieces of plywood like this. We made a rectangular frame and screwed the plywood to it. Use another piece of plywood in the center to separate the hens and roosters. On each side cut out a door and put the piece of plywood back on it with hinges and a latch. Add some roosts and you have a simple chicken coop. We put this in between the two enclosures cut out the chicken wire where the doors are and stapled the chicken wire to the rest of the box for protection.
On the edge of the enclosure, we made sure it was going to be hard for coyotes to dig under the enclosure by using metal barriers. They are great and easy to install no digging necessary unless you live in the desert with a lot of rocks like us. We had to dig out the rocks but it was definitely worth it.
I hope this gives you some ideas. There are a lot of different simple DIY chicken coops out there. We usually look around to give us ideas and figure something out. This last coop has been the best one we did. We get to enjoy the chickens a lot more. I have written a more in-depth review of the last chicken coop. Check this post out for more information.
Update Aug. 2022: Metal pipe and chicken wire Chicken coop still working great. With the Arizona sun, we have replaced the plastic ties with wire. Most were still in good shape but didn’t want to chance predators getting in. Haven’t lost any chickens to predators just heat the first summer. We added misters to the inside that we turn on once the heat gets to 95 degrees. So far they have survived 114-degree days with the misters going.
