This is another coop inspired by the Wichita Cabin Coop and the many variants already posted to this site (particularly the Palace Chicken Coop). The main design differences are that I built the coop framing to be more independent from the run, and I moved the doors and nesting boxes around to suit my local conditions. This was a learning experience for me - I'd built one coop before (about 15 years ago) and haven't done any construction projects since then. A big reason for posting this article is to share lessons learned with fellow newbies (i.e. to point out my stupid mistakes). Feel free to sympathize or to laugh at my naivety, as you prefer 
.
Here's a photo of the finished coop. Total dimensions of coop plus run are 6'x10'. The coop is 6'x4'. Height is approx 8' at the front, sloping down to approx 6'8" at the back, making it easy to access the run without banging my head on the rafters.
I designed the coop framing using Autodesk Fusion 360. I'd originally planned to use SketchUp, as its a much simpler product, and so lot easier to learn and use. But Sketchup doesn't let you create a Bill of Materials from the free version, which Fusion does. Here are some screenshots of the Fusion model showing the different construction stages. As with all good construction projects, I diverged slightly from the design as I was building and didn't update the model retrospectively to reflect those changes. I also didn't model some features like doors and the nesting box, because it was simply too much work and I couldn't be bothered. Here's a link to an interactive 3D view of the model.
Phase 1: Foundations - Ground contact (GC) pressure-treated (PT) 4x4s to form the base, fastened together with 6" screws and ground contact pressure treated 2x4s screwed down onto the based, leaving a gap where the door frame will go.
Phase 2 - Standalone coop base - PT 2x4s, and 3/4" OSB flooring panel cut to size.
Phase 3 - Coop framing using painted (non-PT) 2x4 framing lumber.
Phase 4 - Add door frame - 2x4 PT lumber.
Phase 5 - Add run framing - 2x4 PT lumber.
Phase 6 - Add roof framing - 2x4 PT lumber (cross pieces not shown because it was too much work to model them). Didn't model the doors or nesting box for the same reason.
Anyway, that was the plan, now on to how I really built it ...
First I had to clear and level the ground. We had a stand of 4 fir trees, of which we cut down two to make room for the coop, leaving the other two to provide some shade. We chose this location because it was close to a spigot we already had installed, and it was reasonably close to my well head from where I could run electricity. (But not too close - didn't want to add nitrogen to my drinking water).
Unfortunately, the tree felling left a huge stump right in the middle of the planned run, which influenced my design slightly (I couldn't place the door right next to the coop), and the roots radiating out from the stump made digging and leveling the foundation so much more fun. My mini-reciprocating saw and a bunch of cheap saw blades were a big help here. (Cheap blades because cutting roots in soil blunts the blades really quickly). I set my levels using batter boards and string, learning two lessons:
1. Setup the string to mark the outer edge of your base, or even 6" further out. I set them at the centerline of the base 4x4s, which made it difficult to dig my trenches.
2. I used the classic Pythagoras technique to make sure my lines were square. However, I wasted a lot of time from watching a YouTube video that recommended just marking 3' and 4' along the string, rather than measuring the full side lengths and using a^2 + b^2 = c^2. What they didn't mention in the video is that the string stretches as you tighten it, so what you mark as 3' very soon isn't.
I dug out trenches to a roughly equal depth below the string lines. There was roughly a 1' drop across the site. Then filled the trenches with paver base and paver sand, and laid and leveled cheap concrete slabs on top. I was reasonably happy (but also a bit annoyed) that the last slab was only ~1/4" lower that the first after I'd come full circle. But that is one reason I designed the coop with a base made from nice , heavy 4x4s.
Once the paving slabs were laid out, it was easy to lay and square up the 4x4 GC PT base on top of them, and fasten them together using 6" screws.
Next I started assembling the coop base. I used 6" deck screws to fasten 2x4 GC PT lumber to the 4x4 base onto which I could later fasten the frame (using 2.5" deck screws), leaving a gap for the door frame. Then I started building up the coop base. The mistake I made here was misreading the price of GC PT vs PT lumber, so I started using GC PT for the coop frame until I realized PT lumber cheaper nicer looking.
Most of the designs I saw for the Wichita-style coops built the coop and run frame as one. That looked harder to assemble on my own, so I designed my coop so the coop framing was self-supporting and the run frame could be added later. With hindsight, I was probably overly cautious there - that was before I discovered bar clamps - but it didn't make much difference to the finished result.
At this point, I also installed hardware cloth across the entire run floor. I stapled it to the 4x4s and used landscape staples to fasten to the ground. (I found some old sections hardware cloth, so this was multiple overlapping sections). Later I reused the soil I'd removed while leveling the ground to cover the hardware cloth, and then added a layer of wood chips (from the felled trees) on top of the soil. Here's a close-up:
Next up was the raised coop floor and framing, which I primed and painted with exterior paint, figuring these parts will take a beating from the chickens. The floor is a piece of 3/4" OSB, the framing is 2x4 framing lumber that I assembled into 4 walls and then clamped together before fastening with deck screws. Those bar clamps were a great buy - saved me a lot of time and mistakes.
At this point in the project I hadn't decided what to use for siding. Such a small structure doesn't need 16" stud spacing, so I saved on lumber by spacing them further apart. It was only later, when I decided to use 4' wide siding panels, that I realized I should have planned the stud positions so that the siding edges each overlapped a stud. (Oops!).
Another mistake: A lot of coops designs I found online don't use jack studs or headers when framing doors and windows for small coops. I realized later that adding these would have made is a lot easier to fasten on the trim boards and mount the door hardware.
Next up was the door frame. I assembled this separately, screwed on a couple of diagonal board to keep it square, and then fastened it to the base. I added a couple of temporary boards as scaffold to keep the door frame plumb while it was waiting for me to add the rest of the run frame.
After installing the door frame, I started adding the rest of the run frame around it. This was when I bought my Kreg pocket hole jig, which got a lot of use for the rest of the project. Again, bar clamps were my friend while positioning the framing to keep it plumb before adding the screws.
Now I started adding hardware cloth to the frame, which I stapled to the inner frame, and then screwed an additional piece of PT lumber over it to hold it in place. After fastening the outer frame to the coop legs, I realized that it would have looked a lot neater if I'd fastened the screws from the inside of the coop and didn't have the screw heads visible from the outside.
Here's the mesh going on to the back run wall before I've added the outer frame. (I also added a some diagonal braces to the back wall that weren't' in the Fusion model):
Some days got pretty hot while I was working - over 100F. On those days my young Border Collie (Jack) enjoyed sitting in the shade watching me work up a thirst:
One of the "I'll work out how to do that later" parts of my design was how to attach the mesh to the run-end end of the coop. I left the mesh unfastened until I'd installed the coop siding and then secured it in place with a couple of pieces of extra 2x1 trim. This approach worked, but it made it pretty difficult to install the siding and trim on that end of the coop - I ended up with a few long scratches on my arms. I'll design that part better next time I build a coop.
Next up were the 2x4x8' rafters, which I spaced 2' apart and shortened slightly ready to hold the 8' plastic roofing panels. You can also see in this photo how I fastened some 2x4s along the top of the coop and run frames to make them more robust and to make sure they were perfectly straight along the 10' length. They also allowed me to extend the roof out from the frame slightly.
This was one of the cooler days, so Jack came out from under the coop to keep a better eye on me and make sure I was working hard:
After fastening on the rafters with 6" deck screws and some Simpson String Tie plates, I got to work with my pocket hole jig and installed the cross-pieces and end pieces to the rafters on top of which I screwed the plastic mounts for the roofing panels. I may have been able to get away with wider spacing for the cross-pieces (and have less roof panel mounts), but I played it safe because we get hit by really strong winds blowing down the Columbia Gorge in the winter, and I wanted to have plenty of fastening points.
And then the roofing panels themselves. I used Amerilux CoverLite panels that I bought from Lowes. They transmit about 30% of the light. For my one previous coop, I used Suntuf panels from HomeDepot, but Lowes got my business this time because my local HomeDepot were out of stock when I needed them. I have no idea if one panel brand is better than the other.
BTW Using a Dremel tool to try to cut those panels isn't a great idea. Strong scissors or aviation snips work fine.
Next up was the siding, for which I used 4x8' LP SmartSide siding, which I cut to size and painted in my garage before nailing it in place with 1.5" nails it. Note the temporary planks I fastened under the base of the coop to make it easy to position and level the siding on my own. I also added some flashing I had lying around to the cleaning door sill, and covered the coop floor with cheap stick on tiling.
I built the 'stable door' for the run with 2x3 framing lumber with 1x3 trim fastened over hardware cloth to secure it in place.
Getting to the finishing touches now - which always take longer than you expect.
I built the cleaning door for the coop (I forgot to take a photo of that) from an extra piece of siding that I cut to size, and braced with 3x2 framing lumber. Ideally, I would have just used the piece I'd already cut out but I hadn't thought ahead when designing the framing to position the door opening so it was contained within one siding panel.
I had remembered to design the coop framing to easily fasten the chicken door to the coop. I splashed out and bought an Omlet automatic door. Arguably, I don't need a coop door with the run being completely enclosed, but I thought I might want to later extend the main run with an additional lightweight run that won't have such a secure door. Better safe than sorry. Besides, sometimes you want to keep the chickens in or out of the coop. The ledge in front of the door was some old plywood I had lying around mounted on some scrap 2x4; and the ramp was a leftover piece of siding, some PT 2x2 strips, and some leftover roof panel mounting strips.
You can also see from this photo how I secured the hardware cloth mesh to the inside base of the run framing using leftover PT 2x4 pieces.
The nesting boxes were framed using 2x2s, box dividers were some pieces of old plywood I had lying around, enclosed in more LP SmartSide. The nesting box lid (in the raised position in this photo, but you can just about see it) is another piece of LP SmartSide. The lumps on the lid are the fasteners for the hinges, which I covered with glue so the chickens didn't have sharp objects just above their heads.
The nesting box was another of my "I'll work it out later" design items. It worked quite well considering that, and adding it later made it easier to install the main siding. But I did have to use some sealant to fill the joins between the nesting box siding and the main siding.
The final steps were to add some trim to cover the corner joints between siding panels. The trim is a mix of 1x4s, 1x3s and 1x2s. I also added also a closable 'vent flap' in the side. (Didn't need it to be a window because the roof lets in some light).
And suddenly I had to find another weekend project to keep me busy.
I'm not going to comment on how much this cost. I didn't keep track of my many trips to Lowes and HomeDepot, and I'd probably be depressed at the total if I had. But it kept me busy all summer, gave me some exercise in the sun, and I learned a lot. So money well spent.
Update: And then came the kicker. I finished the coop too late to buy chicks from the feedstore for this year, so I was planning to buy some next spring. However, as I was finishing writing this article, my employer has told me I have to either move across the country or 'resign' <sigh>. And if I get another job, I'll probably have to move anyway. So it looks like I'll never actually get to use this coop. Hopefully, backyard chickens will be permitted where I move to next, and I can start up a new project with improvements based on lessons learned.
.Here's a photo of the finished coop. Total dimensions of coop plus run are 6'x10'. The coop is 6'x4'. Height is approx 8' at the front, sloping down to approx 6'8" at the back, making it easy to access the run without banging my head on the rafters.
I designed the coop framing using Autodesk Fusion 360. I'd originally planned to use SketchUp, as its a much simpler product, and so lot easier to learn and use. But Sketchup doesn't let you create a Bill of Materials from the free version, which Fusion does. Here are some screenshots of the Fusion model showing the different construction stages. As with all good construction projects, I diverged slightly from the design as I was building and didn't update the model retrospectively to reflect those changes. I also didn't model some features like doors and the nesting box, because it was simply too much work and I couldn't be bothered. Here's a link to an interactive 3D view of the model.
Phase 1: Foundations - Ground contact (GC) pressure-treated (PT) 4x4s to form the base, fastened together with 6" screws and ground contact pressure treated 2x4s screwed down onto the based, leaving a gap where the door frame will go.
Phase 2 - Standalone coop base - PT 2x4s, and 3/4" OSB flooring panel cut to size.
Phase 3 - Coop framing using painted (non-PT) 2x4 framing lumber.
Phase 4 - Add door frame - 2x4 PT lumber.
Phase 5 - Add run framing - 2x4 PT lumber.
Phase 6 - Add roof framing - 2x4 PT lumber (cross pieces not shown because it was too much work to model them). Didn't model the doors or nesting box for the same reason.
Anyway, that was the plan, now on to how I really built it ...
First I had to clear and level the ground. We had a stand of 4 fir trees, of which we cut down two to make room for the coop, leaving the other two to provide some shade. We chose this location because it was close to a spigot we already had installed, and it was reasonably close to my well head from where I could run electricity. (But not too close - didn't want to add nitrogen to my drinking water).
Unfortunately, the tree felling left a huge stump right in the middle of the planned run, which influenced my design slightly (I couldn't place the door right next to the coop), and the roots radiating out from the stump made digging and leveling the foundation so much more fun. My mini-reciprocating saw and a bunch of cheap saw blades were a big help here. (Cheap blades because cutting roots in soil blunts the blades really quickly). I set my levels using batter boards and string, learning two lessons:
1. Setup the string to mark the outer edge of your base, or even 6" further out. I set them at the centerline of the base 4x4s, which made it difficult to dig my trenches.
2. I used the classic Pythagoras technique to make sure my lines were square. However, I wasted a lot of time from watching a YouTube video that recommended just marking 3' and 4' along the string, rather than measuring the full side lengths and using a^2 + b^2 = c^2. What they didn't mention in the video is that the string stretches as you tighten it, so what you mark as 3' very soon isn't.
I dug out trenches to a roughly equal depth below the string lines. There was roughly a 1' drop across the site. Then filled the trenches with paver base and paver sand, and laid and leveled cheap concrete slabs on top. I was reasonably happy (but also a bit annoyed) that the last slab was only ~1/4" lower that the first after I'd come full circle. But that is one reason I designed the coop with a base made from nice , heavy 4x4s.
Once the paving slabs were laid out, it was easy to lay and square up the 4x4 GC PT base on top of them, and fasten them together using 6" screws.
Next I started assembling the coop base. I used 6" deck screws to fasten 2x4 GC PT lumber to the 4x4 base onto which I could later fasten the frame (using 2.5" deck screws), leaving a gap for the door frame. Then I started building up the coop base. The mistake I made here was misreading the price of GC PT vs PT lumber, so I started using GC PT for the coop frame until I realized PT lumber cheaper nicer looking.
Most of the designs I saw for the Wichita-style coops built the coop and run frame as one. That looked harder to assemble on my own, so I designed my coop so the coop framing was self-supporting and the run frame could be added later. With hindsight, I was probably overly cautious there - that was before I discovered bar clamps - but it didn't make much difference to the finished result.
At this point, I also installed hardware cloth across the entire run floor. I stapled it to the 4x4s and used landscape staples to fasten to the ground. (I found some old sections hardware cloth, so this was multiple overlapping sections). Later I reused the soil I'd removed while leveling the ground to cover the hardware cloth, and then added a layer of wood chips (from the felled trees) on top of the soil. Here's a close-up:
Next up was the raised coop floor and framing, which I primed and painted with exterior paint, figuring these parts will take a beating from the chickens. The floor is a piece of 3/4" OSB, the framing is 2x4 framing lumber that I assembled into 4 walls and then clamped together before fastening with deck screws. Those bar clamps were a great buy - saved me a lot of time and mistakes.
At this point in the project I hadn't decided what to use for siding. Such a small structure doesn't need 16" stud spacing, so I saved on lumber by spacing them further apart. It was only later, when I decided to use 4' wide siding panels, that I realized I should have planned the stud positions so that the siding edges each overlapped a stud. (Oops!).
Another mistake: A lot of coops designs I found online don't use jack studs or headers when framing doors and windows for small coops. I realized later that adding these would have made is a lot easier to fasten on the trim boards and mount the door hardware.
Next up was the door frame. I assembled this separately, screwed on a couple of diagonal board to keep it square, and then fastened it to the base. I added a couple of temporary boards as scaffold to keep the door frame plumb while it was waiting for me to add the rest of the run frame.
After installing the door frame, I started adding the rest of the run frame around it. This was when I bought my Kreg pocket hole jig, which got a lot of use for the rest of the project. Again, bar clamps were my friend while positioning the framing to keep it plumb before adding the screws.
Now I started adding hardware cloth to the frame, which I stapled to the inner frame, and then screwed an additional piece of PT lumber over it to hold it in place. After fastening the outer frame to the coop legs, I realized that it would have looked a lot neater if I'd fastened the screws from the inside of the coop and didn't have the screw heads visible from the outside.
Here's the mesh going on to the back run wall before I've added the outer frame. (I also added a some diagonal braces to the back wall that weren't' in the Fusion model):
Some days got pretty hot while I was working - over 100F. On those days my young Border Collie (Jack) enjoyed sitting in the shade watching me work up a thirst:
One of the "I'll work out how to do that later" parts of my design was how to attach the mesh to the run-end end of the coop. I left the mesh unfastened until I'd installed the coop siding and then secured it in place with a couple of pieces of extra 2x1 trim. This approach worked, but it made it pretty difficult to install the siding and trim on that end of the coop - I ended up with a few long scratches on my arms. I'll design that part better next time I build a coop.
Next up were the 2x4x8' rafters, which I spaced 2' apart and shortened slightly ready to hold the 8' plastic roofing panels. You can also see in this photo how I fastened some 2x4s along the top of the coop and run frames to make them more robust and to make sure they were perfectly straight along the 10' length. They also allowed me to extend the roof out from the frame slightly.
This was one of the cooler days, so Jack came out from under the coop to keep a better eye on me and make sure I was working hard:
After fastening on the rafters with 6" deck screws and some Simpson String Tie plates, I got to work with my pocket hole jig and installed the cross-pieces and end pieces to the rafters on top of which I screwed the plastic mounts for the roofing panels. I may have been able to get away with wider spacing for the cross-pieces (and have less roof panel mounts), but I played it safe because we get hit by really strong winds blowing down the Columbia Gorge in the winter, and I wanted to have plenty of fastening points.
And then the roofing panels themselves. I used Amerilux CoverLite panels that I bought from Lowes. They transmit about 30% of the light. For my one previous coop, I used Suntuf panels from HomeDepot, but Lowes got my business this time because my local HomeDepot were out of stock when I needed them. I have no idea if one panel brand is better than the other.
BTW Using a Dremel tool to try to cut those panels isn't a great idea. Strong scissors or aviation snips work fine.
Next up was the siding, for which I used 4x8' LP SmartSide siding, which I cut to size and painted in my garage before nailing it in place with 1.5" nails it. Note the temporary planks I fastened under the base of the coop to make it easy to position and level the siding on my own. I also added some flashing I had lying around to the cleaning door sill, and covered the coop floor with cheap stick on tiling.
I built the 'stable door' for the run with 2x3 framing lumber with 1x3 trim fastened over hardware cloth to secure it in place.
Getting to the finishing touches now - which always take longer than you expect.
I built the cleaning door for the coop (I forgot to take a photo of that) from an extra piece of siding that I cut to size, and braced with 3x2 framing lumber. Ideally, I would have just used the piece I'd already cut out but I hadn't thought ahead when designing the framing to position the door opening so it was contained within one siding panel.
I had remembered to design the coop framing to easily fasten the chicken door to the coop. I splashed out and bought an Omlet automatic door. Arguably, I don't need a coop door with the run being completely enclosed, but I thought I might want to later extend the main run with an additional lightweight run that won't have such a secure door. Better safe than sorry. Besides, sometimes you want to keep the chickens in or out of the coop. The ledge in front of the door was some old plywood I had lying around mounted on some scrap 2x4; and the ramp was a leftover piece of siding, some PT 2x2 strips, and some leftover roof panel mounting strips.
You can also see from this photo how I secured the hardware cloth mesh to the inside base of the run framing using leftover PT 2x4 pieces.
The nesting boxes were framed using 2x2s, box dividers were some pieces of old plywood I had lying around, enclosed in more LP SmartSide. The nesting box lid (in the raised position in this photo, but you can just about see it) is another piece of LP SmartSide. The lumps on the lid are the fasteners for the hinges, which I covered with glue so the chickens didn't have sharp objects just above their heads.
The nesting box was another of my "I'll work it out later" design items. It worked quite well considering that, and adding it later made it easier to install the main siding. But I did have to use some sealant to fill the joins between the nesting box siding and the main siding.
The final steps were to add some trim to cover the corner joints between siding panels. The trim is a mix of 1x4s, 1x3s and 1x2s. I also added also a closable 'vent flap' in the side. (Didn't need it to be a window because the roof lets in some light).
And suddenly I had to find another weekend project to keep me busy.
I'm not going to comment on how much this cost. I didn't keep track of my many trips to Lowes and HomeDepot, and I'd probably be depressed at the total if I had. But it kept me busy all summer, gave me some exercise in the sun, and I learned a lot. So money well spent.
Update: And then came the kicker. I finished the coop too late to buy chicks from the feedstore for this year, so I was planning to buy some next spring. However, as I was finishing writing this article, my employer has told me I have to either move across the country or 'resign' <sigh>. And if I get another job, I'll probably have to move anyway. So it looks like I'll never actually get to use this coop. Hopefully, backyard chickens will be permitted where I move to next, and I can start up a new project with improvements based on lessons learned.
