Building A Safe And Secure Chicken Coop

*This is a collaborative post on creating a safe and secure chicken coop

Picture this: you wake up in the morning to the sound of soft clucking outside. A flock of chickens excitedly greets you as you approach the chicken coop in your garden, ready to retrieve any fresh eggs to rustle up for a wholesome family breakfast.

Sounds like the countryside dream, right? In this guide, I’ll talk you through how to build a safe and secure chicken coop to keep your flock (or future flock) happy.

Firstly, why keep chickens?

Sure, keeping chickens feeds into the picture-perfect countryside dream, but it also holds many other great benefits. For starters, what better food to eat than food grown on your own land? Ultra-fresh with great flavour from a source that you can trust. With the right care, you could be getting 4-5 eggs a week in season.

And of course, if you have children, keeping chickens can be a great source of responsibility and education. It teaches children about life cycles, where food comes from and daily care routines. Not to mention that they can be very calming and therapeutic to look after and be around. It feels good to offer these gorgeous animals an enriching life, particularly if you decide to rehome ex-commercial hens.

Keeping chickens also offers financial benefits. Eggs can offset part of feed costs, especially with a productive flock. Of course, there are upfront spends to consider, such as the coop itself, feed, bedding and health bills. But keep it as a hobby that pays back in food and soil health.

Other financial benefits include savings on compost and fertiliser, as aged chicken manure and used bedding can replace this. Chickens are also fantastic pest controllers, so no need to purchase pest-control pellets, traps or insecticides. A well-built coop also has a high resale value if you ever decide to stop keeping chickens, so you can recoup some capital.

Planning your chicken coop build

First step in the planning process – where is your chicken coop going to be located? Choose somewhere that allows two to three square feet per chicken inside and at least eight to ten square feet per chicken in the outdoor run. Choose a dry and well-drained location that offers enough shade and shelter to keep your chickens comfortable in the heat and the rain, and the wind.

Alongside the structure of the coop, you’ll want to consider purchasing nesting boxes so that your chickens have a private space to lay their eggs, and feeders for them to eat from. It’s also important to note that chickens prefer to sleep on elevated perches rather than on the ground, so look to install roosting bars, horizontal poles or platforms inside the coop to give them somewhere safe and comfortable to rest. Aim for ten to twelve inches of space on a roosting bar per chicken.

Check out your local agricultural supplies store for a good selection of the materials that you’ll likely need.

Building your chicken coop

With a good level of planning behind you, it’s time to start building your chicken coop! Here’s a step-by-step guide to get you started. 

1. Mark out the location for your coop and lay a level base of slabs or timber skids
2. Frame the walls with wooden panels or plants and start on the floor, adding rot-proofed base rails
3. Fit the roof structure and add roofing (felt or metal) – a slanted roof is beneficial as it allows the rain to run off easily
4. Install the doors and vents
5. Wrap the run in melded mesh, including a buried skirt
6. Add the interior elements such as roosts, nest boxes and secure feeders
7. If you’re adding a run, secure it with strong chicken wire or mesh, digging it into the ground a little to stop any pests from digging their way in
8. Put together a final snag list, looking out for sharp edges, latch tension, and weather sealing

Comfort and health considerations for your chickens

Along with safety and security, it’s important to make your chickens’ comfort a priority. When choosing the perfect bedding for your flock, opt for absorbent, low-dust options such as kiln-dried wood shavings, chopped straw or hemp. Avoid aromatic softwoods such as cedar if you can. The oils can irritate the lungs. Top it up little and often to avoid it getting damp. If it gets damp, you run the risk of red mites.

When choosing and fitting perches, 4-5 cm in diameter is the sweet spot. Think broom-handle thickness with rounded edges so that their feet rest flat. Allow 25-30cm per length per hen with at least 20cm between parallel perches. Fit them 40-60cm off the floor and 30cm away from the walls to avoid tail rub. Additionally, making them removable means you can easily give them a clean and treat any red mite hotspots. As for nest boxes, go for 1 box per 3-4 hens. Place these lower than the perches in a quiet, cosy corner.

Settling in your chickens

Once your coop is all set up, it’s time to welcome in your chickens. It’s a good idea to do this in the evenings, as this is when chickens tend to be at their calmest. To get them used to their new space quickly, keep them inside for the first day or two, without access to the outdoors. 

Settling your chickens in should be pretty simple – they are quite adaptable creatures. It’s normal for them to seem a little out of sorts at first. They may hide, not eat too much or get a little pecky with each other. If you notice this, add a few fun distractions to perk them up, such as hanging veg extra perches or even a swing. Be patient with them!

Building your own chicken coop is a hugely rewarding job and something that the whole family can get involved with and be excited about. And remember – a safe, secure coop is the foundation of healthy, happy chickens and reliable eggs.