What's in the Bottom of the Chicken Coop?

Sung to the tune of Camptown Ladies, my chicken song starts like this: 

What's in the bottom of the chicken coop?

Doo doo! Doo doo!

It's just one of the many things that have new meaning now that we have the chickens. “Dumb cluck,” “home to roost,” “pecking order” and “bad egg” are other expressions with obvious chicken origins that make more sense too.

When contemplating the idea of getting a few chickens to keep in the backyard, the first question was “where?”  My husband Jay and I (mostly Jay) converted the bottom section of the wooden swing-set fort into our chicken coop in three days (see photos). Jay’s original suggestion was to close in the back part of our garden shed which already has an overhanging roof.  I was opposed as I felt insecure about not being able to see the coop if it were there, behind another structure and facing into the woods where the predators lurk.  So we constructed a coop that Rube Goldberg would be proud of.

Other chicken hobbyists who don’t already have a barn or an outdoor building to convert have built elaborate doll house-type coops.  Prefabricated chicken coops can also be purchased if one doesn’t have an available structure, time or carpentry skills.  The coop will be the most expensive investment in becoming a chicken hobbyist.  Purchasing the chicks, food and other accessories is the cheap part (no pun intended).  Our coop probably cost about $500 to build, primarily because my husband shingled the roof. 

I would advise that if you want to build a chicken coop yourself, do some research so you have a clear understanding of what will work for adult chickens.  Some considerations other than being predator-proof….the perches need to be flat so that the chickens can sit on their feet during the cold winter nights to keep their toes warm and prevent frostbite.  A regular 2”x 4” board nailed 18-24 inches off the ground works well for this.    

A separate nesting box area with outside access to retrieve eggs is important for planning your coop.  Baby chicks grow quickly and most hens start laying at five months of age.   Daily egg hunts around the yard loses its appeal quickly.   A golf ball placed in the nesting boxes as a decoy helps to train the hens where to lay.  My hens have been sitting on Titleist eggs for quite some time.   A hen's thought process:  "I need to lay an egg today.  Where should I leave it?  Oh!  Someone else left their eggs here so this must be a good place to put mine."

One important hint given to me by Farmer Warren Burrows at the Groton Family Farm was to avoid using chicken wire on the coop.  A raccoon can easily reach its cute little hand through the openings in chicken wire, grab its sleeping victim by the leg if the roost is nearby and tear the poor bird to pieces with its other hand.  A tighter wire referred to as hardware cloth is a better choice. 

There are many ideas for coops on Backyard Chickens.  Since building our coop two years ago, we have rearranged and added more perches, removed two of the dividers in the nesting boxes as the hens all share the same box anyway, and added a wall-mounted radiant heater for the colder months.  In retrospect, the garden shed would have been a better choice for two reasons.  First, I could walk into the coop upright instead of bending over and hitting my head as I back out.  Second, there would be more room to keep adding chickens.