The Urban Agrarian
 
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Housing

The Coop

You're serious! You have made up your mind and will start you flock as soon as you can find your car keys! Before you start building your coop it may serve you well to keep a couple of things in mind while you build and/or design your bird's new home!
  • Design as large and with the highest level of quality that you can afford. Not only will you be more satisfied with your end result, you will have much more flexibility with your coop.
  • Regardless of size or any other factor, please be sure that your coop will be any easy space to clean out often. Simply put, the easier it is to clean the coop the more often you will do it, and the happier both you and your birds will be!
  • Different species have different needs. Examples are chickens and peafowl like to roost at night on branches or perches. Ducks and geese sleep on the ground but need bill deep water and enjoy a place to groom in water and to swim.
  • Many people feel better having their coop and run secure with a lock and key.
Key Features of Good Coops
  • Location
I recommend a backyard as the ideal site for a coop site. Poultry can suffer stress from street activity. They also stand to receive less attention, good and bad when housed out of public view. Often the best visitor to your coop is invited!
  • Shading 
Our summers can be quite hot, as we are all aware. We can escape the stresses of heat by the marvels of air conditioning and sweat glands. Birds have neither. Thus a good spot for the coop is under the shade of tree branches or vines. It is a good way to use that one part of the backyard where nothing else will take root! Avoid moist damp and dank locations, as they can breed disease.
  • Ventilation 
Air exchange is important for the health and comfort of you and your birds. Design with that in mind. There is such a thing as making a coop too airtight. If you can smell ammonia, it is time to air out your coop.
  • Open Surfaces 
One thing that will become clear in the course of being a chicken farmer, That is that anywhere a chicken can sit, a chicken will poop! If you want a worktable, consider a fold up table on hinges that collapses when not in use. Make hinged windows open out of the birds reach. Chickens can't roost in supply cabinets with shut doors!
  • Nest boxes 
These can be made or bought. Any semi-private box a little larger that a chicken that is easy to enter and exit will do. I use milk crates nailed to the wall, but I am a big fan of exterior nest boxes that can be opened from the outside. You use less space inside the structure and can collect eggs outside without disturbing your birds. Ground nesters (Ducks, Geese, Turkey) appreciate a ground level box. Quick ones for them are barrels and 5 gallon buckets on their side, raised slightly to prevent excess litter or water from flowing in.