Mavis Mail – Bruce From Norfolk, VA Sends in His Chicken Coop Photos and Lot’s of Building Tips

A big THANK YOU to everyone who has sent in their photographs and stories. I hope by sharing other people’s pictures and stories here on One Hundred Dollars a Month we can all find unique ways to save, show off our chickens and have a rock star gardens. Keep them coming!

Hello Mavis!
Thank you for your great sites (blog and Facebook); my wife and I find much in the way of useful info.

I’d like to share how I built my own chicken coop and some helpful hints that became a part of the project. I decided to build my own as coop that can be purchased out in town will run, for six chickens, anywhere from $2500 to $4500! Between asking for scrap at construction sits and what I did buy, we probably spent about $150.00.

The completed coop and Helpful Hint Number 1: If you live in an area with nocturnal, predatory animals such as raccoons, possums, etc., you’ll want to put a little extra in the way of protection. For this, I used welded wire from Lowe’s. A roll of 36” x 50’ should do it for a coop like mine with a footprint of 4’x8’.

You’ll want to let the welded wire run at least 6” along the ground around the coop to keep any of the critters mentioned above from digging their way in. I covered the welded wire at the base with 2-3” of dirt and planted the flowers (which the chickens ate in a day).

If anything does dig, it will not get far and will certainly not be able to lift the wire from the ground. Helpful hint 1A would be to include a covered area AND “outside” area for the chickens to occupy. On the bottom left of the “cage” is a hinged door that when opened, gives the chickens access to the rest of the yard. The “cage” that you see is for when we will not be home for hours on end and feel it best to keep the chickens out of harm’s way (the kind of harm that comes from the VERY large population of red tailed hawks that hang out in the area!).

Helpful hints 2,3 and 4 can be seen in this picture of an almost-complete coop.

Helpful Hint Number 2: Ventilation. I cut a decent-sized slot and built a frame around it and added hinges to allow air in. You can’t see it from the view, but there is a notched arch on the other side that allows this hatch to be opened to four different degrees – more for summer and less for winter/rainy weather. A hatch like this should be on BOTH sides of the coop. There is also welded wire here to keep the critters out.

Helpful Hint Number 3: A window. I used a scrap of plexiglass framed in place and secured against the elements with caulk. For the chickens, it lets in a little light. For me, I can see into the coop. The door below the window is the “chicken door” – their way in and out.

Helpful Hint Number 4: Laying boxes. As a naval architect/draftsman by occupation, I designed every square inch of this thing, including the number of boxes for egg laying. I have 6 chickens (City of Norfolk, VA limit) with four boxes for the chickens to do their business in. If you have six boxes, the chickens tend to go broody easier as there is not a line of hens waiting to drop an egg; they’ll sit there all day unbothered.

Fewer boxes makes for the necessity of a rotation. But what about the extra space that could allowed for two more boxes? Easy! Block it off from the chickens and use it for storage! We keep a small dustpan, brush, disposable gloves and a ready bag of grit in there.

A view from the inside with a 5-week-old inspector checking out the roosting poles.
A large access door (about 32”x32”, hinged on one side) provides access to the rear of the coop for cleaning and maintenance.

Helpful Hint Number 5 and Helpful Hint Number 6 is to build your roosting poles in such a way as to have them easily removable for periodic cleaning. At the far end, you can see that a simple slot with an opening at the top makes this happen. Trust me, your roosting poles will not look this clean after just a few days. . . My roosting poles are 2x2x8’ untreated lumber.

A five-week-old Plymouth Barred Rock coop inspector is a must!

For Helpful Hint Number 7, build a threshold for the laying boxes. Yep, a threshold does just that: it holds thresh. For us, it’s straw from the local Feed & Seed place. A 2×4 on it’s side offers plenty of hold.

A little help goes a long way.

Helpful Hint Number 8. Get your kids to help!

~Bruce

Find More Mavis Mail Submissions HERE.

If you would like to have your garden, chicken coop, pantry or something you’ve made featured on One Hundred Dollars a Month, here’s what I’m looking for:

• Your Garden Pictures and Tips – I’d especially like to see your garden set ups, growing areas, and know if you are starting seeds indoors this year. If so,  show me some picture of how you are going about it.
• Your Pantry Pics – Submit at least 5 HIGH QUALITY pictures of your pantry/fridge/cabinets, as well as a short blurb {at the very least} about you and your food habits.
• Your Chicken and Chicken Related Stories – Coops, Chicks, Hen’s, Roosters, Eggs, you name it. If it clucks, send us some pictures to share with the world.
• Cool Arts & Crafts – Made from your very own hands with detailed {and well photographed} pictures and instructions.
• Your pictures and stories about your pets. The more pictures and details the better.
• Garage Sale, Thrift Store and Dumpster Diving pictures and the stories behind the treasures you found including how much you paid for them.

You’ll need to send in a Minimum of 5 HIGH QUALITY pictures and the stories to go along with those pictures. Please do not send in a couple of grainy photos and a sentence about them. I can’t post that. It doesn’t make for an interesting or informative story.

If I feature your pictures and the stories behind them on One Hundred Dollars a Month, I will send you a $20.00 gift card to the greatest store in the world: Amazon.com. You can send your submissions to me at onehundreddollarsamonth @ gmail.com {spaces removed}and be sure and put Mavis Mail in the subject line. Thank you. I’m looking forward to your submissions.

Go HERE for the official rules.