Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
securing the boards that are standing in place with either nails or L brackets, whichever is
preferred.
At this point there should be an open air structure, sturdy enough to where it does not
wiggle to one side or another noticeably when it is shaken. Now that your frame is in place,
you will need to start working on the inside area for the chickens. This will be a simple box
that can be created out of plywood. The dimensions of the box will depend on how many
nesting areas you will have, how many chickens will be present, and how many roosting
spots you will need to have. The important part is to make sure it has ventilation holes on
each end and at least two windows. The amount of nesting boxes will be determined by
how many chickens you will have as will the number of stairs you setup for the roosting.
The box must also have a hole in it for a ramp that the chickens may walk down. This ex-
ample will be for two chickens, for simplicity's sake.
Get four eight foot sheets of plywood. Cut out six four feet by four feet squares. The top
and the bottom will remain whole. Two sides should have a 2 inch by four inch slit cut out
at the top. The other two sides should have two four inch by four inch slits cut out. Save
the cut out sections. In one of the sides that has the smaller slits, cut out a four by four inch
square at the bottom. These are your windows, ventilation shafts, and door. The side with
the front door will be on hinges, with a latch opposite from the hinges for your access. Get
twelve 2x2x4s and create a box frame. Attach the top and the bottom and the three sides to
this frame but do not attach the door. Cover the windows and ventilation shafts with chick-
en wire. You should now have a box that looks similar to a shoebox turned on its side, with
one side open. Take the final side, the side with the door, and attach it via a hinge to one
side and attach the latch to the other. Take the pieces you cut out from where the windows
were and attach those over the outside of the windows with hinges, creating a window that
can be propped open or closed shut. Open your hinged door and take scraps of the wood to
make perches on one side, staggered like stair steps. On the other side, add in two boxes.
These can be made of wood or they can be plastic, whatever you prefer. Those are to be the
nesting boxes.
Now, create a frame for this to sit on. The legs will need to be approximately four feet long,
and the frame will need to fully support the box you have just made. This can again be done
with 2x4s. Once the frame has been created, the box will need to be placed on the stand.
The stand may then be moved into your open air frame. Now that the indoor area of the
coop is in place, the next step is to create the ramp. This may be done with plywood for
simplicity with cut up pieces of quarter round spaced down at about four inch intervals for
ease of getting up and down. The ramp, once made, will need to be attached to the coop
itself, which is easily done with a hinge.
