Good Bye, Old Chicken Coop!

In March we moved into a new home, and the last three months have required a lot of adjusting and resettling! We moved our existing chickens over with us, and they are in a temporary coop made from pallets while my husband gets ready for a big three to four week coop build!

As he's been getting ready, downloading plans and setting aside time to build, I've been thinking fondly of the first coop we built. We had a lot of requests for how it was built, and I wish I could share more details! Daniel and I looked at many coop designs, and filtered them through our main goal - lots of run space, able to keep birds full-time enclosed if needed, and as frugal as possible! Many coop designs run $1000+ in wood and materials, and we built this one for less than $400, using what we could that we already had and reducing materials down to the basics!

It was the very first building project I ever requested of my husband - he had not so much as built a shelf before this! It was a daunting task, and I was so proud of the design he drew up and his execution! He was quick to decide to use pre-made designs for the next coop - he'll be building a slightly modified Garden Loft Coop. 

Basic design - I wanted the chickens to have as much run space as we could, without spending a ton on materials! I also wanted to be able to walk in to clean the run floor and go in and out with the feeder and waterer. 

Basic design - I wanted the chickens to have as much run space as we could, without spending a ton on materials! I also wanted to be able to walk in to clean the run floor and go in and out with the feeder and waterer. 

We were able to keep the feeder and waterer under the little hen house part of the coop, keeping it from rain. 

We were able to keep the feeder and waterer under the little hen house part of the coop, keeping it from rain. 

Super simple entrance to the hen house. Our girls would go in to put themselves to bed on the roosting bars or go in to lay eggs!

Super simple entrance to the hen house. Our girls would go in to put themselves to bed on the roosting bars or go in to lay eggs!

One side of the coop had a swing door to collect eggs from two little laying areas we set up. It was a great height for the older two children to unlatch and open!

One side of the coop had a swing door to collect eggs from two little laying areas we set up. It was a great height for the older two children to unlatch and open!

This back door was put in to help make it super easy to clean up the bedding, I just swept out the old into a bag and had the children help me replenish the new chips! 

This back door was put in to help make it super easy to clean up the bedding, I just swept out the old into a bag and had the children help me replenish the new chips! 

I am excited for our new coop, but I did love this homemade design! We learned a ton about caring for our chickens and what does and doesn't work for their living spaces in the process. As the Garden Loft Coop build gets underway, I will be sharing the progress over on Instagram Stories - be sure to follow @LittleLightFamily on IG and follow along!