We have built a couple coops over the years and decided to build another for my latest batch of chickens.

We’ve always stuck with the portable “chicken tractor” since we don’t want our girls to completely tear up our grass. But while we needed it to be nice and light to move around, we also needed it to be solid enough to protect my girls from hawks, raccoons and foxes. Basically, if a racoon can’t get in the coop with their tiny hands, dislocating spines and the insufferable ability to learn, then your girls are pretty much safe from other animals. However, racoon proofing is much harder than it might initially seem.

Our first step was to pick a size. We originally had 6 chicks (until we found one of them was a rooster) and you typically want at least 2 square feet per chicken so we found ourselves at a 3 by 4 design.

The next consideration was where we wanted to put the nesting boxes. Each one is about 1 square foot and since we found ourselves with only 5 hens, my dad and I decided to make 3 nesting boxes that would line the 3 foot wall. This way, they would still have 9 square foot for them to sleep and do their chicken stuff in and 3 square feet to lay their eggs in.

Although my dad and I had big dreams of a 8 x 8 foot run, some odd circumstances have come up and we ended up reusing our old 4 x 8 run. Obviously, this space was not optimal for our 5 large girls so we let them free range in the yard for about an hour a day so that they can release all their pent up energy!

Our ramp we created out of some scrap wood. Initially, I was afraid that the chickens weren’t smart enough to step over the holes but they figured it out rather quickly and were running up and down it in no time at all.

Their outdoor perch we made out of a large branch and some strange unidentified stands we found in our back garden. They really like this one because the branch is a comfortable size for their feet and it is a bit higher than their perch in the coop.

Overall, this version had lots of improvisation yet the coop is very sturdy and usable. There is still much to do, like building nesting boxes and a proper run, but I am very happy with this Green-Gable-like coop!