Most Efficient Chicken Coop Tour

Check out our chicken coop, created from a handful of different ideas on the internet. Super easy to manage!

Keep on Coopin' On!

[glenncountry]

This is a year late but i had to comment. Im 71 and raised chickens most of my life. This is a FANTASTIC coop! On the old fashioned farm they had an old shed for chicken coops. Keep out the predators and drafts and your fine. All these other comments are a bit overkill for chickens. You did a Great job for your birds.

[hdechaves]

Great job for a starter coop! I do have one recommendation: take out the heat lamp. As long as your coop is draft free with ventilation, that is all they need. I’ve been raising chickens in New England for 30 years and they do not need heat. This is a MAJOR fire hazard.

[bpd]

Just wanted to let you know that I implemented nearly everything you covered in this coop walkthrough, with some slight variations. For nearly 2 years now, our chicken coop is essentially a hands off operation with some daily visits to collect eggs and to toss them the occasional food scraps and monthly cleanings. So, I just wanted to say thanks for the inspiration.

[shambirose]

Am I the only one speechless on the names? Alrighty, then. :) Excellent video.

[MetaView]

chickens have feathers; they are not afraid of cold. There is no need for a heat lamp. However, they need lots of ventilation, even in the winter time, to prevent moisture build-up.

[bluefeatherfarms]

Nice Plants, I'm hoping to be legal soon here in Florida. Also, Great coop design. Thanks for the inspiration!

[michaellahr]

I love the casual marijuana growing in the background.

[lavernaspain]

Hi there! Thank you both for taking time to show us your flock and your wonderful chicken coop. I love it! I haven't raised chickens in over 20 years however now that I have moved and am a widow, I have learned that I should add several things from my old days, such as this, "raising chickens" for me it will be for the joy and the eggs! I have subscribed to your YouTube, so I can continue to enjoy your adventure! God Bless! Laverna S.

[beanerschnitzel]

Amanda, that is a fantastic set up. Thank you for caring for the birds. I’m very fond of mine too and always am looking to others idea to improve mine. This gave me lots of new ideas. Thank you from Roseville California

[spinnaker]

Amanda, you guys did an amazing job building your coop! I've seen so many different ones for sale and they are cheap. None of them have even half the smart features that yours has. Well done!

[CaptCutler]

It's one thing to name your chickens "chicken head" names; it's another to boldly tell the world that you did.

[johnrogers]

Hey Amanda and husband. You did an excellent job on the coop. Also a really good video presentation.!

[kazzana]

Not a bad first effort, but I do have a couple of suggestions: You are defeating the purpose of the deep litter system inside the hen house by cleaning it so often. A deep litter system is almost like a compost or healthy soil, and I believe your chooks will get health benefits, when you actually let the fungi and bacteria develop in your litter and by removing it so completely and so often you are starting from scratch each time you clean the coop. Make sure that litter is at least 4 inches deep to start, then add light layers of litter as necessary. Continue to do this until it is to deep to accommodate within your coop. It should last at least a year. When you do finally clean out the coop, make sure to leave some of the old litter in the coop, so those microbes are retained to inoculate the new litter. It would have been good if you had built your coop to accommodate at good 10 to 12 inches depth of litter. You need to do more research on the health benefits of deep litter as you are missing the point.

Now for the chicken run: You are concerned about moisture, so use woodchips to the depth of 8 to 12 inches. A cubic meter of woodchips can hold up to 700 litres of water, so they are ideal for preventing your run getting muddy. The carbon of the wood will use the nitrogen of the chicken poo to breakdown, keeping your run odor free and dry. No need to continuously clean out your run. It will eventually breakdown and be a huge bonus for your garden.

You have the best free compost workers in those hens, so why on earth is your compost pile not in the chicken run. Chickens adore scratching through compost, turning it for free. It gives them something to do. Every now and then, pile it up for them again, sprinkling some grain in it for them to find, and it will keep them happy and busy. All your kitchen scraps, weeds, fall leaves, grass clippings should be going into that little run to make your chickens happy and give you a great compost.

Less with the clean and tidy and more organic matter and your chickens will thank you.

[tiffanirees]

Thank you for sharing this lovely coop and all your great innovations!! Happy birds!! xx

[Ifitallfails]

Love the video and the names of your lil babies! Unfortunately in Louisiana that coup would blow over on hurricane season. We gotta build it with 4x's the lumber.

[ejejej]

We started with pine shavings, but our avian vet advised that the pine can be bad for their respiratory health. We switched to straw and they love it. They can manipulate it with their beaks too and the layers make happy clucks building their “nest” with it. :)

[susyesmera]

Nice coop. Thank you Amanda for the lovely video!

[erinbailey]

Very Well Done coop!! You covered all the basics really good! Only suggestion I offer? Open that nesting box for them even Before they are 'ready' to lay. It will help a Broody hen 'get the idea' on laying. Yes, it is more to clean, but worth it. If they get in the habit of laying eggs on the ground because you didn't have that nest box open soon enough, they are likely to continue that habit. Good Luck!!

[lindabarnes]

Great video and great time saving, work saving ideas. I keep a few chickens as well. The naysayers don't know what they are talking about. You have incorporated a lot of good ideas that are well thought out. Any time you build something from scratch, plans always need a little tweaking, but that is to be expected. Great job. Thanks.

[joescott]

Your coop is pretty good. I would do one further thing though. Add a sand box. Chickens like all birds bathe by rolling in the sand. It also cleans the mites and redistributes the oils on their feathers. No need for anything elaborate just dig 1" of soil from under the house and walkway and add sand. Keep your chickens happier and healthier.
God Bless