Chicken Coop Features NOT To Forget (8 Things To Consider)

Since building 5+ chicken coops, we've learned what can make (or BREAK) a chicken coop. Click "SHOW MORE" for more resources below!

*Use Code OAK15 for $15 off with HenGear!*

*Save 10% on GrubTerra Chicken Treats with code OAKABODE*

We're not experts, so we always recommend talking to the pros for the best advice. This post and comments below contain affiliate links, which may lead to a commission if purchased. This comes at no extra cost to you. Thanks!

[ThesmartestTem]

Use linoleum to protect your floor. Especially if doing deep litter or keeping water in your coop. We have a sheet of scrap linoleum covering the whole bottom and about 4 inches up all sides to create a sort of tub to hold the shavings. It will help keep the floor of your coop from rotting out.

[darlenedavis]

The first coop I had was a "walk-in". It was an old tack room that we converted. It had its pros and cons. The 2 main reasons that I now have an elevated one with a big door is 1) walking on the chicken poop and then potentially tracking it back to other places. I did have a pair of coop shoes (shoes I only wore in the coop) so maybe I was just paranoid. 2) I injured my back years ago and bending to shovel or rake the litter out caused my back to "go out" several times. In my new coop, the doors open at waist level so no bending is involved. I just use a rake to pull the litter out when we change it twice a year. I 200% agree with #3. Can't stress ventilation enough. Just make sure that you don't have drafts blowing RIGHT on your chicks. Our first nesting boxes were old Tidy Cat litter buckets. Just cut off half the lid and voila - worked perfectly.

[anirthesengalparrot]

Auto doors and rolling egges things honestly take the fun out from having chikens sometimes even the water dishes i mean going evry morning to feed and water them also put them back in the coop just what makes having chikens special so please people consider having chikens the traditional way❤

[Caveman_Mid_MO]

You are such a breath of fresh air. Wonderful personality!

[joeolejar]

I enjoyed your comment about a walk in coop. Our flock of 21 chickens is in what was built as a horse stall. Has good protection from the elements and has great ventilation.

[frankieboy]

I enjoy your podcasts, my first consideration was making sure I went almost double on area size requirements. Finally done after today with coop and run. If I can find an email of yours where I can send pics or a video when I'm done painting. 51 years I waited to get chickens and at 7 weeks old they're already spoiled rotten.

[hirofortis]

My understanding is 1 nest box per 3 chickens. That has worked well for me. But I only have 8 hens. Thank you for the info. I had built my coop off of one of your raised designs and thankfully I met all the check boxes. :)

[matthewtaylor]

Make that floor and big door opening a little higher than your wheelbarrow. Make it so you can get your wheelbarrow back UNDER the ledge. Then you can just drag the litter out.

[dirtfun]

I have one of the Hen Gear boxes. It is well built, well designed, and looks good. I also have an elevated nest box that's built into the coop. But my girls prefer to just make a nest in the corner of the coop, and lay their eggs there. Ugh... Since they're happy and the eggs are clean. go for it girls.

[nogames]

I purposely placed my chicken coop where it would be out of the wind in the winter and out of direct sunlight in the summer. It has made a huge difference in caring for my chickens. It was -7 here last week with a -20 windchill. This summer will have a few weeks of over 100°. but the placement of my coop helps with the most severe weather.

[MosaicHomestead]

You mentioned a couple of things I haven't had luck with, I bought a chicken guard extreme with the self locking door, the door is horrible, I get door errors all the time, I eventually had to disconnect the door, Chicken guard changed their design because reputable businesses like Carolina coops stopped selling these expensive garbage doors. Another crappie chicken item that doesn't work well is those plastic self filling cup feeders, I also don't like the plastic peck feeders because that's not how chickens drink water in the wild, just imagine yourself smashing your teeth against a metal object to drink water lol. I researched a full year before building my coop, it has a ton of features that work great, the 2 biggest failures have been the chicken guard door and the plastic cup feeders, I have switched to stainless steel commercial animal waterers, I've tweak them to make them even better.

[chihuahuamartin]

We’re new at having chickens… we have 6 hens and 3 boxes and last week had been the first week that all 6 have layed one egg each a day. I’ve gone out to 2 broken eggs, not sure what happened but I cleaned the mess up promptly so as not to encourage that behavior. This morning I opened the nest box lid and had 2 hens in one box, don’t know what was going on there..no egg fatalities today… I had to go out 4 times because they don’t all lay at once… I wasn’t sure if they should all have their own box. Thanks for all the videos and information! 😊

[chromasux]

We've built two coops so far, both elevated, but we still covered most of the runs, so they don't have to stay under the coop in hot sun or heavy rain, as we get both often here in Tennessee. Only real issue was I didn't check every dimension of the plans we used for the first one which led to quite a bit of modifying to work and on one wall throwing out the dimensions and doing the best we could. Second coop I pretty much just modified from a set of plans to meet our needs for new silkies and it came out much better and secure. Door is too small for me to get through but the kids can get up in there with them when they want. The only thing I'm not sure about is if I put too much ventilation in that one for winters, which can get below freezing at times. Our main flock suffered a few frostbit combs when it got down in single digits out of nowhere before we wrapped the coop up in a tarp but were good after that. Thanks for the info!

[StephenBiggers]

I noticed your water in the run. How do you keep that water from developing algae? I have that exact waterer and I'm constantly trying to scrub it out. Even happens in shadier areas. Any tips are appreciated. Thanks

[jocelyndasilva]

Hi, I just watched your walk in shed chicken coop. Which one do you have now? Wondering if you recommend the elevated or walk in coup since you’ve had a few coops now.

[Lori..]

We are building our first coop now and we are trying to figure out the ventilation. With the vents being open all the time we are wondering how the rain and snow stays out. Thank you for any info! 😊🐣

[jimmyslim]

We found that one box is what worked for ours. Its 4 feet wide, they fought over individual boxes, 2 or 3 wanted it at the same time. We ended up having to get rid of them in town and take them to my moms, they were so noisy and making neighbors mad.

[boostjunkieMike]

👏🏾👌🏾😎👍🏾👍🏾 thanks for sharing. Very useful information

[ginniecobbett]

If the coop is walk in and even insulated, do you think in cold climates it would be colder for the hens.We do not heat our coop.

[kevindechambeau]

I love your hand house. I'm getting ready to transfer a sixteen foot by eight foot snowmobile trailer in two a mobile henhouse coop.