Backyard Chicken Coop
There were many reasons we decided to live in the Minnesota countryside. One of those reasons was our love for animals! We love having farm fresh eggs and really enjoy the experience of raising chickens. I wanted to give our ladies the perfect home and make sure they were as comfortable as we are sipping our morning coffee looking out at them. These backyard chicken coop free plans are a great place to start if you are looking build your own coop. Our coop is farmhouse chicken coop is inspired by the exterior of our home.
You can change this backyard chicken coop to fit your style and house. We decided to use cedar shingles but you can use any regular shingle as well. We also recommend using a really good quality exterior paint! This is going to help keep your chicken coop looking great for years to come.
Many of these materials can be found at your local home store. We use treated lumber for anything that came into contact with the ground. The walls and roofs were made with typical 2×3 studs and OSB plywood.
In my opinion the most important part of this build is to not use chicken wire for the run. Many predators can easily gain access through chicken wire. Put it this way… Chicken wire is great for keeping chickens in your backyard chicken coop, but not good at keeping predators our. I recommend using a quality 1/2″ hardware cloth to enclose the chicken run. I cannot stress using hardware cloth enough! I have also found that black hardware cloth is less visible!
We also love our large automatic water feeder to make everyday chores easier! It works great in the summer and has an opening for a water heater that keeps water from freezing over the winter!
“I wanted to give our ladies the perfect home and make sure they were as comfortable as we are sipping our morning coffee looking out at them.”
Go check out our feature with Bob Villa and check see some other amazing backyard chicken coops.
Backyard Chicken Coop Free Plans
If you are new to DIY you are going to want to check out some of the basic tools needed to start your DIY Tool Kit. Check out some of my recommendations here
Do you have a list of the supplies needed?
Hi Cathy,
Sorry, We do not have a full list of supplies! We just provide the dimensions of our coop and general layout.
We used your plans but made some minor changes. We also don’t have a run because we have an enclosure already, but it turned out amazing. Thanks for sharing the plans!!
Hi Kristi!
Thanks so much for this message! That makes us so happy to hear!
How many chickens does your coop house?
Hi, We fit 10 chickens comfortably!
Hi there! I love these plans! What did you use as that black boarder right under the roof?
Hi! Thanks so much. We use a metal flashing typically used on roof edges. Its called “Drip Edge”. It can be found at big box stores!
Curious about the windows, do you board them up in the winter? If so what do you do for ventilation.
Hi Carissa,
We have a small piece of plexiglass on a track so we can open and close it!
Thanks so much for the info on the flashing! One more question, how did you create the arched molding around the door?
Hi Abigal,
We used a router and a circle jig to cut the arch door opening and the arched trim!
Thank you for sharing plans! I can’t wait to build my chicken coop. I also live in the country in Minnesota. I’m so happy to have found your site.
Thanks so much Jenna! Let us know how it goes or if you have any questions!
Do you any photos of the interior? We are still under construction and trying to figure out the best configuration for roosts/droppings boards.
Thank you!
Hi Cynthia,
We do not! We just have some basic perches made out of 2×4 material. The seem to love it! We switch it up sometimes to and they seem to be pretty happy with any option we do!