How We Built Our Chicken Coop 🐓 (And Why I’d Do a Few Things Differently)

How We Built Our Chicken Coop 🐓 (And Why I’d Do a Few Things Differently)

This is one of those projects where I say…

“I have an idea…”

And somehow, my son makes it happen 😂

💡 The Goal

I didn’t just want a chicken coop — I wanted something that was:

  • Easy to clean
  • Easy to collect eggs
  • Safe at night
  • Simple to manage every day

Here’s what we came up with 👇

🏠 The Chicken House

My son built the main chicken house from scratch.

We made sure to include:

  • A side door for easy clean-out
  • Roosting bars inside
  • A secure structure for nighttime protection

At night is when chickens are most vulnerable, so this part was really important.

🥚 Nesting Boxes (My Favorite Part)

This might be my favorite feature of the whole setup.

We attached the nesting boxes to the back side of the coop.

  • They’re mounted from the outside
  • You can flip them open to collect eggs
  • No need to go inside the coop

Even better — the boxes are slightly tilted so the eggs roll away after they’re laid.

That keeps them much cleaner.

I ordered these nesting boxes on Amazon.

🧼 Easy Cleaning

We added vinyl flooring to the bottom of the coop.

This makes cleaning so much easier — just scrape and wipe.

Definitely something I would do again.

🚪 Automatic Chicken Doors (Game Changer)

I did NOT want to worry about opening and closing the coop every day.

So we added an automatic chicken door.

  • Solar powered
  • Opens and closes automatically
  • Can be set by time OR sunrise/sunset

I actually use two of these doors — one for the coop and one for the run.

If you’re someone who might forget (like me 😅), these are absolutely worth it.

🐓 The Chicken Run

I wanted the chickens to have outdoor space… but not free range all day.

So we added a walk-in chicken run attached to the coop.

I ordered the run on Amazon and connected it to the house.

What I like:

  • Gives them space during the day
  • More controlled than full free range
  • Easy to walk into and manage

What I would change:

The netting that comes with it is not very secure.

That’s actually how Dolly ended up getting into it 😅

So if you’re using something like this, I would recommend:

  • Reinforcing the netting
  • Or upgrading it for better protection

It’s still a good setup — just something to think about.

🚪 Second Door for Free Range Time

This is where another “I have an idea…” moment happened 😂

I wanted the chickens to:

  • Stay in the run during part of the day
  • Then free range later

So we added a second automatic door to the chicken run.

This one opens around 2 PM so they can go out — but not all day.

Attaching it to netting wasn’t easy… but my son figured it out.

I’ll share photos of that setup because it took some creativity.

🤔 What I’d Do Differently

  • Upgrade or reinforce the run netting
  • Figure out how to get ALL chickens to use the nesting boxes 😂

Some of them understood the assignment…

Some did not.

💬 What Do You Think?

If you’ve built a chicken coop, I’d love to hear:

  • What worked for you?
  • What would you change?

And if you’ve figured out how to get chickens to ONLY use nesting boxes… please tell me 😂

If you enjoy following along with our farm life (the peaceful parts and the chaotic ones 😄), you can check out our stays here:

Dana’s Florida Getaways

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