The A-Star Chicken Coop

Hi There!

After building our first chicken coop (see it here) about 3 years ago and using it since then I decided to build a second one. I was motivated by several articles and books on mobile chicken tractors. I especially liked the design in http://catawbacoops.com. We live in a neighborhood where houses are not much distant from each other. This concerns me about disturbing our neighbors due to smell and noise of our chickens. Granted with good husbandry practices, both can be kept be at a minimal level, but something mobile is still desirable.

My motives were to make a coop that is:

• light enough that one person can move without much effort,
• good looking enough to be decorative in the garden instead of being an eye sore,
• and large enough to accommodate at least 3 chickens.

So first let me share the result without going into details of building it.

Ok now so on to the building process. I unfortunately do not have exact cut lists but I will try to explain the process with pictures so you can easily build one for yourself. First of all, as this build contains angled cuts you should ideally have a miter saw. Without a miter saw, I think this can be a doable but painful process. So my advice is if you want to build this and do not have a miter saw, buy one.

It starts from here:

I used one vertical beam that runs from one end of the coop to the other. It is 2 meters long. It is supported by six legs. The legs are cut at 22.5 degrees at the point they connect to the beam. For standing straight on the ground the bottom of the legs are cut at 67.5 degrees. In fact these are the only two angles that I used in the whole build. I tried to illustrate these cuts in the picture below:

I also added a small support at the point where the legs connect to the roof beam (I recommend both screwing and gluing for strength):

Next I added supports running parallel to the roof beam. This sets the level that will separate the closed upper part of the coop from its open lower part:

Next I added four triangle corner pieces on each side to create an extrusion onto which the coop floor will rest on:

With that done, I started to work on the side walls. Basically these are wood panels that can be interlocked to each other (of course make sure to apply glue). I also added two cross pieces to give them support:

In the following picture, you can see how they sit on the coop skeleton:

Looks like the coop is starting to show itself, right? The next picture shows one wood panel attached to the roof beam that sort of covers it up:

Now let's remove these sides and start working on the interior. First we add two cross beams that are vertical to the long side beams. Try to make them flush with the side beams:

Then cut a thin piece of plank wood that will serve as the base. Cut a small opening through which chickens will enter the coop:

For the other side (shown empty in this picture), you can cut a rectangular piece of plank wood. Using two plank woods for the base instead of one makes it possible to easily remove them for maintenance purposes. Next, it was the ladder's turn. Simply cut a long piece of plank and small pieces to make it possible for chickens to climb:

I used two eye hooks and two screws to attach the ladder to the skeleton:

Let's have a look at everything put together so far in the next picture:

Not too bad I guess. Now comes the fun part of painting it. I chose a walnut colored paint to give it a rustic look:

This is me painting it with full concentration:

You can see the finished work in the following picture. Note that I chose not to paint inside to make it more natural for the chickens. However, I painted the roosting bar to make it less attractive for mites:

I think the only part that I do not have clear pictures for are the wheels. But you can see how they are attached in the following picture. It also shows some of the other important details such as a hinged door for chickens to enter and exit the run area as well as the netting used to cover the sides. I have made a vinyl window next to the roosting bar. I have made the other end intentionally darker to encourage chickens lay their eggs on the other side. Finally, I completed the coop by adding an egg box on that darker far corner:

I have been using this coop for about 6 months now and I am very satisfied with it. I think it can be a perfect coop for an urban garden. Please let me know what you think about it in the comments section.