Two years ago after months of begging for chickens, checking the local zoning laws and talking to numerous friends, my husband succumbed to my begging and agreed that chickens were a fabulous idea. So I started by subscribing to Backyard Poultry and the research on the coop began.

To clarify, we are in no way carpenters, contractors, expert wood builders or anything of that nature. We are just regular folk who wanted chickens and decided to take a stab at building our first chicken coop. These are not specific plans, just our story of how we built the coop with a few challenges and much success! We have realized that you really cannot go wrong here. We hope that our story will inspire and possibly guide you in building a coop in your backyard!

We researched all different types of coops, bought books on animal shelter building and even visited some friends' houses that had coops. Then I received my June/July issue of Backyard Poultry and saw the article about building an A-frame style coop ("Attractive Two-Piece Coop & Run," page 18). After living in Flagstaff, Arizona for years, this design just spoke to me. This was my little mountain style coop. And living in Connecticut seemed like the perfect climate for this cute little building. A friend of mine had chickens waiting for a new home so all we needed was a place to put them.

This little cutie took a day and a half to build from start to finish and could be built by two people. [Fig. 1]

We started by building the foundation with the 2 x 4s. [Fig. 2] We kept it a simple 4' x 8' to match the size of the plywood, put cross beams in and screwed in the 12" 4x4s for feet. [Fig. 3]

We then flipped the whole thing over to build the A-frame. [Fig. 4]

After measuring the angle to make sure all was level, we decided to build the A-frame separately [Fig. 6] and attach it to the base [Fig. 7] (the base could easily be carried by two people).

Once in place, the A-frame is screwed in and stabilized with large angle brackets on all eight feet.

Once the main shape was done we started attaching the plywood with wood screws. [Fig. 8, 9] The plywood seemed to want to warp so we had to put a good number of screws in.

We decided to allow a large door on one side to open for easy cleaning. A couple of hinges and one sheet of plywood made for an easy access to the coop. [Fig. 10]

Voila! Our cleaning door! We didn't expect that the plywood would warp so quickly so we had to use 2x3's and frame around the door to stabilize the plywood. [Fig. 11] Note to self, this is really heavy to lift now.

Now the nest boxes are in the back of the coop, to the right in the picture above. [Fig. 12] We made a simple frame with a divider in the middle and board on top.

To ensure easy access to egg collection, we built a simple door in the back to lift up and gather eggs without disturbing the chickens. [Fig. 13] We let them out in the morning and then go check the boxes for our eggs. This really works out well. We also cut a small window in the top for air circulation and covered it with regular window screening.

This picture [Fig. 14] shows the back door opened to show the nest boxes. I would recommend putting some sort of "lip" on the back so the wood shavings do not fall out every time you open the door. We used an old handle off some discarded furniture as the door lift. The door is secured simply with two pieces of wood that swivel around to keep it shut.

The front of the coop has a small door for the chickens and a larger door [Fig. 15] so that we can check the food and water without having to lift the side door. One can actually go into this coop hunched over if necessary.

The front doors are secured with the same simple block latches and another handle from some remnant furniture.

Here is a close up of the chicken door. [Fig. 16]

A simple ramp with little strips tacked on ensure an easy climb into the coop. [Fig. 17]

For the finishing touch, I painted the mural on the coop this weekend. [Fig. 18]

With a small fenced area and access into our 2,000 square foot garden, [Fig. 19] I think the chickens will be quite happy.

Our first night rewarded us with an egg. [Fig. 20]