We were looking for a simple and quick chicken coop design that we could house 4 chickens in. I have come up with a brilliant coop design that only uses one sheet of 3/4inch or 18mm ply wood and I put them together by myself in under an hour.
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For the coop you will need
1 sheet of 18mm ply
You can use treated or natural ply wood. If it is untreated then I recommend that you at least paint the outside to help make it last longer.
50x25mm/2×1 inch timber
I used this to make the perches, you could use whatever you have around – even natural branches work.
Roofing iron
I used pieces of roofing iron that fitted exactly on the top of our house as they were designed to also go in a roofed run, if they are going to be the only roof be sure to cut it big enough to overlap the walls a little to let the rain run off.
2×4 or legs
We hung our coops in an existing structure, but you can add legs a high as you like – from a few inches to quite tall. If you want it tall be sure to add some angle bracing, or concrete the posts in to the ground so it doesn’t fall over.
Other bits
4 hinges, 35mm screws, roofing screws, 2 latches, saw, measuring tap, screwdriver/drill, pencil, tape measure, straight edge to draw lines along and a spare pair of hands for cutting the big sheet.
INSIDE
Ply Cutting Sheet
On the edges of the back and sides you will need to cut the thickness of your timber off the edges so that the sides fit inside the front and back, and the back doors have some room to open and shut.
To assemble the chicken house simply use self tapping screws to attach the sides and front to the bottom and to each other.
Cut the nesting box edging from the thin leftover 4inch/100mm strip and screw through the side and front.
Attach feet to the bottom and use hinges and the latches to attach the doors.
