"Hello . . . Here is my newly constructed chicken camper-coop named "Egg-tra Special Chicken Camper" It cost about $450.00 to build, it holds 8-10 Chickens and can be towed around the yard with a lawn tractor. I enjoy building novelty chicken coops. I started few ago with a barn and silo and then added the John Deere Chicken Tractor. Even chickens like to go on retreats. Very fun spring project." ------David L., Sparta MI.
Michael F. wrote, "Attached are pictures of my Seattle City Coop named "Le Grand Habitant". It is of course a constant work in progress.
The first picture was just after completion. The second picture is of the phase 2 run. I love my chickens and the eggs they produce. Your web site is great."
Crystal wrote, "Here is our urban chicken coop. The green matches our house trim color, too. The window is a reclaimed transom window, as are the hinges."
"Dear Katy, This is my daughter's Chicken House. We converted a 10 x 12 metal storage building into a chicken house for a FFA Project. We recieve 50 Broiler Chicks on Friday to show in March. We love all the ideas and pictures on your website!! Thank You!" ---- April W., Elysian Fields, Texas
Kristen W. of Granite Bay, CA wrote, “We had an enormous surplus of building materials stacked up after an extensive remodel of our house. We basically bought the hardware and the wire, everything else was stuff our general contractor would have thrown away if my husband hadn't stepped in and saved it! My husband and I built this over Christmas vacation. We first saw it in Country Living magazine and got the plans. I wanted to just add that this coop would be really expensive to make for someone looking to just put one together! Thanks for creating a fun webpage for people to visit and get answers.”
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Crystal G. wrote: "Love, love, love your web site. Thanks so much for all the ideas. We purchased our six chicks 12/24/2012, and they are doing great. I had an old armoir that was too big for the room it was in, and a friend & I converted it into a chicken coop. Works wonderful! Thanks again." (This is incredible, Crystal! I myself love making something useful out of other old things, so this really appealed to me. Totally something I would do.)
“Katy, I love your website! A very inspirational shot in the arm as I geared up to become a keeper of a few hens last year. My son and I built our version of a chicken tractor beginning last February and it took a couple of months of weekends to get things ready for our girls….Thanks for maintaining the site as it continues to provide me with useful information and enjoyable diversions.” ----Denis S., Thurmont, Maryland
"Hello Katy: I have to say how much I enjoyed your site and how helpful it was when I decided to get back in to raising a few chickens. As you can see I took a few ideas from a lot of the pictures on your site and came up with theis chicken tractor. It is the first one in our small country village of Restoule, Ontario Canada. We run a tourist camp and many of our guests with kids are thrilled with the chickens and the tractor. Sincerely, Bing H."
" Dear Katy, Hi there -- this is my gypsy wagon chicken coop -- we love it." ----Jeannie R.
Dave & Kathy L. write, "Enclosed is a photo of my chicken coops, John Deere chicken tractor and chicken barn and silo." (I count four chicken coops in a row.)
(They have a flock of 40+ chickens, representing 34 different breeds.)
~~ A coop in Portland, Oregon ~~
"Dear Katy....Attached find a picture of my chicken tractor. It is designed to be easy to build, light weight so it can be easily slid around the yard with no wheels, and zero maintenance. The frame is 3/4 inch PVC with no special junctions, only right angles and tees, sized to accommodate a cheap roll of hardware cloth. .....The chicken access is through the bottom center ...... One side of the corrugated roof lifts up to replenish food and water from a standing position. Total cost is well under $100.
..... Regards, Jim. P.S. Love your site!"
A friend's Holiday postcard.
Notice the names of the hens. (Get it?)
And their tongue-in-cheek "farmer" outfits?
Yes. Very yes.
My neighbor is now making these chicken tractors, as seen above. She has sold 8 so far, and she just started making them!
They are mostly cedar, stained with preservative, have wheels, perches, two doors,
and vinyl roofing.
Picture submitted April 5th, 2011. "Dear Katy, Your wonderful site gave me lots of inspiration to build my chook tractor.
I have attached a few pics for your website. I hope that I am the first South African to send you pics! Kind regards," ---G. Smith
Merry Christmas! Lights around a coop is so cute. (Coop picture submission from Laura L.)
“Dear Katy - I would be honored if you would include my Chicken Chariot on your web site.
I used some of the pics of other tractors you provided as examples. This one features bicycle wheels so it is very easy to move.
Your site is the best - thanks.” ----Dave P., Bothell, Washington
Mike C. writes: “We made our coop out of all scrap materials. The framework is weld screens thrown out at work. We disassembled them and reassembled them in this way. The box was a crate and other scrap wood. Plexiglas was just some I had collected over the years. The only materials we purchased would be chicken wire, about $40.00. Total cost for the whole coop was about $50 to $60. Also we installed an automatic door opener and closer, on a timer.” Thank you, Mike, and great job!
How is this for a somewhat instant hen house? Modify an outdoor mini storage shed!
I hardly need to explain; the picutures speak for themselves. This idea was conceived by Rachel.
I asked Rachel if I could put these pics of her storage-shed-henhouse on
this page and she said: "I would be totally honored to have pictures of it on TheCityChicken.com!!
Your site was THE site that convinced me I could DO this!!"
Nina in Florida writes: "I had this old composter in the garage made by Rubbermaid. . . My neighbor said it looks like a dog house. . . . I’ll bet you could use one of those, too. . . The composter has the little door on the front for taking out finished compost. . . . They can come and go from house to the run as they please. . . . I move the tractor everyday and hose the area behind it. . . . So far so good. . . . It only cost me $50 because I already had the composter ...The wood for the frame was 1 x 2’s for .77 cents each. . . . And I bought 3 rolls of hardware cloth." ---Nina in Florida
Notice the 'green roof' on this coop.
"Here are pictures of my coop built of cob, an old English technique using clay, straw and sand.
It's as strong as concrete and very fun to build." ---Catherine S., Albany CA
A good example of a city coop. On wheels! Tucked between houses or a house and garage.
See external egg collection nest box. Metal cans underneath hold feed away from rodents. (I tried plastic trash cans once; squirrels chewed through them.)
Another good example of a coop for a city or suburbs.
How to keep your chickens and coop out of sight; keep them right next to the house or garage on an unused side.
This looks very tidy, inconspicuous and neat. This family probably doesn't have to buy eggs at the store,
and the amount of real estate they took up appears to be only around 8 feet by 3 feet. Good job!
Imagine two laying hens in here. The coop takes up very little space, the chickens would eat all your kitchen scraps
and make manure for your garden, and lay two eggs a day. The hens have a predator-proof
house and a part to scratch around in. How can you say no?
You can tuck a coop right next to your house or garage. If you live in a city, you can make use of your side yard.
Note the clever use of one full sheet of corrugated fiberglass roofing
panel as the roof, positioned at a steep angle to keep out rain and retain a low profile.
A coop can be on concrete if need be. There are benefits.
One would be that you can hose off the chicken poop!
Isn't this one adoreable? I want one!
I like this coop because it has a man-door, an external egg collection door, and also the profile is narrow,
so that it could be tucked away unobtrusively on a city or suburb lot.
“Dear Katy, This is our Japanese themed coop for our Japanese bantams. The roof is bamboo from a friends yard, with salvaged pieces of pond liner underneath to make it water tight. The windows were salvaged from a dumpster. The foundation is pieces of concrete from breaking up a walkway. The posts for the run were warped rejects off a lumberyards discount pile. The short columns are leftover concrete cylinder from a construction testing lab…I send a lot of newbies interested in starting up a city coop to your site to get ideas.” ---Christie Dooley
A very unique shape. Note that it is a run and coop in one, and is moveable, so also qualifies as a chicken tractor.
"Thanks for the site. I got a lot of ideas just looking at the pictures. Here is a photo of how mine turned out. Once again, thanks." ---- Rodney
Could you make your coop an extention of your shed or garage? Why not!
Check out this very unique watering set-up! I have never seen a chicken tractor utilizing a
pet gravity feed waterer mounted in this way; on the outside of the coop and up high. Clever!
I've often seen old swing-set frames and thought; you know, that
would make a good frame for a chicken coop. Well, Keith J. from Indiana did it!
“Hi Katy…As your website was part of my inspiration and education before I built my tractor last summer I decided it was about time
I send you pictures for your gallery…. I prop the dolly so that one end is barely off the ground, pick up the other end and shuffle along for one footprint of the tractor…Dollies like this are only about $50 at building stores & have good big pneumatic tires…This young merlin came to visit just once; I guess it decided there was no way through the wire.” ----Rob R. from Comox, BC Canada
This two-hen coop was made by Jim L. of Portland, Oregon. He made it from mostly scrap wood, and basically copied a coop design he saw at his local feed store. He used hog fencing for those extra-determined dogs and raccoons. This coop wins HHOTM because of a very unique feature; one I hadn't seen before in a home-made coop. Note the two large metal baking pans underneath the roost and nestbox areas. Jim says the coop he saw at the feed store had a similar pull-out cleaning tray, but it was one large tray, made of molded plastic. He came up with the idea of using two inexpensive cookie sheets instead. Super clever!
