It only took 10+ years but I finally talked my husband, Jason into letting me raise backyard chickens. So…for a few hours each weekend over the last few months, we have been busy building a diy chicken coop & run before our feathered family members arrived.
Today, I am sharing how to build a fabulous & cheap DIY Chicken Coop & run that your chickens & husband will LOVE on a budget.
It even has a clean out poop drawer (so you don’t have to go in the coop to clean up the poop) & it looks super cute in the yard too 🙂
Table of Contents
DIY – How to Build a DIY Chicken Coop & Run Cheap
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The Cost of our DIY Chicken Coop & Run
After looking to buy a DIY chicken coop kit from either Wayfair or Tractor Supply, we found that they were either too small for the amount of chickens we hope to have or way too expensive for the size of our budget.
So we decided to make our own DIY Chicken Coop & Run cheap & on a budget…
Our DIY Chicken Coop & chicken Run cost us about $500-$600 to build with using some scrap wood we had in the garage. We wanted to build a “pretty” chicken coop that would be a permanent fixture in our yard down by our veggie garden (HERE) & home orchard (HERE).
The added bonus is that our DIY chicken coop gives us privacy from the busy road we live on!
Building the DIY Chicken Coop Step by Step
Size of our DIY Chicken Coop for up to 6- 8 Chickens
The Chicken Coop itself is 64 inches wide, 51 inches deep & 74 inches tall. We have the coop raised 16 inches off the ground so the girls can have another covered spot to explore.
We only have 3 chickens but our DIY chicken Chicken & run could easily hold 6- 8 Chickens comfortably & even more if they were bantam (or smaller size chickens) size.
We decided to build the majority of the diy chicken coop in our garage since we knew it would take us a while to finish it & we didn’t want it to get rained on before we had a chance to paint it.
Using pressure treated 2 by 4’s the boys built a platform for the coop. And covered it with a piece of plywood we had in the garage.
Jason built the walls with 2 by 4’s as well.
He raised the back wall 3 inches higher than the other 3 walls to make room for a slide out drawer to easily clean out the poop.
Adding a DIY Chicken Coop Clean Out Drawer
The clean out opening is 54 inches wide by 2 inches high.(more details on the clean out drawer below)
I didn’t like this idea at first but now I know I needed IT!
Our Chicken coop clean up drawer is 53 1/2 inches wide by 1 3/4 inches high by 32 inches deep.
To build the chicken poop clean out drawer we used some left over bead board we had but you can use any thin sheet of plywood or particle board. We screwed 2 by 3’s around the perimeter of the bead board & added a drawer front to the one side.
The drawer front is 56 inches wide by 2 1/2 inches high. We covered the inside of the drawer with linoleum & sand.
When building the walls of the DIY chicken coop we added the nesting box walls to the front of the chicken coop for easy access to the eggs.
We used faux siding sheets from Lowes for the outside walls.
Adding Windows, a Human Door & a Chicken Door to our DIY Chicken Coop
Next up Jason cut holes in the siding for 2 windows, a chicken & human door & the the pull out chicken poop drawer.
We found the 2 exterior shed windows on Amazon to let some fresh air & light in the coop. They were not very expensive & they look pretty too!
Here is the link to the windows we found,
Shed Windows 14″ X 21″ White Flush Mount, Playhouse Windows, Chicken Coop Windows
Building the DIY Chicken Coop Roof
Jason built the roof trusses out of 2 by 4’s at a 45 degree angle. He covered them with plywood & tar paper.
He made the human & chicken door & nesting box lid out of the same faux siding & 2 by 4’s. I primed & painted the whole coop & doors white.
Moving the DIY Chicken Coop to our Backyard from the Garage
Once the DIY chicken coop was weatherized we rolled it out it’s new home in our yard.
Yup, rolled.
It was way too heavy to pick up at this point. We rolled it on 4 PVC pipes.
(Believe it or not we moved our hot tub the same way – you can read about that HERE)
Back to how to build a chicken coop…
Best Spot to Place your DIY Chicken Coop & Run
We chose a shady spot under some tall pine trees to place our chicken coop & run. When researching building coops we saw how important it was that chickens have shade in the summer so they don’t get overheated.
Once we had the chicken coop in the yard, Jason attached 4 pressure treated posts to the four corners of the coop making sure the coop was level.
Jason added the asphalt roof shingles that we had left over in the garage.
Adding Hard Wire Cloth to our DIY Chicken Coop Windows
We also added hardware cloth to the front of the windows to keep the chickens safe when the windows are open.
We also added a carabiner to all the chicken door, 2 human doors & nesting box lid to keep our chickens safe from predators like raccoons that might try to open the doors.
Tour the Inside our DIY Chicken Coop
He later attached the human & chicken door as well as the nesting box lid for easy access to the eggs.
DIY Chicken Coop Chicken Door
We covered the floor of the chicken coop with a cheap piece of linoleum from Lowes.
It makes it easy to clean for when our chicken coop becomes dirty.
Nesting Box Curtains
I made nesting curtains to hang in front of our 4 nesting boxes.
Why We Added Sand to the Inside & Outside of our DIY Chicken Coop & Run
I added sand on top of the linoleum to make it easier to pick up the chicken poop with a cat litter scoop when we pull out the clean out drawer.
The Pull out drawer is great to have because you can clean up their droppings without going inside the coop.
Building the Chicken Run Step by Step
Our Chicken Run is 57 inches wide, 124 inches deep & 70 inches tall.
We wanted to have a chicken run that was partially covered from the snow & rain.
Jason used pressured treated 2 by 4’s for the base & walls of the chicken run.
He used pressure treated fence posts for the roof of the chicken run.
Hardware Cloth for the DIY Chicken Run
When building the walls & roof of the run we made sure to keep the 2 by 4’s 3 feet wide so we could easily attach the hardware cloth to it.
Everywhere I read said that hardware cloth was much better than chicken wire is to keep the predators out.
We attached the hardware cloth with staples & screws & washers. I am going to be honest, it was not easy working & cutting this wire.
We also let dug the wire down in the ground a few inches to help deter animals from digging into the run. I also added a row of bricks leftover from our DIY brick patio (you can see that HERE)
Human Door for the DIY Chicken Run
We made sure our chicken run had a human door to make it easier for us to come in & clean up & refill the feeder & water.
We have the water & feeders hanging in our run so the chickens can’t knock them over.
Adding Sand to our DIY Chicken Run
We added sand to 1/2 of the run to keep it cleaner & less muddy when it rains.
If you have been following along on Instagram, you would have met our 3 chickens, Emma, Poppy & Buttercup already.
Other than being adorable, I can not believe how relaxing it is to just sit & watch them.
They are the sweetest & our family is absolutely in love with them!
They seem pretty happy with their new digs 🙂 We are pretty excited by how our DIY Chicken Coop & Run turned out!
It is amazing to me how they put themselves to bed every night!!!
I hope this answers any questions you about how to build a chicken coop & run on a budget if you have been thinking about creating one for your backyard.
We couldn’t be happier with how our DIY chicken Coop & run turned out!
by Tara Lehman
If your interested in more about Raising Backyard Chickens, read all about it HERE
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I love your chicken coop. Its so cute. Please add a lock to the laying boxes on the outside. Animals will get in there. Racoons and weasels are so crafty and mean. Enjoy your chickens. I really enjoy your blog.
Thanks so much for your sweet comments & for stopping by to check out our chicken coop Judy! I really appreciate your care for our chickens! It might not be visual from the pictures on our blog but we did add a lock to the outside of our nesting boxes.
Hello! I am like you and taking the time to make sure I have a safe and secure place to have chickens before I get them. My husband grew up with chickens and they free ranged. I can’t do that because of my dog and cats so I am making sure they are safe! But I say all of that to get to this point… the poop drawer is nothing short of genius!!! Omg I have pinned 1000 ideas about coops and yalls by far is the best!!! It may have taken awhile for your husband to get on board but I guarantee he was thinking about that design!! I hope y’all have had so much success with yalls chickens!! Thank you for your great ideas!!
Thank you so much for stopping by & for your sweet comments about our DIY chicken coop Stayce! Best of luck with your chickens!!!
I do the deep litter method… after doing lots of research I had drawers as well and now I do the deep litter with hemp wouldnt go back to doing anything else …I also have sand in my inside run , I love it my coop does smell or have flys… Cathy
Thanks so stopping by to check out my DIY chicken coop Cathy!
for your clean out drawer, is it the full floor that pulls out? do you have plans you used? sketch?
Thanks so much for stopping by to check out how we built our chicken coop & run Scott. Unfortunately, we do not have a sketch or plans but I did add a few more pictures & information about our clean out drawer to the post. The clean out drawer pulls out completely & it is the size of the whole floor under the roosting bars.
How many chickens can your coop hold?
Thanks so much for stopping by to check out our chicken coop Sherri! Our chicken coop can hold between 6-12 chickens depending on their size. Our one chicken Emma is a Brahma which is one of the largest breeds so you could probably only have 6 of that breed but if you have Silkies or Bantams I think you could probably hold 10-12 without a problem you would just need to maybe add one more roost.
What did you use for the edging to seal around the roof line ?
Hi John,
Thanks for stopping by to check out our chicken coop. I’m not sure if this is what you are asking about but we used drip edge around the roof line that we purchased at Lowes. Let me know if you meant something else.
Does it take one or two people to clean out. I notice you use Sand is it heavy when you pull it out? Thank you so much I’m going to try to build it myself wish me luck.
Hi Brenda, thank you so much for stopping by to check out our DIY chicken coop! To clean out our chicken coop it only takes me a couple minutes to pick up the chicken poop from inside the coop (the pull out drawer) & the run with a cat scoop & then I dump it in our compost bin. I do not need help pulling out the drawer & pushing it back in because the chicken coop floor & wall hold most of the weight. If I am changing out the sand in the pull out drawer, I do need my husband or one of my boys to help to pull the drawer completely out & dump it because it is a bit heavy & awkward to carry & put back in. I usually dump the old sand from inside the coop back in the chicken run. I change out the sand from inside of the coop a couple times a year. Hope this answers your questions & good luck building your coop!
What was the angle cuts you did for the roof trusses?
Thanks for stopping by to check out our DIY chicken coop Andrea! We cut the roof trusses at 45 degrees.
It really looks amazing and inspiring, the structures. I like it to build for my chicken very helpful. think you
Thank you for stopping by to see my DIY chicken coop!
How did you put the 4×4 post in the ground? Did you did a hole and put cement or just place on top on the dirt?
Thanks for stopping by to check out our DIY chicken coop Matthew! We did not dig a hole or cement the posts. We did level out the pressure treated posts and placed them directly on the soil in our yard.
Hello We’re thinking about building a coop & yard to, love your pull out drawer, I’m assuming that it’s not as smelly as would be just letting it drop down . Do you remember the estimated cost, we’re thinking about 200 could build one.
Thanks,
Betty
Thanks so much for stopping by to check out our DIY chicken coop Betty! We spent about $500-600 on our entire chicken coop and run. Of course if you had any scrap wood/materials or made the coop a bit smaller that would lower the cost as well. Good luck on building your coop. Keeping chickens is truly a fun & rewarding adventure!
Do you have a set of plans somewhere that I could purchase or download? This incorporates all the things I am looking for!
Thanks so much for stopping by to check out our DIY chicken coop Nancy! Unfortunately, we did make any plans of the chicken coop & run. If you have any more questions about the coop please reach out & I will try to help with any you might have.
Do you have any dimensions for this coop? My son and I are going to try this on our own and I really need directions. I love it so much he told he wanted to try and make it with me for Mother’s Day. We love it.
Thanks so much for your sweet comments about our DIY chicken coop Darshell! The Chicken Coop itself is 64 inches wide, 51 inches deep & 74 inches tall. We have the coop raised 16 inches off the ground so the girls can have another covered spot to explore. Our Chicken Run is 57 inches wide, 124 inches deep & 70 inches tall. Good luck with making the chicken coop, reach out with any more questions you have & Happy Mother’s Day!!!
How can I find all the exact measuring and cutting dimensions?
Thanks for stopping by to check out our chicken coop and run Deborah! The Chicken Coop itself is 64 inches wide, 51 inches deep & 74 inches tall and is 16 inches off the ground. Our Chicken Run is 57 inches wide, 124 inches deep & 70 inches tall.
Hi, I really want to use your chicken coop plan for a school project. It is the exact thing I was looking for. Do you have a materials list for it?
Thanks for stopping by to check out my DIY chicken coop and run Mary! Unfortunately, I don’t have a materials list for it just instructions on how we built it.
I know you don’t have any plans for this design, but I would love to pay you for one. Would that be an option for you? I’m looking to build, and not sure that I’ll be able to do it without specify measurements and materials
Thanks for stopping by to check out our chicken coop Bayleigh! I am sorry I wouldn’t even know how to begin designing plans for how to make it. I do give measurements for the finished coop and run in my blog post but the Chicken Coop itself is 64 inches wide, 51 inches deep & 74 inches tall. We have the coop raised 16 inches off the ground so the girls can have another covered spot to explore and the chicken run is 57 inches wide, 124 inches deep & 70 inches tall.
Do you have a picture of the nesting boxes? Are they built in or removable?
Thanks for checking out my DIY chicken coop Stacy! There are pictures of the nesting boxes in the blog post. They are built in to the rest of the coop.