Deciding What Chicken Coops To Buy

When the time comes to select which chicken coops to build, choosing the design can be a little intimidating with all the options to choose from in a long list of designs and plans that are available.

We’ll take a look at the three basic categories that will allow you to get a good idea of what’s needed and help you make a educated decision.  

Before we go right to breaking down which chicken coop fits your needs, there are a few things you need to know to help you decide what your needs are. 

• How many hens and roosters?
• How much space do you have available for construction?
• Do you need your coop to be portable?

All three are equally important because if you want a portable coop and think you will have 9 or 10 hens and roosters you will have a dilima because portable coops usually only hold a few birds.

Small Chicken Coops & Hutches

This includes portable chicken tractors as well as stationary hutches. These are designed for a very small number of chickens – two or three large breed chickens and up to six smaller chickens like a bantam..

These are ideal for the hobbyist who is probably more interested in having a few pets as opposed to keeping chickens for eggs, though that certainly isn’t out of the question.

Small coops are easy and fast to construct and usually have the look of a playhouse or shed that have fencing attached to the coop. This keeps the hens in and the predators out.

Mid-Sized Chicken Coops

Chicken coops in this category are mainly for those who desire eggs and possibly some meat, but only for personal use. There isn’t adequate space for many chickens to be able to lay enough eggs to try and make any sort of income.

Since a mid-sized coop is just about twice the size of a small one, you’ll only be able to keep around four to six birds. This type of coop can be assembled to be mobile but is most often stationary.

Large Chicken Coops

If space isn’t an issue for you and you are thinking that you’d like to have chickens for monetary gain or maybe to provide your entire family with eggs and meat, then a large chicken coop is probably for you. A large coop can be as large as you desire to house as many chickens as you would like to have.

A quality set of plans, that can be easily downloaded from the Internet, will tell you how big a coop you’ll need to construct to hold however many chickens’ you’re thinking about keeping.  It will also help you figure how large of a chicken run to construct as well as the materials you’ll need, right down to the last nail.