So, you want to keep chickens at home for pets and for a few eggs. The question is what is the Best style or Type of chicken pen or coop for you, and which is the best type for your budget, yard size?
If you haven’t already, make sure you check out my Blog Post on “How to Get Started with Chickens”. It’s a great read and will help you decide firstly on if chickens are the right choice for you and if so How many chickens are you going get, How much space do you have, council restrictions, lifestyle choices and best chicken type (bantam or Big hens). Assuming you’ve concluded that chickens are great, and you can’t wait to get some, here’s my tips on the best Chicken house styles and the best type or Brand choices.
Build or Buy a Chicken House or Pen
If you are currently or planning to work from home in a more relaxed lifestyle (this is a home-based work from home lifestyle Blog), then you have restraints on time and budget. Building your own chicken house won’t save you much time but on the $$ side it might be the right choice. You should start with a well thought out and designed plan and luckily for you, many companies have plans with material lists already for you to download for a modest fee. I’ll post a link here soon.
As an example, I once decided to build my own movable pen with only the rough idea of a plan in my head. It was to be a walk-in pen, with nesting boxes at the back, a hatch for egg collection and built on skids with an open floor. The bantam hens could peck on grass all day and I could move it to fresh grass. I built it in my garage with a small box saw, Mitre box, screws, a hammer and put it together with those strap nail strips.
I got all my kids involved and they took great pride in hammering, drilling and whacking in those strap nails. After a good two coats of fence paint it was ready for our hens.
Our Bantam hens loved it and collecting eggs was a breeze, sadly it lasted only 12 months as it rotted. I used the wrong paint and indoor rated timber not proper outdoor proof treated timber. A galvanized steel roof (with a safe covered edge) would have been much better and lasted longer. The concept was good, but the planning was not so good.
As they say Fail to plan and You Plan to Fail!
Chicken House or coop types.
There are 4 main types of chicken house or coop with multiple variations and brands within.
- Static Henhouse with run
- Moveable hen house with run
- Chicken tractor
- Chicken trailers
Static Henhouse
A static henhouse is perfect for those people who require a set place for their chickens. Many of these have runs or caged areas attached so the chickens are free to roam and scratch at their will. They should be raised off the ground by at least 30 cm to allow the chickens more space to roam underneath. Access to the Roost and Coop should be via ladder or ramp.
Static hen houses are usually made of more solid timber and so aren’t mobile.
They can also be a steel or aluminum shed style, which don’t typically have a raised floor.
The coop should be on a paved area or concrete slab. Ideally pave the whole run area too if you want a clean floor and just cover it with straw, hay or mulch. Scatter some seed in there for them to scratch and discover. You can always leave a small area of dirt for them to scratch in. They will need fresh greens which you can provide or let them out for a pick on your lawn in the late afternoon.
Nesting boxes should be accessible to you for egg collection from the outside, so you don’t always need to go inside the pen.
The pen floor ideally can open and drop to let old straw and litter out for cleaning. The nesting boxes should also have a drop-down base for cleaning easily, or a removable litter tray.
In addition, a second hatch or wall that opens so you can clean, inspect the coop or spray for lice/mites is ideal.
A walk-in coop, suited to larger flocks and larger yards is the best type for your comfort and ease of cleaning.
The pen should have good ventilation and roof space to keep the hens cool in summer but not too open a space, so they stay warm in winter.
Construction should be good weatherproof outdoor timber, with solid wire or steel mesh panels on the run or cage.
These are usually in Flatpack and should come with clear instructions.
These can be in several sizes from small pens and runs suited to 1-4 chickens through to larger walk in style houses and runs catering from 5-20 happy hens.
If your chosen Coop does not come with an attached Run or pen then a pet enclosure, usually meant for Dogs is a great way to enclose the pen. Usually made from galvanized steel pipe with galvanized wire mesh, they come in a box complete with a gate. Simply assemble the poles together and attach the wire with wire twists or clips provided for a simple walk-in run. If it doesn’t have a top cover then buy a suitable size shade sail to cover your birds from predatory hawks and to help keep your birds in.
Pave the area or put down concrete slab for the Coop/hut and now you have a cleanable floor with multiple areas to place your food and water stations.
Check out my Review on the best Static hen houses here.
Moveable hen house with run
A moveable henhouse with a run is a great choice for people with little time for cleaning pens, and you have limited space. It’s also great for people wanting to try keeping chickens because they aren’t sure about keeping chickens’ long term or perhaps, they just wanted to share the experience of caring for an animal and collecting eggs with their children.
These style houses should have a caged run attached to the roof with an open floor or mesh floor so you can drag the coop around to fresh grass.
Ideally they have a nesting box detached so you can access the eggs and a litter tray under the roost for ease of cleaning.
You usually only need an area around 8 ft x 10ft so you can move the pen around on fresh grass every few days. This gives the chickens fresh grass to pick and allows the grass to recover and regrow. Simply rake up the old manure and put it in your compost tumbler to make fresh compost for your veggie garden. Give the old patch a bit of water to help the grass recover and water down the strong acidic leftover manure.
Next just add your favorite feeder and watering device (filled up with food and water), some nesting box straw and of course some chickens.
These flat packed pens are usually packaged in a couple of boxes and are easily put together in an afternoon. Some are not designed for longevity, but you will usually have them last a couple of years which is plenty of time to decide whether you want to continue with keeping chickens. The roof will probably be what lets you down in my experience as they mostly are flat ply coated in a type of rubber. You can replace it with a quality painted outdoor ply or galvanized steel roofing (with a safe covered edging).
There are plastic molded and Moveable hen houses, like the Omlet chicken house with a caged run that may be better suited to you for ease of cleaning and longevity. They are a little more expensive, depending on the size you want but well worth the investment.
A cheaper version but similar idea may be a Chicken Tractor.
Check out my review on The best Moveable Chicken pen and Run here.
Chicken Tractor
Chicken tractors are awesome pieces of equipment, designed to house your chickens in comfort, allow them freedom to pick grass and are easily moved to fresh ground. They combine the Hen house shelter with the caged run itself. Many are modular, meaning you can add more pieces for a longer run and give your chickens more room to move. Some will also have options to add storm/sun covers as well.
Most will suit up to 8 chickens, depending on how many modular runs are attached.
Chicken tractors should be lightweight for ease of movement and should ideally have wheels attached. Construction may be of steel or aluminum for more lightweight options.
These should have attached wheels and include a mesh floor to help keep predators out and allow the hens to pick and scratch the grass.
As a bonus they can easily been packed up onto a trailer and moved to your next home if needed, though the hens will need their own transportation! I love the idea of these and I’m seriously considering buying one to upgrade my old chook pen, which was a repurposed cubby house.
Check out my review on the best Chicken Tractors here.
Chicken Trailers.
The Rolls Royce of chicken houses or Coops are Chicken trailers, which are basically big mobile chicken pens on a trailer base. They are set up for larger flocks like 30 + birds and are suited to acreage in rural areas. They are designed for commercial types of ventures and basically allow the hens to free range and be constrained within a fenced or netted paddock. The trailer itself will usually need to be moved by attaching it to a tractor or other vehicle.
These can have options like automatic doors that open in the morning and close at night to keep the hens safe. They may also have automatic egg collection options and other security options like cameras etc.
If your dream is to grow healthy happy chickens for either egg or meat production, then some of the available chicken trailers may be ideal for a small commercial venture. Chickens fed on good natural pasture will have happy chickens and produce better quality meat or eggs, especially if the grass is free from chemical fertilizers and insecticides.
Make sure there is a market for your products first, that your property is adequate and available for this purpose. Councils and other Government regulatory bodies should be consulted before you go spending up big on one of these.
Check out my review on The best Chicken trailer here.
