How to Turn a Shed Into a Chicken Coop

The reality of beginner chicken keeping is that you'll need a chicken coop sooner rather than later. Baby chicks grow up fast! Here's how to turn a shed into a chicken coop so you can easily provide your birds with a safe place to live. 

Four Pre-Made Chicken Coop Options

If you’ve got a backyard flock, or are just starting one, a chicken coop is probably top of mind. We’ve had a flock for years and we had to build our coop from scratch since we live on a hill and the entrance to our backyard is limited — we couldn’t move a fully assembled pre-made chicken coop into our yard. Even so, I’m always looking at coops wherever I find them. I love to see all the features and styles for inspiration. 

Here's a look at some basic pre-made chicken coops through a veteran chicken keeper’s eyes.

How to Pick Chicken Breeds for Your Flock

A backyard flock of chickens can be a wise investment in homegrown eggs, meat and the peace of mind that comes with self-sufficiency. Getting started isn’t hard. But before buying your birds, some initial chicken breed research can ensure your flock’s productivity and climate hardiness and help you meet your goals.

What's the Best Bedding for Chickens?

The best bedding for chickens keeps them comfortable, helps you keep your chicken coop clean and contributes to a flock's overall health. Find out how to choose the best bedding to make your chicken-keeping life easier.

How to Build a Grow-Out Coop for Baby Chicks

Sometimes you raise day-old chicks and everything works out perfectly with the weather. By the time the chicks are old enough to go outside, the weather is just right. Sometimes, fate isn't in your favor and your babies must spend more time indoors in your garage or basement and you need something bigger to contain them. Here's a quick and easy brooder idea that can double as a grow-out coop until young chicks are big enough to join the rest of the flock.

DIY Kitty Litter Bucket Storage - A Purrfect Solution!

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Photos, Drawings & Story By Robin J. Miller

Cat litter pails are sturdy containers with hinged lids that can hold a surprising amount of material: from toys to poultry grit to grains to oyster shells to assorted soil remineralization supplies. This rack converts bucket clutter into a useful tool.

The Truth About Chicken Nest Boxes

With cold weather on our doorsteps, it’s the time of year that most chicken keepers take a hard look at their coop to make sure everything’s in order for winter. As I was looking at our coop, the nest boxes struck me as funny. I remember setting up our coop and diligently poring over books that gave advice on exactly what size and how many nest boxes a coop should have.

Now, I’m not advocating deviation from those standards. But, over the years, it has become increasingly obvious that my chickens had nothing to do with writing those standards. And, for the novice chicken keeper, it’s important to understand that chickens have a mind of their own when it comes to egg laying.

We’ve currently got 14 laying hens which have six equally sized clean boxes to use. And, for the most part, this works out fine. But there are exceptions to the rule.

For instance, there’s always one box that every chicken covets and wants to use at the exact same time. There are days I’ll go in the coop and find chickens doubled up in the coveted box with a line of traffic taxiing the runway waiting for their turn for takeoff.

Then, there are those chickens that are free spirits and some days they just have to strike out on their own. Take Big Muff our Easter Egger hen; over the hot summer she chose to sneak out and lay a clutch of eggs just off our concrete parking area by our front door; an even hotter locale than the coop. Or take Hope one of our red sex link hens; she’s obsessed with sneaking out and laying eggs right by our mudroom door. She’s singlehandedly destroyed a planter and made it her own nest box.

There’s also, Henrie, another of our red sex links, she really likes the area right under our nest boxes and actively works to maintain that territory.

Or, there are our brown leghorn hens who like to share a nest box for no other reason than it’s great to have company when you’re laying an egg.

To be fair, on most days, our nest boxes are just fine for everyone, but when the exceptions occur, it makes me laugh and I’m sure you won’t find that written in any chicken keeping guide.

Nest Box Bandit: Did You Want That Nest?

I was lucky this morning; I actually got a picture of the most hilarious nest box behavior.


This brown leghorn is trying to occupy the nest box with a barred rock.

For some reason, my brown leghorns love to be in the same nest box that another hen is occupying. It's not that they don't have enough next boxes; they do. It's not a location issue, because it happens in any of the boxes.

I've watched this quite a few times and I don't think it's aggressive behavior. I actually think the brown leghorns like the company. Because if they both need to lay eggs at the same time, I'll find both brown leghorns happily occupying the same nest. But my other hens are not appreciative of this behavior. Usually a squabble takes place with the leghorn getting her way. The only hen that doesn't allow the leghorns to win is Hoppy, our partridge cochin. She loudly defends her turf. And, sometimes I actually have to remove everyone from the coop and let them start over.

For the meantime, our nest box bandits will keep up their stealth operations and enjoy their new found laying companions.

Weekend Drive in the Country

We did a little exploring in the country this weekend and found chicken coops for sale, fresh eggs for sale, a covered bridge and the beauty of nature...

New Nest Boxes

With so much emphasis on the new chicks, you'd think our laying hens would get the short end of the stick. But not at our house. We still love to go outside and visit with them and they still get almost daily treats. Although I don't think they'd really mind if we didn't visit as much. They've been enjoying our unseasonably warm weather and spent most of yesterday dust bathing in my garden; which is soon going to have to be fenced off so I can start growing veggies and herbs.

With the longer days of Spring, it became apparent that our laying hens needed new nest boxes. (Egg production is based on light, so Spring is when production increases.) We purchased "Building Chicken Coops for Dummies" and used some of the ideas from the book to make new nest boxes. The nice thing is they cost us nothing since we used leftover scrap pieces we already had. We made three boxes and will probably add a fourth or fifth once the new chicks get up and running.

If you're thinking of making nest boxes, or buying them, don't forget the rule of 3 to 5 chickens per box. My tip for the boxes is to make sure to fill them with lots of comfortable bedding, it really helps to keep the eggs clean. Also, don't forget to put a few plastic eggs into the new boxes to encourage the ladies to use them.

We Moved!

On their one week birthday, or should we say hatching day, the chicks officially moved to their bigger brooder. They had started attempting to fly and showing signs they wanted to perch, so I thought it best to give them more room to spread out and practice their new skills.

The whole process was actually pretty easy and not very expensive. I went to the store and found a huge plastic storage container on sale. My husband and kids built a wire lid and we were up and running! We filled the new brooder with fresh bedding and even made the chicks a small roosting bar.

There was a lot of peeping as the chicks were transferred one-by-one into their new home. But, once there, they settled in nicely. The Light Brahma chick, who loves to climb on my hand and try to perch, immediately took to the new wooden perch. She loves to sit there and watch all her peers run around below her. The Speckled Sussex chick has been seen flying all the way up (maybe 6 inches) to the top of the perch supports. And, the Brown Leghorn chicks love to fly the length of the brooder.

It's amazing how fast the chicks are growing. I remember being totally unprepared for this super-fast growth the first time we got chicks. This time around, I'm prepared, but still amazed!