This "playhouse coop" design meets Charlotte city code for up to eight chickens and has plans for an optional flower box.
A French faverolle poult about to move into her new coop.
As backyard chicken enthusiasts soon discover, the urban world is full of predators you never knew existed until you brought home your fluffy babies. It’s crucial to set up housing before you get your chickens — or at least before you move them from the brooder box to the yard. There are a lot of designs for coops, and some good ones are pictured at www.backyardchickens.com.
The nearly completed coop above was painted to match the flock owner’s house and it is the “playhouse coop” design created by Dennis Harrison-Noonan at Isthmus Handyman. To purchase his plans go to http://isthmushandyman.com/.
The eight-by-four-foot coop provides enough floor space to meet city of Charlotte requirements for up to eight chickens. The small door on the right provides access to the nest box for egg-gathering.
This coop has a hardware cloth floor. If you don’t enclose the floor in wire, you need to dig beneath the perimeter of the coop and sink wire there to prevent animals from digging in. A higher roost bar will be installed in the “run” portion of the coop. Already installed, but not visible, is a roost up in the coop.
Are you still using the chicken coop? Has it turned out to be a good design? I am interested in building one myself and don’t have a clue how to build or raise chickens. I usually research a subject for a couple of years and then do it. I look forward to hearing from you.
Thanks,
Tim
Charlotte NC
Tim,
The coop is great and in use. We just installed a permanent perch to replace the tree branch we’d previously wedged against the interior walls. Best of luck on your coop-building efforts.