Happy Poulettes

First of all, forgive my poor English, I'll try to do my best...

My wife asked me for long date to have laying hens in the garden. So we need a chicken coop!

After a quick search on the net and on local suppliers I realize that chicken coops are really short and extremely expensive !

So I decide to build my own with rest of wood and pallets.

For the happiness of hens, we need a coop with at least 2 places to lay eggs, a perch, a closing door for the hens and another one to clean the coop. It must have some space between the ground and the coop to prevent predators. The same space will procure some shadow and shelter.

Chickens love to run, they need a small enclosure.

So lets start !

First step consist off building a frame of the coop. I use some lumber and pieces of pallets to do it.

All pieces are assembled with screws and the frame is finally screw on the garden shed.

The sides are made with pallets screw on the frame.

The big roof is made the same way. The smaller one which ca be open is made in one part of recycling wood.

The front is made from recycling paneling (used to make a headboard)

The floor is made of old autoclave planks of wood. I've mad a hole to clean the floor when needing.

The hens do not like water so I decide to cover the roofs with bitumen. It is one of the most expensive thong that I had to buy.

Doors are made from same wood as the side.

Made a nice ladder

All the parts were glaze finish to protect against rain.

I made a bed of straw

A nice sticker made with our CAMEO who warn them of what will happen if there is no egg ...

I've made a small enclosure to protect the rests of the garden from droppings.

It is simply made with 3cm X 3cm wood poles and a 19x19 mm galvanized wire mesh.

The door is made with the 3cm X 3cm wood poles

• 3d Printed false egg : to teach chickens where to lay eggs, wee need false eggs. I've made my own 3D printed from : this thingiverse.

• At th first egg we don't know which one as begin to lay. So I find a cheap camera to insert in the coop. Now I now which one made egg and when there is a new one !

• I'm currently working on an automatic feeder for when we are on holidays.
• I'll add some sensor to monitor temperature in the coop
• I'll try to make the opening and closing of the door automatic.

To close this instructable, let me present you the two tenants and the result !

If you like my job, don't forget to vote for me on contests ;-)

Theju