The Coop

After searching at nearly every feed store in the area looking at chicken coops, we decided to build our own. There were no coops that fit exactly what we wanted and definitely nothing in our price range.

Hours and hours of searching online, reading “raising chickens” books and debating, we came up with the perfect coop: a “Chicken Ark”. They’re attractive, contain a full run, roost, 2 nests and incredibly easy access to everything. The plan was originally to design plans and build it from scratch, but a lot of online searching eventually revealed the Catawaba ConvertiCoop. It’s exactly what we wanted AND it came with a full materials list and cut list.

Since the roosts and nests are upstairs, the ladies have 32 square feet of run to play in and peck at bugs. Unfortunately the Arks were selling in our area and online for nearly $1000. We ended up finding the construction plans for $20 and spent about $250 building it ourselves. We did have to buy a couple tools but were able to find great deals ($20 for a miter saw) on craigslist and classifieds. Even if you don’t have the tools, most areas have tool libraries or rental stores where you can rent or borrow a tool for a day.

It should be mentioned that this was basically OUR FIRST “big construction project” and we are very excited with how easy the project was and how well the project turned out.

Take a look!

Our Chicken Ark ... based off the Catawaba ConvertiCoop plans