Many chicken owners go into this adventure with a bit of understanding about what a chicken coop ought to look like. What many find out is that there are lots of different ways to do things, but that there is a list of basic ingredients that together make a comfortable, functional shelter to house their chooks.

1. Four solid walls & roof

With few exceptions this is necessary to prevent weather, predators and exposure from thinning your flock. Even in mild climates, it's better to have the coverage to prevent the predation, as walls are harder for predators to compromise. Coops can be built to allow a person to stand up, which makes cleaning far easier; tractors or arks can be built smaller so that they can be mobile. There are thousands of designs available to peruse online.

2. Windows, or other ventilation

Birds, in general, have very sensitive respiratory systems. They can be weakened and more susceptible to illness if they are exposed to ammonia due to built-up waste. In cold climates, the moisture from breath in an enclosed space can cause frost to occur on combs and increase the risk of frostbite. The best way to prevent either situation is to have adequate ventilation for the birds in their enclosure.

Ventilation should not allow direct breezes on the chickens' roosting area, nor should it allow predators to reach in and maim your pets. Windows screened by 1/2" hardware cloth fastened with screws and large washers are great for warmer month and mild climates. While more expensive than chicken-wire or poultry netting, hardware cloth is your friend, as it is not weak enough to be pulled apart by predators, and the small holes won't allow them to reach through and pull apart your flock- they'll take a bird a bit at a time if they can. Some owners will even place a box fan in a window to ensure a comfortable sleeping environment. In colder months, cracks around doors are actually beneficial to allow some moisture to escape, while small vents (2x2" holes or 3" round holes) covered by vent covers or hardware cloth. You really want more ventilation than you think, as any moisture from the flocks' breath will land on combs and wattles and crystalize, causing frostbite. Better ventilation should not mean direct drafts at the roost level or that the heat that accumulates at the top of the coop should escape, however.

3. A 'people' door

A larger coop is generally what we all want, but not all of us have the means for various reasons. If you build an attached run, make certain you can get in to get at your birds- an injured bird in a pen you can't get into is nothing you want to experience. Clean-out is significantly easier if you can roll a wheelbarrow into your coop, or or even wheel right up to a wide door.

If you build a smaller coop, you ought to make certain you can reach all nooks and crannies for cleaning- the importance of this will be evident the first time you find mites or have a disease go through your flock- no area should be too far for you to spray, vacuum, or scrub from a comfortable stance. You may have to get it down to bare wood and coat it with olive/tea tree oil for mites...what would that mean in your coop? You might need to spray or fumigate with Oxine- can you get at all of your coop to do so if you get a virus or bacterial disease?

Also, you ought to be able to get at your birds when in the coop itself, as if there are areas beyond your reach, you may not be able to help should an ill or injured bird seek solitude.

True chicken-kissers often spend time in the coop socializing with the flock, and this henthusiast has an old drawer in the coop which is turned over to to reveal a poop-free side as a stool for such occasions.

4. A 'pop' door

This is a door through which chickens pass to go in and out throughout the day when weather doesn't allow the coop to be thrown open. In nicer weather (40+* F) the larger coop stands open with the two 2 1/2' double doors propped wide. The Banty Shanty has it's double doors swung open, as well. When it's chilly enough out that the warmth and protection of the coop is required, I leave it shut and just provide the little opening of the pop doors- each an 8" x10" hole at the floor level of the coop with a little ramp down to the ground. The ramp has strips of wood across it every 4" to prevent slips. The pop doors are on the East and West walls, and we have 2 because they each lead to a separate fenced run.

The pop door is closed securely and barred against predators each night, because every obstacle one can place in the way of a predator is crucial. Once in, all predators will kill everything and eat little- it's devastating.

5. A fenced, covered run

We keep 2 runs for a few reasons. Generally, the birds have the run of the yard, as the run gates are open for at-will grazing. But different times of the year call for other management. Autumn and Spring we have mid-city predators in the daytime: hawks! The covered runs keep the flock from the fate of the poor Blue Andalusian we lost to a hawk. The chooks always found a way over even the 6' fences when they wanted to, anyway, so the covered runs are for our convenience, as well, when we want to contain the birds.

The East run is kept closed in growing months, as it becomes our food garden and the fencing keeps the chooks out, rather than in; the West run is used when we re-seed the lawn, or mow, or various other times the flock isn't welcome in the yard...an infrequent occasion. Each run provides 30 square feet of space minimum per bird so crowding and boredom don't become a problem. Nothing fosters cannibalism in chickens like crowding mixed with boredom.

6. Light

Many chicken-keepers will not have the option of providing light to their coop, due to lack of electricity to that remote area of the yard, etc. Solar, dusk activated lights are the solution!

The question I hear most frequently out of new owners is how they can coerce their birds into the coop at dusk. Worried, upset birds mill around the pop-door, but won't enter. The reason is that the darkness inside is worse for their eyes and they can't see whether there's a monster in there waiting to eat them- they're afraid! They're afraid of being outside, as well, as their instincts tell them there WILL be monsters outside waiting to eat them!

A little light on the subject does wonders- the birds will see this lighted coop and be drawn to the safety of home each evening. Since solar lights turn on and off automatically, there's no maintaining the timer as dusk and dawn change throughout the year. Alternatively, if one has power in the coop, a timer with a light is the obvious solution, with a compact fluorescent a low power choice.

Henthusiasts.com provides lights that are solar, dusk activated  string LEDs for coop-use.

7. Roosts and poop boards

Roosts should be 2" x4" boards, wide side up. No exceptions.

This allows birds to balance well, to sit on their feet to keep them warm in the Winter, to scoot in the dark when other birds move at night, and to feel secure. Chickens do not grip with their feet like other birds, and a fall can cause an egg to break internally, which brings a long, painful, fatal illness called yolk peritonitis. I stand firm on this, having lost a favorite bird to this very illness. narrower boards will work, but not as well, and the birds will be maneuvering on a balance-beam...do you want that?

Poop boards. This is the single greatest thing you can do for yourself as a hengineer: place 18"-24" boards 8" under your roosts. You are trying to catch all of the poop that the birds produce over the course of the night. This is the ONLY concentrated deposit they make, and you can get it in one place for easy clean-up! During the day, poop will be evenly distributed fertilizer in your yard or run, but at night, it piles up and becomes a problem you'll have to clean in the future...enter the poop board!

A flat scoop or trowel run over this board once a week allows your to manage your coop 4 or 5 times a year! I prefer old counter-tops discarded from kitchen remodels because of the formica surface and ease of cleaning.

If you have a walk-in coop, you can stack double-decker nest-boxes under the board or store your feed, hay, pine-shavings, etc. I also put the food bowl and waterer under to prevent them from being perched-upon and soiled. At counter-top height, it is a back-saver and takes only a few minutes to clean. Scraped into an old feed bag, the refuse is easily dumped into a composter for black gold in my garden next Spring!

8. A towel hook

Don't consider me bonkers just yet...I promise you, the old towel hanging in my big coop gets used, and more often than I thought. You'll want a hand broom, a trowel, an old towel, a jug of water (and probably other things) out there at your disposal. Sometimes you just need to wipe your hands. It's fair to say you'll want a little shelf or cupboard in there for things that are 'chicken-only' to remain where they are most often used.

9. Hanging waterers and feeders

If you keep the food and water at shoulder-level to your birds, you prevent them from scratching out all of the food (instinct makes them do it!) and from pooping in their water. It's a fact of life- they will do it!

I installed strong cup-hooks in the underside of my poop boards and used baling-wire to form sturdy hooks from which I hang both food and the waterer. In colder months, the water is on an elevated heater base. The act of hanging my feed dropped my food outlay 30% due to waste that was prevented- now they scratch with their feet as they eat, but it's nowhere near the feed!

10. Nests and bedding

One nest per 6 hens is about the right ratio is you want to build small. Because of the way my large coop is built, I prefer a 1 to 4 ratio. Regardless, owners will find that many times birds will all prefer one nest-box over the rest and many go unused most days, even with 25 birds in that coop! Covered, minimum 12" x12" and 14" tall, nest-boxes are better with a 4" lip to hold in the bedding. My girls prefer softer prairie hay that they can form into the common doughnut shape. Some owners use pine-shavings or straw.

Pine shavings are acceptable given that they are of pet quality and not terribly aromatic. Cedar can be very hazardous due to the fumes, which are abrasive to birds' respiratory system and can be fatal. Straw can be a problem due to the hollow shaft, which can bring in and harbor mites. Also, the stiff nature of straw can lead to impacted crops, leaving birds to slowly die of starvation as no food can pass through the crop to be digested. Hay is softer and can be processed should they choose to eat it.

Whatever bedding one chooses, a greater quantity than expected should always be used, as compaction and moisture cause it to break down quickly. A deep cushion of at least 8" is preferred, as a jump down from a roost can cause microscopic tears in the foot pad, and a condition called 'Bumblefoot' can result, which is hard to treat. More bedding also allows birds to stay inside during inclement weather, even when a bit crowded, as scratch grain (which should be used as a treat only) can be tossed in for fun- scratching in the bedding is a favorite pastime!

More coop tips to follow!