Don’t settle for a boring chicken coop! These 10 chicken coop hacks will take your coop from drab to fab – and your chickens will love it, too! ?
Spring is finally here! Which means it’s time for chicks and spring coop cleaning. If you are like me, you may be looking for some extra-awesome ways to spruce up your chicken coop this year. Well, I’ve got you covered!
I searched the internet high and low and let me tell you, there are some genius chicken lovers out there! It was so hard to narrow this list down to just ten amazing DIY’s that will take your coop to the next level! Click on the image to check out each of these awesome chicken coop hacks!
Chicken Grazing Frames:
These grazing frames from The Garden Coop are pure genius! They allow chickens access to the tips of grass or other yummy sprouts while protecting the plant roots from being gobbled up! They would be easy to make with simple wood framing and mesh wire and there are step-by-step instructions on how to make your own!
DIY Automatic Chicken Feeder:
MultitaskingMaven.com shares an excellent tutorial that walks you through how to make a chicken feeder using a 5-gallon bucket and a plastic condiment platter. I love this so much that I think I am actually going to bust one out this weekend using all those extra buckets we have lying around!
Plastic Bin Poop Catcher:
Let’s talk poop for a second: We all know that chicken poop – if you can catch it – is a huge resource for you garden and homestead. The tricky part is catching it! Lucy Brown shared her simple method for catching all that poo on Mother Earth News. This is seriously so simple – all you need is a plastic container and some wire!
Shabby Chic Ladder Roosts:
There is some serious shabby chic goodness going on at Shabby Olde Potting Shed! From dressers transformed into nesting boxes to battery-operated mason jar sconces, this is one fab chicken coop! These rustic ladder roosts are my favorite! They are adorable and functional! You better believe I will be watching for ladders at the flea markets this summer!
Removable Chicken Coop Door Panels:
This awesome chicken coop design was shared on the Backyard Chickens member pages. This chicken coop incorporates a lot of function designs including removable door panels. They can be removed to allow for air circulation or replaced for safety and temperature control. Check out their entire post to see what other cool hacks they incorporated into their coop!
Nesting Box Curtains:
Cluck Wild Homestead incorporates some big style into their little chicken coop! Putting drapes on nesting boxes can help reduce unwanted broodiness among your hens, and now you can do it in style! I can’t wait to dig out some scrap fabric and make these for our boxes! She even shares the measurements and instructions to make these adorable chicken nest box curtains!
Chicken Perch Swing:
You’ve heard of porch swings… well, this is a perch swing! And it doesn’t get much easier to make – all you need is an old tree branch and some rope! Fresh Eggs Daily has the full scoop on how to make your own chicken perch swing!
Chicken Coop Rooftop Garden:
Using the roof of your chicken coop for extra growing space is one of my favorite new ideas. It utilizes otherwise wasted space to allow you some extra room to grow greens either for yourself or your chickens. Primal Palate has shared their step-by-step instructions for this amazing roof top garden! The plan that is shared takes a little building know-how, but even a beginner could hack out a smaller-scale version.
Chicken Coop Drunken Herbal Spray:
This DIY coop spray utilizes simple ingredients – essential oils and vodka – to form a great-smelling anti-bacterial coop spray. I am definitely going to whip up a batch to try out in our coop. Get can check out the full instructions and recipe at Camp Wander!
PVC Interactive Feeder:
I realize that this DIY treat dispenser was originally designed with dogs in mind, but I would love to make one for our chicken coop! Boredom busters are an important chicken coop feature, especially in the winter when chickens tend to be less active and require more mental stimulation. Dogtipper shows step-by-step instructions to make your own treat feeder. It requires minimal supplies to manufacture and it would be a great way to use left over pieces of PVC pipe. Fill it with healthy and nutritious treats and watch your chickens have a ball with it!
I can’t wait to incorporate all of these genius hacks into my personal chicken coop! And speaking of my personal chicken coop, next week I will be giving you guys an exclusive tour of my chicken coop and sharing the hacks we have used to make our chicken coop functional, safe, and fun! You don’t want to miss this! Stay up to date by following us on Facebook and Instagram so you don’t miss a thing!
Peninah
Thursday 28th of October 2021
thank you very helpful
Cindy
Saturday 11th of July 2020
This is great! Thank you for sharing. I am wanting to add ducks to our farm in Ohio. Do you have ducks? I am looking for similar ideas for my water loving friends. We do have a pond. Thanks a bunch!
Project Zenstead
Sunday 12th of July 2020
Hi Cindy! We don't currently have ducks, but we did for many years! You can check out the duck coop/chicken coop that we had. Ducks can be super messy - especially with their water source! But, they are also super endearing, generally very hardy, the eggs are delish and they are great for slug control! We do plan to eventually get 2-3 runner ducks again to have near our garden area. That way, we can release them into the perennial garden area to hunt for bugs a few times a week. It's nice that, unlike chickens, they don't scratch at the soil. They will however trample young plants. So it's best to use them in the garden once things have matured a bit. All in all, ducks can be a great addition to any homestead when they are managed correctly. It's awesome that you have a pond already! Watching them do their little "zoomies" in the water is my favorite! :D
Wendy
Friday 26th of June 2020
My 4 girls will not go in their individual boxes! They sleep on top of each other in the same box! They are 4 months old, I just got 4 new babies and am not sure when to introduce them into the hen house and don’t want all 8 to sleep on top of each other, any ideas
Project Zenstead
Friday 26th of June 2020
There's a joke that asks how many nesting boxes you need for X-number of chickens. The answer is always 1 (regardless of the number of chickens) because they will all insist on laying on top of each other! In reality, it's good to have a few boxes, but chickens will usually pick their favorite spot and it's usually the same spot! I have seen one of my chickens physically lay an egg on top of another hen that was in "her" box! ? Now, if they are sleeping in the nesting boxes, try installing some roosting poles. It's much better for them to sleep on roosting poles than in the nesting boxes. For the first several nights, you can sneak out once they area in bed and move them out of the nesting boxes and onto the poles until they get the hang of sleeping on the poles. Chickens are just little weirdos sometimes and there's only so much we can do about it, but I hope this helps! :D
Christine
Monday 1st of June 2020
How does having curtains on the nesting box help stop brooders? I have two hens trying to brood for the last three weeks. I can’t snap them out of it.
Project Zenstead
Monday 1st of June 2020
It's different with every bird, and a lot of breeds have a much higher tendency to go broody than others - and sometimes nothing will stop them! But, the idea of the curtains is that it provides privacy while laying. With some broodies, if they even see another chicken (or even just eggs in the nesting box), it can be enough to trigger them to go broody! So the curtains help give them that "out of sight, out of mind" effect. :)
Love the ideas I’m going to try them
Monday 25th of May 2020
Love the ideas I’m going to try them