10 Fresh And Fun Chicken Coop Design Ideas

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Residential chicken farming has seen a huge boom in recent years, as people realize the health and independence benefits of eating locally sourced food.

Deciding that you’d like to raise your own chickens is the easy part; the work comes when it’s time to give them a place to live. Every residential chicken farmer needs a quality chicken coop to house and shelter the birds.

Because the options are surprisingly vast, and pre-built coops can be expensive, we set out to discover 10 of the most innovative and fun chicken coops that can be built at home.

With this collection, you’ll see a mixture of coops that can be built from a purchased set and those that are utterly DIY, crafted from recycled objects for a truly unique and low-cost construction. They’re all equally effective at housing birds, and some will work better than others, depending on your needs.

Aside from the 10 original coops pictured below, we also want to share with you a DIY guide for building your very own coop at a cost of $50 or less, courtesy of Livesimply. This guide goes above and beyond some of the instruction linked to below and is a great start for anyone looking to be truly frugal.

Whether you’re looking to raise a handful of chickens in a compact coop or begin a small farm with something more accommodating, the ideas here will surely get you off to a great start. Click the related link for each image to see available instructions.

Our first chicken coop is a pretty standard design, large enough to house a walk-in door, which is a helpful feature for cleaning and checking on the birds. A corrugated tin roof and gently stained wood make for an attractive appearance in any yard.

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This build is similar to the prior chicken coop, with light natural wood construction and a full size walk-in door. The structure is bolted to a cement base for stability, and houses an extra-wide rooftop for rain protection.

Now we’re moving onto the more elaborate setups. This portable coop can be towed to new locations, and features a lightweight construction that appears more fully open than most projects. The feeder can be accessed from outside, while a half-size walk-in door allows direct access.

We found this project to be one of the most beautiful designs out there, with an A-frame roof and rustic wood construction. The split-level door features a small port window and painted roof piece overhead, while the roost is large and accommodating.

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Now we move on to possibly the most innovative chicken coop design yet. This project involves the total reconfiguration of an old dresser or hutch, repurposing drawers into egg bins and cabinets into individual chicken roosts.

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Source: Carabuatcoop

This design features the sleek look of a purchased chicken coop, with all the cost savings of DIY construction. A full size walk-in door and unique windowed roost door allow access, while a slide-out waste pan allows for super easy cleaning. It’s lightweight and can be placed virtually anywhere.

We encountered a few A-frame designs in our search, including one built from an old swing set, but this project captured our imagination most. The slim built is perfect for a handful of birds and can be nailed together, provided you have the materials, in a single afternoon.

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Source: Backyardchickens

Going in a more elaborate direction, this chicken coop features a full outdoor pen and large roosting house, for ultimate practicality. It’s also got style to spare, with a fun, blue and white paint scheme and rooftop shingles like a real house.

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Yes, this chicken coop project is indeed based upon a trampoline! The innovative DIY work involved here produced the most unique coop on our list. The trampoline offers a large, nearly ready-made enclosure, making for a project with plenty of practical value.