Comments on: Compact Chicken Coop Plans

By: Karri Cowan

Karri Cowan — Thu, 28 Sep 2023 22:58:31 +0000

I bought and built this coop along with the run. (And maybe a few other projects) I LOVE it. Thanks for easy to understand plans. I painted it blue instead of red and it’s beautiful!

By: James Feazell

James Feazell — Fri, 25 Aug 2023 14:41:53 +0000

I bought these plans back in 2020, and I built the coop and all-in-all it was a quite satisfying experience. (I did make some modifications to the attached run, because I wanted it to be longer and higher. No offense April, but I’m a little taller than you are. 🙂 ). So, after three years, there are good and bad…

The good – As I recall, this whole thing was pretty easy to put together, although as some others have noted, there are some crucial details that you will better understand if you watch the videos first, so I recommend doing that. (They’re here and on YouTube.)

The bad – I’m three years into this thing now and the bugs have eaten the heck out of some of the T1-11 and the 2×4’s. Part of that is on me, because I didn’t use pressure-treated lumber for anything above ground level, but I had concerns about the treated lumber and how that might impact the birds. Also, as others have already pointed out, there is no correlation on the cut sheet between the letters identifying the pieces, and the drawings. Looking back, I’m not quite sure how I got this together so easily, although I think most of it just made sense as I went along. Now, I’m in the process of having to re-cut some individual pieces to repair what is rotted, and it’s really problematic to go through the drawings and find exactly which parts relate to what. I’ll figure it out, but it is something that I would recommend you update in the annotations of the drawing.

Notwithstanding the above critiques (which for all I know, you have corrected perhaps in an updated set of plans since 2000?) This really is a nice design and I disagree with the statement that this is hard to clean– With that big removable side panel, even a tall, fat, old guy like me can reach everywhere inside. 🙂

By: Jason Kirwan

Jason Kirwan — Mon, 14 Nov 2022 21:14:08 +0000

On the 2×4 cut list, letter G says 51⅛” but on the Figure above, letter G measures 56⅛…..which one is correct?

By: ron.hayden

ron.hayden — Sun, 07 Aug 2022 21:16:58 +0000

Some of the cuts on the 2×4’s look to be cut in half. Or a dimension that is not indicated. Also, the exhibits don’t reference the letter of the Cut.
Cut U
Cut V
Cut S
Cut J
Cut M

Can anyone help me out?

By: tim-5176

tim-5176 — Thu, 23 Sep 2021 19:50:21 +0000

I purchased this plan about a year ago and was disappointed that there was no cut angles given for the roof 2x4s. I found the overall plan very confusing to follow with a poorly laid out cut list and just confusing as a general rule. I know that this was an inexpensive plan and was maybe expecting too much but I would have rather spent more to get a better plan. I am a very experienced builder so I was able to figure it out.
A year later I would like comment on the functionality. The coop design is difficult to get access for cleaning and requires a Houdini act to access upper areas. There are many crevices for thing like mites to live and multiple so instead of taking a few hour to clean it too all day.
I would not recommend this design
Tim Penstone Alberta Canada

By: Jay Gosson

Jay Gosson — Mon, 28 Dec 2020 22:22:33 +0000

I ordered the plans and built the coop and run over the summer. The only change to the plans I would recommend is to label each piece with the corresponding letter or number from the cut sheet. I realize they are color coded, but that doesn’t help when you print out your plans on a b&w printer. Everything went together well. Some of the instructions for the trim was a bit confusing. I trimmed out the nesting boxes before realizing that I then had to extend out the lid in order to have an overhang for a drip edge.

By: benjamin.carrancho

benjamin.carrancho — Tue, 01 Dec 2020 03:18:52 +0000

Hey Joshua,
How’d you go with converting to metric? I would need to do the same so I’m contemplating whether or not to make this purchase.
Did you finish the build yet?

By: Matthew Shearn

Matthew Shearn — Thu, 19 Nov 2020 03:57:00 +0000

I purchased these plans after watching April’s video (probably 100 times). It was exactly what I wanted for my urban chicken coop. Unfortunately it was going to be a little too big to be approved by my city, but April’s plans are so easy it was effortless for me to determine where and how I could make simple alterations to her plans to ensure my coop would be permitted by the city. THANKS APRIL! I am already starting to work on other projects you have available.

By: Joshua Parris

Joshua Parris — Sun, 01 Nov 2020 22:24:34 +0000

I am currently building this, converting everything from Inches to Centermeters, as I am in Australia. Seem’s to be working well so far. Thanks April for the excellent design and instruction videos / plans. I look forward to completing this project.

By: brigette

brigette — Thu, 10 Sep 2020 22:10:53 +0000

I am so excited to build this chicken coop for our ladies and rooster. I have been searching for months trying to make a decision and then also find some plans to match my vision for our hen house. This was exactly what I had in mind! We are making it a family project.