Mother's Mini-coop

Image Gallery The mini-coop can be easily moved around the yard and garden by just one person, so the birds can feed on fresh grass and bugs as much of the year as possible. STEVE MAXWELL

There are so many good reasons to keep chickens that even city folks really should have a few birds. But too many backyard chicken operations look like something plucked out of a John Steinbeck novel, and that's a stumbling block for many. While the chicken-shack lifestyle is fine for some folks, the cause of sustainable, small-scale food production will never make serious headway unless its presented with a touch of class and style. That's the goal of Mother Earth's mini-coop, which makes it easy to keep a few hens even in the fanciest neighborhood or smallest back yard.

Our design team (myself and Mother Earth News editor Cheryl Long) sought the advice of several poultry experts in our quest to come up with a coop design that keeps the birds safe and productive, makes daily care as easy as possible, and looks good enough to park on a front lawn in town. The mini-coop keeps the birds safely fenced in, but can be easily moved around the yard and garden by just one person, so the birds can feed on fresh grass and bugs as much of the year as possible. The sheltered coop area is about 4-by-4-feet — a perfect bedroom for three or four hens. The attached chicken yard is 4-by-5-feet, or you could make it longer if you want to.

The mini-coop is a great project for kids. It's easy for children to help build the unit, then take complete responsibility for overseeing the egg production, giving them valuable, hands-on experience. You can even slip the coop into the back of a pickup truck — chickens and all — and take it to schools for demonstrations. We predict your local schools will be glad to host this egg-mobile.

Building the Mini-coop

The coop is framed with a series of truss-like triangles connected by a ridge board at the peak and a floor frame around the perimeter. The grazing area is enclosed in predator-proof, 1-inch galvanized welded-wire mesh, while the indoor roost is protected by shingle-covered 1/4-inch exterior plywood. If you've got two people to move the unit, you can simplify the project by omitting the wheels.

Study the drawings in the Image Gallery and then begin by cutting parts for the five triangular trusses you'll need to make the coop's frame. The main feature of the truss frames is that they be identical and rigid. To make them, you'll need 10 rafters, five cross ties, and three end spacers: one for each endmost truss frame and one for the frame, that divides the interior and exterior sections. I used cedar because it's lightweight and rot-resistant — desirable attributes for this project. You could substitute construction-grade softwood, although it will add more weight to the coop and will be less durable.

Before you assemble the trusses, prepare the notched cutouts for the two handle braces. I cut a series of kerfs in the notch area and knocked out the waste with a chisel and mallet. Before moving on, cut the floor-frame sides, the handle braces and the ridge board.