Chicken Coop Tour #16: One Dozen Coops Built with The Garden Coop Chicken Coop Plans

In this sixteenth Krewe of Coops virtual coop tour, we visit a dozen beautiful backyard coops built using The Garden Coop walk-in chicken coop plans. Lots of cool colors, materials, and customizations!

Coop #1: Joe’s Rustic Garden Coop, Milford, Connecticut

I love the look of the corrugated metal siding and roof on Joe’s coop, the rustic stain on the lumber and trim, and the added window at the front of the henhouse. . . .

Coop #2: Cuba and Anna’s Garden Coop, Bainbridge Island, Washington

I’m partial to the natural wood look, so it is always nice to see another example of that. . . .

We used a tinted stain on the frame and clad the hen house in one-by-four cedar for appearance. Thank you so much for the plans! Without question it was money well spent. 

Coop #3: Keli’s Angular Chicken Coop, Trumansburg, New York

It looks like it was a trigonometry project figuring out the angles and slopes to make it work in her yard, but what a cool way to connect her coop to her treehouse. . . .

Thanks again for all the tips. I doubled the length and added a triangular front part over the slope of my yard. I hope you can see the original plan in the chop shop version I came up with, but I found the instructions super helpful and easy to adapt. Chicky perfection!

Coop #4: Ines’s Tropical Garden Coop Chicken Coop, San Juan, Puerto Rico

Ines doubled the footprint of her Garden Coop to create a larger enclosed, covered run. What a beautiful setting. . . .

We doubled the depth and switched the roof orientation because we could not figure out how to leave it the same way and effectively cover the whole double deep enclosure. We are very pleased with it. 

Ines later shared a sad story with us too that hopefully will help others in hot, humid climates like hers. After losing a few chickens to the heat, she determined that they needed even more ventilation in the henhouse.

She wrote:

We drilled three-inch holes on the outside facing henhouse walls (which we covered with hardware cloth), removed the big door that faces the inside of the coop, and removed one of the slats from the wall that is opposite the nesting boxes.

If you’re planning to build in a very hot/humid (or cold) environment, our updated FAQ on climate is a good place to start. Also keep in mind that since the enclosed run is secure, you can leave the opening to the henhouse open at all times. You can also leave open (or remove) the large cleanout door.

Coop #5: Brooke’s Louisiana Chicken Coop

 So cool, the yellow highlights with the banana tree in the background. . . .

Coop #6: Debb’s Extended Garden Coop, Santa Rosa, California

Debb used The Garden Coop plans and optional hardware kit to build and extend her coop. The combination of stain tints and natural wood came out really nice, as did the extended run (with open roof) and grazing frame. . . .

I used TimberPro UV’s deck/fence stain in the green for the hen house and in kind of a brick color for the egg door trim. The door and all of the unstained redwood is treated with two coats of their Internal Wood Stabilizer. It turned the redwood a bit darker, which I really like contrasted with the green and red.  🙂 

I added a frame around the egg door, and we made the egg door larger for easier access. We also added angled corner braces for stability since I made it an extra section longer. I opted to add extra horizontal braces all the way around to staple the hardware cloth to, rather than having to knit it together. This also adds to the stability. 

As you can see, I also had the henhouse boards extend further down for sun and weather protection. And I used FRP panels on the hen house floor — makes cleaning a snap! All the seams in the hen house are sealed with a non-toxic sealer (M-1 by ChemLink, purchased from Indcon). It expands and contracts with heat/cold, so it won’t crack. I only needed one tube for the entire interior of the henhouse. The girls will stay dry, and the house is draft free. We painted the entire interior with two coats of a high-gloss, low VOC white paint. It was a labor of love for sure!

I’m really glad I added the extra run section as I have 7 hens and I think they truly appreciate the extra space! I purposely didn’t put a roofing panel there as I wanted the sun to reach the grazing frame.

Thanks for detailed plans and all of the help. The girls are loving the coop! 

Coop #7: Bret’s Backyard Chicken Coop, Berkeley, California

I like the pastel colors mixed with the natural wood on Bret’s coop. The trim around the windows dresses it up nicely too. . . .

Just wanted to drop you a note that after purchasing The Garden Coop plans and hardware kit. The plans were easy to follow and easy to modify. I built the external nesting boxes and painted the support beams with leftover paint from other projects. Now I just need a sign. 🙂

Coop #8: Lauren’s Ventura Beach Bungalow Garden Coop, Ventura, California

Lauren made her Garden Coop narrower (3.5’ deep) and a little wider (12’) than the original design so that it would work in her space. And she built it atop an existing concrete slab. . . .

I could not be happier with how it turned out. We ended up purchasing the Chicken Guard automatic door opener so we could build our own door that matched the coop. It works great, and I love it! We also put a large access door on the outside that drops open for easy cleaning.

As for the run, you can see we added two-by-fours around the entire perimeter and filled the whole yard with washed sand. It is great so far for drainage on top of the concrete, and easy to clean.  

Thank you so very much!  

Coop #9: Nico’s Garden Coop, South Africa

Check out the stone pathway and perimeter — looks great and should further protect the base from digging predators.

I really enjoyed the project. All the materials were easily available in South Africa. I spent around $1,000 USD for all of it. I’m not sure on the exact name of the roofing, but it is very popular here and comes in all sorts of shades and colours.

Coop(s) #10: Rachel and Chris’s Garden Coop and Garden Ark Chicken Coops, Framingham, Massachusetts

Rachel and Chris built The Garden Ark mobile chicken tractor using our plans and optional hardware kit, expanding the henhouse while keeping the same overall footprint. When they added to their flock, they built The Garden Coop, customizing the door and installing functional shutters for a small window at the front of the henhouse. . . .

Having the two coops is really nice right now for keeping the new and old flocks separated until they’re similar enough in size. 

The Garden Coop took my husband and I about a month to build, working every weekend. I admit we were a bit slow because we were building on a slope and leveling the foundation took us a long time. We also added some extra purlins, a window with (closeable!) shutters, and modified the door. 

Thanks for the excellent plans and hardware kits that made these projects so much easier! I even had the plans printed and bound in color so we could follow them more easily, write on them, etc.

Coop #11: Terrill’s Garden Coop with Folding Bench, State College, Pennsylvania

 I love the purple accents on this coop. And the folding bench is ingenious. . . .

After losing three chickens to predators, we decided it was time to upgrade. Our family built The Garden Coop. It was the biggest building project we’d ever done, but the plans were perfect, and we really enjoyed it. We were able to reuse some scraps of purple siding from our old henhouse.

We added a fold-down bench for our kids to sit on when they want to visit the chickens. It’s supported by triangles underneath and chains coming down from above. When they leave, they fold it up so the chickens can’t perch (and poop) on it.

The hens love their new home, and I sleep better at night knowing they’re safe. Thanks for the great design!

Coop #12: Anukul’s Chicken Coop, Santa Barbara, California

And finally. . . Anukul built this gem of a Garden Coop for his family, and I just had to show it off. Picture perfect.

I just finished building our Garden Coop, and me, my wife, and our two kids are delighted with the outcome. Prior to finding your plans, I had spent several weeks trying to find coop designs/ideas as well as learning about woodworking, and I was on the verge of giving up and buying a ready-made coop. 

This project was just perfect for us. Personally, it has given me a great sense of pride and satisfaction. It was my first big woodworking project, and I learned so much.

The plans were easy to grasp and follow. And the website has been such a wealth of knowledge, especially given that we’re new to raising chickens. It was also a source of inspiration, since other folks who’ve used your plans have made so many changes to reflect their needs / individuality / creativity.

I’m excited to see my kids grow up with the chickens. My almost five-year-old daughter has been taking care of the chickens daily since we got them. It’s been amazing (and pleasantly surprising) to see how good she is with them. Thank you!

Many thanks to everyone who contributed their photos and stories about their experiences building with The Garden Coop walk-in chicken coop plans. Like what they’ve done? Give them some love in the comments below. 🙂