Laura’s Expanded Garden Coop Chicken Coop, Sonoma County, California

Professional photographer Laura in Sonoma County, California used our Garden Coop chicken coop plans to build and customize this larger version of the design. She sent us a note describing the modifications she made. The rest of this post comes from her. . . . 

Our larger Garden Coop chicken coop

Thought you might be interested to see our finished coop based on your design plans that we modified a bit. Here are some of the changes we made:

• Expanded the size to 8′ x 12′ with an 8′ x 4′ henhouse
• Put the chickens’ pop door over on the side
• Hung the people door to swing out instead of in
• Made a skirt of wire mesh around the perimeter instead of burying it
• And instead of extending the mesh over the entire ceiling underneath the corrugated roofing, we put small panels of mesh over the gaps between the framing and the roofing so that the mesh goes all the way up to the corrugated stuff (seems to be working fine)

I still have to build the nesting boxes, as my pullets are only 10 weeks old, but it went up in four days, and I’m absolutely delighted with how it’s turned out. Thank you again for your excellent plans!

And by the way, thanks for the waterer, too. The pullets learned to use it right away once I supplied a “booster chair” (i.e., a cinder block) underneath so they could reach it!  As they get taller, I’ll take it away.

Adding more chickens to our backyard flock

Laura sent this additional note and photos soon after the original post, so I’ve added them here. . . .

We now have a second chicken coop next to the first one that has four separate pens in it, two medium-sized ones (8×8′) and two little ones (4×8′) for breeding pairs or chicks growing out or whatever. I love how flexible and adaptable the design is, and everyone comments on how handsome the coops are — and completely predator-proof, even in this predator-heavy area.

Many thanks to Laura for sharing her photo and notes with the rest of us. If you like what she’s done or have any tips or questions about modifying The Garden Coop walk-in chicken coop design, leave a reply in the comments below or email us directly. And if you find our posts helpful and want to receive email notifications as posts are published, subscribe to Coop Thoughts.