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Rough Cut Lumber Chicken Coop

Today I am going to share our DIY rough-cut lumber chicken coop. We wanted to build a budget-friendly chicken coop for our new chickens and used rough cut lumber and upcycled supplies.

This is a prime example of an “I told you so” situation. I always said we would never have chickens, and here we are years later, saying ‘maybe we should get some chickens’. All I have to say is that priorities and situations change!

And of course, we wanted to build a chicken coop in the cheapest way possible. This is when the piles of rough-cut lumber, piles of old windows, and the saving of old hinges and other supplies came in handy for building a rough cut lumber chicken coop.

diy chicken coop with pine shavings and chickens

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diy rough cut lumber chicken coop with man sized door and nesting box doors
diy chicken coop made with roughy cut lumber and has nesting box access and recycled windows

DIY Chicken Coop

Our do-it-yourself chicken coop is a work in progress. Because it is still winter here in Michigan, we wanted to get the coop done and in place but will work on the chicken run and fencing in the spring.

We decided to build an 8×8 chicken coop with 8 nesting boxes and will build a large chicken run when the weather allows it. I also so this slanted roofline on Pinterest, and so we decided to go this route. And who knows, we may change it in the future if the snow becomes an issue.

DIY Chicken Coop man door with plug in chicken waterer

Our DIY chicken coop is made out of rough cut pine lumber and two free windows from Facebook Marketplace. And most of the hardware was extras from other projects. Our rough-cut lumber chicken coop was extremely budget-friendly!

Requirements for Our DIY Rough Cut Lumber Chicken Coop

  • Big enough for about 30 chickens
  • Walk In Chicken Coop
  • Easy to clean (I haven’t cleaned it yet, so this is TBD)
  • Easy-to-reach nesting boxes
  • Access to nesting boxes from outside
eight chicken nesting boxes
exterior access to chicken nesting boxes on a chicken coop

Chicken and Chicken Coop Supplies

Why Did We Get Chickens?

Why did we get chickens? The question of the season! Besides wanting to be able to get our own eggs, we want to know where our food is coming from. There is so much uncertainty in the world these days, and having some knowledge about our food, how it is raised, how it is treated, and how we can be a tad bit more self-sufficient (and even more so community sufficient!) is becoming more important to us.

We are learning and using skills that I never would have thought I would ever be learning. And our kids are learning too!

First, we know where our pork is coming from because we raise our own pigs and butcher them ourselves.

Second, we know where our beef is being raised and the process of how we purchase that 1/2 of cow.

And third, they help in the garden and know that the jars of food we eat are from our own land. And let me tell you, it is a great feeling!

So as we await our first batch of chicks to add to our flock, our kids are excited to go collect the eggs and check on food and water for the chickens.

Is having chickens for everyone? Of course not! But someday, I hope to have enough laying hens that we can provide eggs to those who don’t want to have chickens. One step at a time, and this is our first step.

chickens in chicken coop with electric waterer
chicken eating chicken food in diy chicken coop
black chicken standing in hay/ pine shavings bedding inside diy lumber chicken coop

Chicken Run for Chickens

The next step (after the snow is gone!) is to add a chicken run to the coop. While our chickens currently have no interest in coming outside in the snow right now, they will be ready as soon as the weather starts turning nice again!

We are planning on building a large enough chicken run that we don’t have free-ranging chickens. While I think we will love to have chickens and love the idea of chickens eating the bugs and keeping my garden pest-free, we also live in the woods with dogs and predators. And to be honest I really don’t want chicken poop all over the yard and on my porches.

Chicken Coop with manual chicken door
rough cut lumber chicken coop with exterior access to nesting boxes

We have had our chickens for almost two weeks. And while we still may be in the honeymoon phase, we are loving having some fresh farm eggs and so far the rough-cut lumber chicken coop seems to be working out well.

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