I was hoping to build a chicken coupe for 3-4 chickens. Does anyone know where I can find some plans (preferably free) for building a decent chicken coop? It doesn't have to be the Taj Mahal, but I don't want it to be an eyesore either.
Some key features I'd like are a hatch that makes it easy to get eggs and a tray that makes it easy to clean out manure.
Back Yard Chickens has lots of different designs, with instructions on how to build them.
While you're there, you can even get some recipes for cooking your chickens (if you ever get tired of taking care of them, or get really hard up for cash).
I used plans purchased from The Garden Coop. They're not that expensive and included a complete parts list to get started.
The egg doors are part of the plan, but the removable tray is not. I'm an amateur at this, and yet I found the plans well-explained and simple enough to make some modifications along the way without much trouble.
There are several online repositories of DIY building plans that have been compiled over the years by agricultural extension services. The plans include all manner of agricultural buildings and structures. When I googled it just now, this is the first one I came across, but there are others:http://bioengr.ag.utk.edu/extension/extpubs/PlanList97.htm#Poultry Plans
