A chicken coop is a place where chickens rush, sleep, hide from the weather. Of course, the chicken house should be comfortable and comfortable for the chicken. But for people the aesthetic component in the maintenance of domestic birds is also important. Beautiful well-kept yard pleases the eye, charging a person with energy and positive.
At the private farmstead, there are usually 5–15 chickens, for whose permanent residence an existing farm building is adapted or a new poultry house is being built. A variety of models allows you to choose an option that meets the needs of birds and the wishes of the owners.
Design chicken coops
Poultry houses are summer and winter. If you acquire young stock in spring in order to get tasty dietary meat until autumn, then there is no need to build a warmed poultry house with lighting and ventilation systems.
Learn how to make coop lighting in the winter and why you need ventilation in the coop.
Lightweight construction will save the budget and will be acceptable for birds in the warm season. 
An old car, a disused wardrobe, a large barrel and other structures can become a summer hen house.
The winter chicken coop is a warmed construction for stationary living of chickens. Near the building equip net walking.
Learn how to build and equip a chicken coop for the winter.
Among the various models there are also mobile chicken coops equipped with special wheels and handles for moving around the site.
Winter hut
A beautiful and functional chicken coop, like a fairytale hut, is made of natural wood materials - edged boards, timber - and covered with metal tiles. The tree is the most environmentally friendly material. 
It retains heat well inside the building and protects chickens from adverse weather conditions. In order to limit the flow of cold air, two doors are provided in the hen house: a large one - for taking care of the house and collecting eggs, and a small one - for birds, leading to an enclosed open-air cage.
Reuse
An old wardrobe can become a summer haven for 3-5 hens. Former shelves are converted into nests and perches, on the floor of a large compartment is a feeding trough and a trough.
It will also be useful for you to learn how to make your own drinking bowl and feeder for chickens, how to make a roost, how to make a nest correctly.
To provide the model with natural light, the door is divided into 2 halves.
The upper, equipped with a grid, gives access to light and fresh air inside the building.
The disadvantage of the model is its fragility and the fact that it will not be able to place the ash bath for birds or the tank with chalk, small gravel.
Big barrel
A coop made from an old large-sized metal barrel or cistern will become the original summer dwelling for 5 hens. 
To impart stillness, the barrel is deepened into the ground. Perches and nests are attached to one of the walls, the floor is made in the form of a wooden platform.
Feeders and drinkers are installed on the floor. The main entrance door to such a house has a small door for hens below. To access the light, you can cut a window in the barrel and tighten it with a grid.
Important! For ornamental breeds that originate from Asia, China and other countries with a warm climate, the size of the chicken coop must take into account the fact that in winter the chickens will hardly leave it.
On wheels
The frame of the old car, covered with mesh, can be used as a walking yard for a small herd. On the floor of the structure are installed drinking bowl and feeder. In the back of the car can be placed nest. 
Pyramid
Mobile summer construction in the form of a pyramid combines a chicken coop and walking. The upper part of the pyramid is equipped with a roost and 2 nests. The board floor is equipped with a ladder for descent into the fenced area of the range. To remove the eggs from the house, it is enough to lift the edge of the pyramid.
Did you know? Fermentation bedding with probiotics on the poultry house floor completely processes manure and eliminates slush near the drinker. This new biotechnology solution strengthens the immunity of birds and eliminates bacteria that promote diarrhea, which prevents constipation.
The assembly is made with self-tapping screws, so the structure, if necessary, is disassembled into separate panels and can be stored until it is demanded again. 
Growth Coop
A small house, assembled from panels and sheathed in plastic, can be both a summer and a stationary chicken coop. For permanent use you will need to insulate the walls with mineral wool or other insulation. Next to the house is fenced netting paddock.
Important! In accordance with the sanitary norms and regulations on the planning and development of low-rise housing, the distance from the building with animals to the neighboring site must be at least 4 m, and to residential premises- not less than 1 m.
Fairytale house
Fairy-tale house is a stationary poultry house, equipped inside with everything necessary, including ventilation systems, lighting and heating. Exterior decor is small statuettes of hens or fairytale heroes and bright colors in the design. 
The paddock for walking is made of mesh and decorative fencing, painted in white.
Mini cottage
Summer mini-cottage is a block-type assembly. The frame of the summer model comes with hinged panels and handles. To remove the eggs, just open the desired panel next to the nests. Next to the coop is a small mesh walk-through yard, into which chickens go along a solid wooden staircase.
The gable roof reliably protects the paddock from the rain. Natural lighting is organized through the door to the walking area and small windows under the roof. 
Tree house
For individual breeds that prefer to nest in trees and fly well, you can install a summer chicken coop on a high post. Chickens can enter the hen house by the steps. Production material - plywood, grid and roofing material. 
Roof garden
The mobile, portable cuboid-shaped summer house can become both a chicken coop and a high flowerbed. In such a two-zone cube, one part is a nest covered on the sides with wooden walls, and the second is a mesh courtyard.
The roof is decorated with a metal box-bed. Such a mobile functional building is an excellent courtyard decoration. 
Wood tower
Wooden tower, like a fabulous house or hut, is made of timber and board, but is the summer version of the hen house. The tower is a two-level structure, with nests and perches on top and a walking range at the bottom of the house.
If you decide to expand the area of walking, then on its roof you can organize a flower bed-container. For ease of dredging and cleaning from litter, opening walls are provided in the tower. Because of the small internal space, feeders and drinkers are placed in the walking area. 
Important! In lighting the chicken coop uses different types of lamps. It should be borne in mind that ultraviolet radiation increases metabolism, improves the functioning of the circulatory system and contributes to a better growth and development of the bird.
Comfortable cottage
Prefab summer cottage is set on a small flooring. At construction sandwich panels and a professional flooring are used. If the nest is placed at the bottom of the house, you get a summer house for ducks and other waterfowl.
You will also be interested to learn how to do your own water for geese and ducks.
Eggs can be removed by lifting the top cover of the nests, and for cleaning use a regular door.
Originally made the natural lighting of the cottage. The upper windows give a bright general light, and the lower ones are covered with a canopy, which is good for layers, as they need muffled light. 
Coop in the country with their own hands
When building a stationary chicken coop, you should consider:
- installation site;
- living space per 1 bird;
- materials from which construction will be executed;
- the need for building insulation;
- features overlap chicken coop;
- the presence of natural and artificial lighting;
- equipment with ventilation and heating systems;
- equipment by nests, perches, drinking bowls, feeding troughs, ash bath, etc.
You will be interested to know how to choose the right chicken coop, how to build a chicken coop and how to equip your own.
Frame
The chicken coop can be brick, wooden, panel. For panel and wooden structures, a frame is first constructed of timber, which is then sheathed with panels of base material and insulation. The framework is installed on the foundation. 
Did you know? Frame henhouses were used by the natives of Canada and other northern countries in organizing housing for poultry. Installed such constructions on pillars, piles.
Floor
For brick constructions, the floor is installed on the foundation and is performed in the form of a sandwich made of subfloor, insulation and finished floor. To prevent contact with moisture, steam and waterproofing is used.
As a heater used claydite, mineral wool, foam, polystyrene foam. Polyethylene film or other types of waterproofing are used to protect against moisture.
For wooden construction, the floor is made using the same technology, but there should be free space between the floor and the foundation for air exchange. 
Roof
The roof can be single or double, with or without attic. Usually the roof is a frame that is sheathed with wood panels, insulated and covered with slate, metal tile or corrugated flooring.
It may be useful for you to learn how to roof the roof with an ondulin, how to make a gable roof, how to make a mansard roof and to insulate, how to cover the roof with a metal tile, how to make a hip roof.
If you do not warm the roof, the coop will lose up to 30% of heat in winter. 
What to put inside
Inside the hen house, roosts are necessarily equipped. The nest can be in the form of a small platform or perches. It is mounted at a height of at least 1.4 m above the floor. 1 bird needs at least 0.25 m perch. Additionally roost complete ladder for lifting birds.
Nests are set at the rate of 1 nest for 3-4 hens. You can build them from plastic or board boxes, pouring hay or straw inside.
Feeders for grain and wet feed are installed on the floor, as well as a water bowl. The feeder should be long and narrow so that the birds do not scatter the feed with their paws. The drinker can be made from any container like a large bowl.
Separately set the box with sand and ash. With it, chickens are protected from parasites - fleas and lice. 
So, you can make a portable or stationary chicken coop out of any material - wood, brick, modern tile materials. The main thing here is the creation of a comfortable microclimate for birds, with a humidity not higher than 70% and a comfortable air temperature not lower than 14 ° C.
Well-fed hens in optimal conditions carry better and are less susceptible to disease.
