Kitchen Cabinet Chicken Coop
Chicken coops are expensive. The readily available store bought coops also seem to be mostly made in China* and are constructed from this communion wafer thin wood that absolutely will not stand the test of time. When I started to tear out my original kitchen cabinets, which were made from real maple wood, I started to visualize nesting boxes and a coop. I knew that I did not want to spend a lot of money, but I also had never built a chicken coop before. It needed to be sturdy, safe, able to be kept cool and warm, and easy to clean!
Before: Kitchen Cabinets
I had saved my main 36” sink cabinet and a small wall cupboard for the main coop. I also saved one of the 21” base cabinets to use as a little garden getaway and/or chicken infirmary coop. (Always plan ahead and have a place you can separate your chicken(s) due to injury or illness. At the time of writing this post, the secondary coop space is being used as a “chicken jail” for a bossy barred rock bantam who is putting in some hard alone time for assault and battery).
I started the build by shoring up the walls of the cabinet with some scraps of furring strips and added a floor from some scrap wood for extra support. In perusing various backyard chicken sites, it seems like a common coop problem is holes in the floor due to moisture/wood rot. I had plan to also tile the floor for easy and thorough clean up.
The coop really started to take shape after building out the roof truss and adding this to the base cabinet. I notched out the truss 2x4s so that I could lift and remove the roof for cleaning or chicken wrangling. In between each truss, I added a layer of foam insulation, secured it, and covered it with 3” scrap fence boards. Take note, you do not want to have any type of foam where the chickens may peck at it. All foam must be covered!
I had enough left over boards to continue to cover the exterior in a “shiplap” fashion. Inside I installed vinyl (easy to wipe clean) floral wall paper and used the left over tiles from the removed kitchen backsplash to tile the floor of the coop. If you are also tiling, make sure to seal or waterproof your grout. Even though this coop would be in the greenhouse and protected from the elements, I wanted to make sure that any rain would roll off the roof. I used some of the left over Owens Corning underlayment and shingle sheeting from when I re-shingled my house. To extend the life of this coop I also painted the exterior with Behr exterior paint in white. The final step was adding locks and hinges to the nesting boxes, front door, and ramp.
After: Kitchen Cabinet Chicken Coop
Helpful Tips and Plans
Have a plan to get started on your coop setup or build before you get your chicks. Baby chicks grow fast! I had a plan to order my chicks and begin my build. This coop took me 6 weekends to finish and prepare for my pullets.
Use what you have on hand. Combining scrap wood can not only clean up any piles or leftovers hanging around your yard, but it’s also a great way to up-cycle. Try to use hardwoods and steer clear of interior use particle boards.
Chickens are going to peck at everything. Make sure that any paint you use inside the coop is “barn friendly” and/or non-toxic to chickens.
Good ventilation is critical. I added hardware cloth covered portals on the front and the side roofline of the coop. I also added a solar powered exhaust fan to my roof panel.
For coop plans from scratch, check out Anne Kuo’s book: A Beginner’s Guide to Raising Chickens
Get creative and have fun! As long as your coop build is sturdy, physically sound, and safe, your chickens won’t judge you if you the coop doesn’t look like Joanna Gaines came to help style it.
Kitchen Chicken Coop (say that five times fast…) Supply List:
Floral wallpaper - Spoonflower (prepare yourself, this is the Toys“R”Us of textiles!)
Scrap Wood - free
Fasteners/screws (use exterior wood screws)
Waterproof roofing material - Shingles, tin, corrugated fiberglass
Paint - Non toxic, use what you have. (Chickens don’t mind what color, although I recommend against red. Red is often used on nipples and feeders and may encourage curious pecking.)
Solar Powered Exhaust fan - Available on Amazon for airing out the coop during hot summer days
Locking hardware - Remember, raccoons have little determined hands and fingers! Get some carabiner clips for extra raccoon deterring and to prevent latches from being opened by unwelcome visitors at 2:30am
Hardware cloth - do not use chicken wire on your coop. Raccoons can gnash their teeth through chicken wire.
* Free the Falun Gong! The global slavery index estimates that there are close to 3million slaves in China, many of whom are forced to work in labor camps. If you can’t be sure that your China made goods were not made by children or enslaved people, just try not to buy it. You don’t want those vibes in your backyard.