Building a Hoop Coop

Reader Contribution by Sean And Monica Mitzel and Sovereign Sonrise Permafarm
Published on March 11, 2016
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This year is shaping up to be another busy year on the homestead. Last year was a huge establishment year, while this year is about expansion and tweaking what we’ve done. When we built our original chicken coop (for our 15 layers), we were not anticipating more than doubling our flock. Let’s just say we love eggs :). But, because our flock is now running around 40, we are in dire need of an updated coop for our hens and their roosters.

The reason we decided to increase the number of layers we had was to keep us in eggs. We bought new layers last year as chicks, they are finally laying — prolifically, while our older hens will be ready for freezer camp this coming fall or so. The overlap can be a little inconvenient if the coop is not built to accommodate the large flock, ours was not.

This winter everything was fine because we had built an all-season hoop house which allowed us to home all the chickens in there. We utilized the deep bedding method throughout the winter, and added roosts and nesting boxes. The ladies loved it! So as we get ready to remove the bedding and hopefully unearth some beautiful, rich, warm soil, we need somewhere new to home our layers. What’s a homestead without another project to complete? Answer: not a homestead — so along came the new hen house.

As we discussed design ideas (and browsed Pinterest), we decided that we really liked the solid design of the hoop house we had built in the fall, and the hens appreciated the space. Why not replicate it on the other side of our small upper pasture?

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