OVER-THE-TOP IDEAS
Be the envy of your neighbors with these cool coops.
Nearly a decade since exploding in popularity — we have to go back to the middle of the 20th century to find similar levels of interest — backyard chicken keeping seems to be here to stay. This is more than a trend or passing phase. More and more people are discovering the joys of raising a small backyard flock to supply their family with a seemingly neverending supply of delicious, fresh eggs. Chickens have been elevated from nameless, faceless livestock to cherished backyard pets.
So who’s to say you can’t add a bit of fun, extra elements to your coop and run? While chickens are fairly low-maintenance and don’t require much other than fresh, clean water and good-quality feed, today’s chicken keepers love to spoil their flocks. From beautifully decorated coops to spacious runs with all kinds of features to keep chickens from becoming bored, modern chickens enjoy living the high life in return for providing families with a steady stream of eggs far superior to anything that can be bought at the grocery store.
Send your chickens’ home to new heights with
these design and décor ideas.
In the Coop
While the primary function of a chicken coop is to provide a flock of backyard chickens a place in which to sleep safely away from predators’ clutches and somewhere to lay their eggs, today’s backyard coops rarely resemble the basic, lean structures of yesteryear.
It’s true that a coop doesn’t need to be fancy. However, it does need to be functional. The ideal coop has spacious nesting boxes filled with soft nesting litter, sturdy roosting bars, plenty of ventilation, welded wire on the windows and predatorproof latches on the doors that even the wiliest raccoon can’t unlatch.
Are your birds perhaps a little cramped? An upgrade may be in order. Consider swapping out old décor, enlarging spaces or tightening up predator security measures as a means to trick out your coop.
You can also think about adding innovative, fun touches to kick your coop into gear. Today’s chicken keepers have taken it to another level and ventured into some pretty neat coop design options and decor that are practical as well as pretty.
Latches on the doors can look attractive while they still perform the function of keeping raccoons
out.
Fancy Flooring
Like contact paper on the walls, putting down a scrap of vinyl linoleum on the floor of your coop will make cleaning much easier. Mopping linoleum clean is far easier than trying to clean bare wood. It also will prevent the coop floorboards from rotting in
the case of spilled water. Check your home improvement store clearance bins for a good deal on the end of a roll of linoleum.
Thermometers
Chickens are extremely susceptible to heat exhaustion as well as frostbite, so keeping an eye on the coop’s temperature is important. Instead of a cheap plastic thermometer, why not hang a large decorative wall thermometer in the coop to help you track the temperature? It can be as big and elaborate as you like — the chickens won’t mind.
You could even upgrade to a digital option if you wanted to stretch your coop. It certainly wouldn’t be necessary and might be overkill, but if tracking your chickens’ living conditions is your thing, you can find digital thermometers that will even deliver information to you remotely.
Mirrors
Hanging a pretty mirror on the wall of the chicken coop can help keep your hens from getting bored when they can’t be outside as much as they would like due to inclement weather. They’ll enjoy watching themselves in the reflection. A word of warning if you have a rooster though: If he catches sight of another handsome fellow in the coop, he might be tempted to attack, so be aware of that potential for a broken mirror. You might want to save mirrors for “girls only” coops.
Nesting Box Curtains
In generations past, farmers would hang empty feed sacks or old burlap bags over the front of their chickens’ nesting boxes to encourage laying and prevent inadvertent egg eating. Since studies have shown that chickens will instinctively seek out the most secluded spot they can find to lay their eggs, providing privacy curtains does make sense — but why stop with old feed bags?
Instead use some pretty floral or gingham plaid material to sew dainty ruffled curtains and then slide them onto a curtain rod installed across the front of your nesting boxes. Then tie the curtains back with some delicate lace or coordinating ribbon.
If you don’t sew, don’t let that deter you! You can use Velcro, staples or you can even nail fabric in place. Raid your local thrift or resale shop to find old curtains or other inexpensive fabric to repurpose. When the curtains get dusty or dirty, take them down for laundering or just make new ones. Changing the curtains for each season is always fun.
Nesting Box Herbs
Sprinkling some fresh or dried herbs into nesting boxes is another way to beautify the coop while providing benefits to laying hens. Herbs can help calm and relax sitting hens, discourage mice and flies from lingering in the coop, and provide a little aromatherapy for a flock. You don’t need to overdo it, as a little bit goes a long way.
Be sure to monitor the coop more closely if you are using fresh herbs, as under the right circumstances, the added moisture content may contribute to unwanted mold growth (your mileage may vary, however). Of course, you’ll want to add more herbs as older herbs dry out completely or otherwise break down.
Fragrant herbs and edible flowers such as lavender, rose petals, calendula, chamomile, lemon balm and mint are all perfect choices that both look beautiful and smell heavenly. Wild birds will line their nests with flowers and plants they find in the fields and meadows near where they live to help keep their babies free of parasites and provide some herbal benefit, so why not do the same for your chickens?
natural Fly Control
Filling mason jars with bunches of fresh herbs does more than just look pretty. Place them on your coop windowsill or a shelf, or hang them in bunches from hooks or nails. Aromatic herbs like basil, thyme, rosemary, lavender and mint can help shoo away flies and other pests from the coop and make your coop look and smell great.
Keep in mind, however, that this method isn’t likely to completely eliminate all pest problems. You may have to incorporate other control methods in your coop. Also, be aware, don’t use dried or fresh herbs in a brooder, as there’s a risk of irritating your chicks’ delicate respiratory systems.
Herbs can help calm and relax
sitting hens, discourage mice and flies from lingering in
the coop.
Wallpaper
A well-dressed coop needs wallpaper, of course! Instead of traditional wallpaper, use vinyl contact paper or shelf liner on the walls instead. Not only does contact paper prevent mites or other insects from burrowing into the wood to hide, but it also makes clean-up incredibly easy.
A swipe with a wet sponge will quickly
Nest box curtains add
charm and privacy for the
girls.
wipe the walls clean of manure, dust or other debris. Light-colored contact paper also has the benefit of brightening up the coop during winter. You can experiment with different options, and even change up the wallpaper if you get bored with it.
A Coat of Paint
If wallpaper isn’t your thing, painting the exposed wood on the inside of the coop acts in much the same way as contact paper. Cleaning is made much easier and it makes the wood less attractive to burrowing insects. Just be sure to use non-toxic, low-VOC paint. Chalk or milk paint are both good choices. Choosing a light color will also help brighten up the inside of the coop, especially during the winter months.
Of course, you can do the same to the outside of the coop, if you want to change up the look or achieve something a little more striking. The same considerations apply, however, regarding your choice of non-toxic paint. A well-painted coop can definitely turn heads, and you might like the result, despite the extra effort.
Chandelier
If you have a light in your coop, think about removing the bare bulb and instead hanging a chandelier or fancy light fixture from the ceiling. Even if you don’t plan on lighting your coop through the winter to keep egg production up, it’s still nice to have a light to turn on so you can see to collect eggs in the morning and do your headcount each evening.
Hanging a pretty mirror on the wall of the chicken coop
can help keep your hens from getting bored when they can’t be outside as
much.
Holiday Decor
Stringing strands of colorful Christmas lights instantly makes a bland coop festive for the holidays, as do homemade decorative pine wreaths and garlands. As an added bonus, rodents are reputed to not enjoy the scent of pine, so the pine boughs can act as a bit of a mouse deterrent as well. The additional lighting of Christmas lights may help as well.
In the Run
Many flocks are confined to a pen or run by day to keep them safe from predators, especially while no one is home to keep an eye on them. By sprucing up the pen with a few fun additions, you can turn it into a veritable chicken playground, providing boredom busters that should help alleviate pecking, bullying or other aggression issues within the flock.
Chicken swing
A sturdy branch makes a fun swing for your flock. Use chain or heavy rope and hang the branch from the top of your run and watch as your chickens hop up and take their turn swinging.
All you need to do is drill a hole on both sides of the swing, and run your rope or chain through. You can get creative and build a frame, too, if you don’t have a good hanging point. Just be sure everything is sturdy for your chickens to perch on.
outdoor roosts
Like a swing for the more timid, roosts in the corners of your run made of branches or boards give chickens a place to perch outside and enjoy the view. You can get creative with these as well, positioning them at different heights and angles to provide more options for your birds.
Hanging Treat Baskets
A shepherd’s crook with a basket hanging from it makes a great basket for treats from the garden like lettuce, spinach and other leafy greens. The basket keeps the veggies off the ground and out of the mud or snow.
This is a great way to keep your chicken run interesting, as you can use the treat basket as a focal point of interest for your hens. Multiple baskets may also help diffuse chicken interest and keep conflict to a minimum.
Stumps or Logs
A row of stumps or logs in the run are fun for chickens to hop up onto. Especially when it’s wet out, they will appreciate being able to get up off the wet, cold ground. Also, keeping in mind, you can move the logs around from time to time to let your chickens gobble up the bugs and worms that have taken up residence under the pieces of wood.
You can try different stacking schemes, but be careful that whatever you put together is stable enough for your birds. It’s possible to incorporate logs or stumps into hides or other features as well, depending on your setup.
Dust Bath
If left to their own devices, chickens will find
their own spot to take their dust baths. But if you want to save your prized rosebush or front yard landscaping, sometimes setting up a dedicated area for them to bathe can entice them to confine their bathing there.
Try making a ring out of logs and filling it with dry dirt, sand and wood ash, if you have it. Stick a jaunty beach umbrella in the middle to give your chickens a little shade and to keep the bathing area dry.
Some of these elements are purely functional, while others are as much about style as anything else. Play around, and consider sprucing up your chicken coop. Adding a bit of coop and run décor is not only pretty and fun, but oftentimes also functional. So go ahead — get decorating!
Creative coops are not just
great for chickens, but they make the yard pretty, too.
Lisa Steele, a fifth-generation chicken keeper, is the creative mind behind the popular online chicken keeping resource Fresh Eggs Daily. She lives on a farm in Maine with her husband and their flock of chickens and ducks, two dogs and a barn cat, where she shares advice on natural poultry care.