NotchLoading plan…
Loading plan…
The A-frame is the pickup truck of chicken coops: two sloped walls do triple duty as frame, roof, and predator barrier, so the whole thing stays light enough to drag to fresh grass — which is the point of a tractor coop. Ground level is the wire-wrapped run; the upper deck, floored with cedar pickets and sided in T1-11, is the roost and nesting area.
Two details in this plan are smarter than they look. The upper floor pickets get ONE screw per end, deliberately — the plan says don't go crazy, because a roost floor you can lift out is a roost floor you can actually clean, and the alternative (scraping a fixed floor through a hatch) is why people abandon backyard chickens. The optional scrap-2x4 variant makes the whole floor removable as a unit. Second, the door pickets are cut deliberately undersized so the door clears its opening — an exterior door built tight in July is a door that doesn't open in November.
Use cedar or treated for the 2x6 ridge (it takes the weather), staple the wire generously (predators test every edge, nightly), and add the gate locks — raccoons genuinely open simple latches. Site it near the final location before building: light is relative, and an 8-foot coop still doesn't fit through a gate sideways.
| Item | Qty |
|---|---|
| 2x4, 8 ftBase frame, A-frame walls, floor joists. Two of them must NOT be cut (96" base sides); cut the 51" pieces from the longer stock first. | 12 each |
| 2x6, 8 ftThe ridge. Cedar or treated — it's the most weather-exposed board in the build. | 1 each |
| Cedar fence picket, 5-1/2" x 72"Roost floor, gable ends, and the door. | 12 each |
| T1-11 siding, 3/8", 4x8 sheetThe upper roost walls. Exterior plywood substitutes. | 2 each |
| Chicken wire, 2 ft x 25 ft | 1 each |
| Staples, 1/2" | 1 box |
| Exterior hinges, 3" | 2 each |
| Exterior gate locks or hook-and-eyeRaccoons open simple latches. Get the kind that needs a thumb. | 2 each |
| Exterior construction screws, #10 x 3", self-tapping | 60 each |
| Self-tapping screws, 1"Floor pickets, siding, and door parts. | 100 each |
Overall cost: $$$. Lumber prices vary by region, species, and season, so we give a band rather than a figure we would only be pretending to know.
| Part | Qty | T × W × L |
|---|---|---|
| Base sidesFull boards — do not cut. | 2 | 1 1/2" × 3 1/2" × 96" |
| Base ends | 2 | 1 1/2" × 3 1/2" × 74" |
| A-frame wall boardsBoth ends 30° off square, parallel, long point to short point — plus a perpendicular foot cut marked in the steps. | 6 | 1 1/2" × 3 1/2" × 75 1/4" |
| Ridge2x6 | 1 | 1 1/2" × 5 1/2" × 96" |
| Floor joistsBoth ends 30° off square, NOT parallel, long point to long point. Two go on the nesting-box end. | 4 | 1 1/2" × 3 1/2" × 51" |
| Roost floor picketsCedar fence picket | 7 | 5/8" × 5 1/2" × 44" |
| Siding panelsT1-11Each sheet cut in half. Gable ends cut to fit from pickets. | 4 | 3/8" × 48" × 48" |
Some parts are longer than a 8 ft board, so there is no honest board count to show here. Open the board plan to pick a longer stock length — it names every part that does not fit.
0 boards
12 boards
4 boards
4 boards
Assumes 8 ft stock, a 1/8" saw kerf, and buying each part at its own width. Change the board size or kerf on the full board plan →
Screw the 96" sides and 74" ends into a rectangle with two 3" screws per corner, on flat level ground close to where the coop will live. It's designed light enough to drag, but 8 feet of coop through a garden gate is a puzzle you can skip.
Square it by matching diagonals — every angled wall board is about to inherit this frame's accuracy.
The six wall boards are cut at 30° per the list; now mark each foot with the speed square at 90° to the cut end, per the diagram, and trim with the circular saw. This foot cut is what lets the angled board sit flat inside the base frame.
Screw the four outer wall boards inside the base corners with 3" screws, then the two center boards, centered on the base sides. Each opposing pair should meet cleanly at the top — if a pair doesn't, fix the foot cut now, not with shims at the ridge.
Lay the 2x6 on top of the wall boards' peaks and screw down with 3" screws into each pair. The ridge ties all six walls into one structure — the coop should feel rigid the moment it's on.
Staple the wire around the lower walls and base now, while everything is still open and reachable. Staples every few inches, wire pulled tight, no gaps at the ground line — write 'a raccoon will find it' on the workbench if it helps, because one will.
Mark the wall boards 44-1/4" down from the ridge and screw the floor joists across at the marks with 3" screws. The nesting-box end gets TWO joists — easy to miss in the diagram, and the nesting boxes need the double support.
Set the 44" pickets across the joists and screw down with 1" screws — ONE per end, on purpose. This floor comes UP for cleaning, and over-fastening it defeats the best feature of the design.
Better still, the plan's alternative: screw the pickets to scrap 2x4s laid alongside (not into) the joists, and the entire floor lifts out as a panel.
Screw the T1-11 half-sheets to the wall boards under the ridge with 1" screws, about four per joist. This turns the upper triangle into the weatherproof sleeping box.
Working from the ridge down, measure, cut (30° ends), and fasten cedar picket gable boards over the triangular end above the roost floor. Cut-to-fit beats the list here — your real angles rule.
Cut picket pieces to cover the remaining end opening — deliberately a touch SMALL, so the door clears its frame in wet weather. Cut four pickets at 16" and screw them across the angled pieces to make the door panel.
Hinge it in the opening, install the latch (the raccoon-resistant kind), and move the flock in. Drag the coop to fresh grass weekly — that's why you built the light one.
No reviews yet
Sign in to review this plan or share your build.
No reviews yet. Be the first to build this.