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This is the backyard coop for people whose coop is IN VIEW of the kitchen window: a raised cedar-framed house on 4x4 legs with the run underneath, and — the signature — a planter box built into the front roofline, so the coop wears a crown of herbs or trailing flowers. It photographs like a garden feature and works like a serious small coop.
The three working features deserve their billing. The CLEAN-OUT TRAY is a shallow 1x3-sided box with a 1/2" ply floor that slides out through its own opening between the floor supports — coop cleaning becomes pull, dump, hose, slide back. The external NESTING BOX door drops open on hinges for egg collection without opening the coop. And the run's big 2x4-framed base DOORS mean you can actually reach every corner under there, which every under-coop run eventually requires.
Materials split by exposure, and the shopping list is explicit: cedar or treated stock for the base, legs, and everything weather-facing; plain lumber is fine INSIDE the coop. The 3/4" plywood side panels get cut with a jigsaw following the source's nesting-diagram advice — lay out the side profiles to conserve sheet, because the roof panels come from the same two sheets.
Wire note, same as every coop in this catalog: staple the run's chicken wire on the INSIDE of the framing (the source wraps it around the legs outside where they meet), and if raccoons live in your zip code, upgrade to hardware cloth at chicken height. Line the planter with punched landscape fabric and remember it drains ONTO the coop roofline below — which is fine, that's what roofs are for.
| Item | Qty |
|---|---|
| 4x4, 6 ft, cedar or treatedThe legs. | 2 each |
| 2x4, 10 ft, cedar or treated | 2 each |
| 2x8, 10 ft, cedar or treatedBase frame — the 2x8 depth doubles as the planter box walls. | 2 each |
| 2x8, 8 ft, cedar or treated | 1 each |
| 2x4, 8 ft, cedar or treatedThe base doors. | 2 each |
| 2x4, 8 ftInside-coop framing — plain lumber is fine here. | 7 each |
| 2x2, 8 ftPlanter cleats and frame. | 2 each |
| Plywood, 3/4", 4x8 sheet, exteriorSide panels, roofs, nesting-box door, base doors. | 2 each |
| Plywood, 1/2", 4x8 sheet, exteriorCoop floor and clean-out tray. | 1 each |
| Cedar fence pickets or 1x3s for trimRipped to 2-1/2" and 1-1/2" widths for siding trim. | 6 each |
| 1x3, 8 ftClean-out tray sides. | 2 each |
| Chicken wire, 24" x 20 ft, and staplesHardware cloth at reach height if raccoons are local. | 1 each |
| Exterior hinges, setBase doors, nesting box, clean-out access. | 5 each |
| LatchesRaccoon-resistant style — the kind that needs two motions. | 3 each |
| Roofing, 80" x 36"Cut to match the roof plywood panels. | 1 each |
| Deck screws, 3", self-tapping | 100 each |
| Exterior screws, 2" | 100 each |
| Landscape fabricPlanter liner, punched for drainage. | 1 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Legs4x4 | 4 | 3 1/2" × 3 1/2" × 33 1/2" |
| Base 2x8s, sides2x8 | 2 | 1 1/2" × 7 1/4" × 58 1/2" |
| Base 2x4s, sides2x4 | 2 | 1 1/2" × 3 1/2" × 58 1/2" |
| Base 2x8s, front/back2x8 | 2 | 1 1/2" × 7 1/4" × 59 1/2" |
| Base 2x4s, front/back2x4 | 2 | 1 1/2" × 3 1/2" × 59 1/2" |
| Center 2x82x8 | 1 | 1 1/2" × 7 1/4" × 56 1/2" |
| Door divider2x4 | 1 | 1 1/2" × 3 1/2" × 33 1/2" |
| Base door frames2x4 | 8 | 1 1/2" × 3 1/2" × 22" |
| Floor supports2x4 | 5 | 1 1/2" × 3 1/2" × 33" |
| Side panels3/4" plywoodJigsaw to the profile; nest the layout to save sheet for the roofs. | 2 | 3/4" × 48" × 59 1/2" |
| Coop framing, 33"2x4 | 2 | 1 1/2" × 3 1/2" × 33" |
| Coop framing, 30"2x4 | 3 | 1 1/2" × 3 1/2" × 30" |
| Coop framing, 43-1/2"2x4 | 2 | 1 1/2" × 3 1/2" × 43 1/2" |
| Roof supports2x445° angles, long point to long point, ends NOT parallel. | 4 | 1 1/2" × 3 1/2" × 29 5/8" |
| Large roof panels3/4" plywood | 2 | 3/4" × 36" × 31 3/4" |
| Small roof panel3/4" plywood | 1 | 3/4" × 36" × 16" |
| Small wall3/4" plywood | 1 | 3/4" × 7 5/8" × 36" |
| Nesting box door3/4" plywood | 1 | 3/4" × 12" × 32 1/2" |
| Clean-out doors3/4" plywoodMeasure and cut to fit your openings. | 2 | 3/4" × 16 1/4" × 23 3/4" |
| Clean-out tray sides1x3 | 2 | 3/4" × 2 1/2" × 46 1/2" |
| Clean-out tray ends1x3 | 2 | 3/4" × 2 1/2" × 32 1/2" |
| Clean-out tray floor1/2" plywood | 1 | 1/2" × 32 1/2" × 48" |
| Planter frame 2x2s2x249-1/2" and 56-1/2" — cleats and rim; planter bottom from scrap. | 2 | 1 1/2" × 1 1/2" × 56 1/2" |
Buy 29 boards at 8 ft.
2 boards
5 boards
Build the two side frames first: 2x8 up top, 2x4 below, screwed to the 4x4 legs with 3" deck screws, squared by diagonals. Join them with the front/back 2x8s and 2x4s and square again.
The 2x8s aren't oversized whimsy — their top edges become the planter box walls later. Cedar or treated everywhere on this level; it lives in the splash zone.
Add the center 2x8 and the 33-1/2" door divider with 3" screws. Then staple the chicken wire around the run NOW, wrapping the legs — the source's timing, because stapling wire inside a finished coop is a crawl you only volunteer for once. Hardware cloth at ground-predator height if your neighborhood has raccoons; it does.
Screw the five floor supports across the base with 3" screws — spaced to leave the clean-out tray's slot between two of them (check your tray width against the gap now, not in step 8).
Lay out both side-panel profiles on the 3/4" sheets, nesting the shapes so the roof panels come out of the remainder, and cut with the jigsaw. Attach the panels to the floor supports.
Build the upper floor framing section flat on the ground with 3" screws, then lift it into the coop and attach at the top; add the nesting-box floor piece with 2" screws through the 3/4" side panels into the 2x4s. Then the four 45° roof supports and remaining framing with 2" screws.
Building the frame on the ground and lifting is the source's order and the right one — screwing framing overhead inside a 3-foot box is the alternative.
Rip pickets (or use 1x3s) to 2-1/2" and 1-1/2" widths and trim the outside with galvanized brads or 1-1/4" exterior screws — this is where the coop gets its cottage face. Cover the roof areas with the 3/4" scraps, 2" screws into framing, and lay the roofing over.
Remember the planter sits in the front roofline: dry-fit its 2x2 frame before the roofing goes on so nothing has to come back off.
Hinge the nesting-box door in its opening with a latch. Build the two base doors from the 2x4 frames and 3/4" ply to fit their openings, hinge and latch them. Cut the clean-out access doors to fit and hang them too.
Use two-motion latches everywhere a raccoon could stand — a simple hook-and-eye is a puzzle they solve on the second night.
Screw the 2x2 cleats inside the planter area to the 2x8 walls with 3" screws, drop scrap 3/4" material on the cleats as the floor, and screw down with 2" screws. Line with landscape fabric, stapled, with drainage holes punched — it drains onto the roof below, which is what roofs are for.
Fill and plant. Trailing things (nasturtiums, sweet potato vine) earn their keep here.
Build the shallow tray — 1x3 sides and ends around the 1/2" ply floor, 2" screws — sized to slide through its opening between the floor supports. Slide it in, bed it with shavings, and enjoy the best feature of the whole build every single week: pull, dump, hose, return. No shovel, no crawling, no regrets.
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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 →