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Learn to design, build, and outfit a sturdy, predator-proof chicken coop from scratch — no prior carpentry experience required. Your hens will thank you.
Perfect for: Beginner-to-intermediate DIYers and homeowners who want to raise backyard chickens and need to build or significantly improve a coop. No carpentry experience required, though comfort with basic hand tools is helpful.
Build the Coop Your Chickens Deserve — and Your Neighbors Won't Complain About
Keeping backyard chickens is one of the most rewarding things a homeowner can do — fresh eggs, natural pest control, and a surprising amount of entertainment. But it all starts with a safe, well-built home for your flock. Get the coop wrong, and you're dealing with predator attacks, soggy bedding, sick birds, and a structure that falls apart after the first winter.
This course walks you through every single step: choosing the right coop design for your yard and local regulations, reading and adapting a simple blueprint, sourcing affordable lumber and hardware, and swinging a hammer with confidence even if the last thing you built was an IKEA bookshelf. You'll learn what actually matters in coop construction — ventilation, predator-proofing, easy-clean design — and what the YouTube videos skip over.
By the end, you won't just have a coop. You'll have a system: a thoughtfully designed space with a run, a nesting area, proper roosting bars, and a setup that makes daily chicken-keeping a 5-minute chore instead of an hour-long ordeal. We cover tools, materials, budgeting, and the small details (like hardware cloth vs. chicken wire) that separate coops that last a decade from ones that don't survive year two.
Whether you're planning for 3 hens or 12, renting with landlord approval or owning a half-acre, this course meets you where you are and gets you building confidently — on time and on budget.
What you'll be able to do
- Design a coop sized correctly for your flock and yard using a simple planning framework
- Navigate local zoning laws and HOA rules before breaking ground
- Create a detailed materials list and stick to a realistic budget (including common cost traps to avoid)
- Cut, frame, and assemble coop walls, a roof, and a floor using beginner-friendly carpentry techniques
- Install predator-proof hardware cloth, secure latches, and predator-deterrent features that actually work
- Build functional nesting boxes and roosting bars sized and positioned for hen comfort and egg collection ease
- Set up proper ventilation and drainage so your coop stays dry, odor-free, and healthy year-round
- Attach and fence a secure outdoor run that gives your flock safe outdoor access
Curriculum
6 modules · 20 lessons
Your teacher
Vivian Lee
Hey there — I'm so glad you're here. A few years ago I stood in my backyard holding a crumpled set of coop plans I'd printed from the internet, surrounded by lumber I'd half-measured, wondering what I'd gotten myself into. Fast forward to today, and I've built coops for my own flock of eight hens, helped a dozen neighbors and friends build theirs, and learned — sometimes the hard way — exactly what works and what doesn't. I'm not a professional contractor. I'm a homeowner who got obsessed with getting this right, and that's exactly why I think I can help you. I know where beginners get stuck, what questions feel too basic to ask, and which "expert" advice online is actually going to get your chickens eaten by a raccoon. In this course, I share everything I know in plain language with real project photos and honest commentary. Let's build something great together.
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