Bawk Mahal Coop Inspiration 6/22
Reader Submitted Chicken Coop Ideas

By Heather Seeley My husband and I started our chicken journey with just a handful, about five years ago, that were gifted to us from our friends. We immediately fell in love with raising chickens and decided to get some more. So, we sat down and drew up plans for a new coop!
We didn’t have a whole lot of money at the time, but we had a lot of used materials lying around. We love repurposing anything that we possibly can, so it was a lot of fun getting creative! The main part of the coop is all built out of repurposed materials, including the roof, back window, and peak vent. Even the roosting perches are made from branches gathered on our property. The only thing that we had to buy new was the wire mesh and fence pickets used for the siding. As soon as it was finished, I decided it needed to be rainbow colors! Most of the paint was either donated by friends or we got at the restore. It couldn’t have been a better choice for our farm!
Some of the fun features include:
- Three nesting boxes on each side and lined with reusable plastic “nesting mats.” (An additional liner made from feed bags is under the mat for the occasional broken egg messs)
- Storage on both sides next to the boxes
- The roosting perch is made to easily slide up against the back of the coop and out of the way for easier cleaning
- Branch perches in the back end of the run and covered by sunshade fabric
- A homemade chicken swing
- Two open air nesting boxes that we made out of an old cast iron sink!
At this point, we have close to 60 chickens, tons of different breeds & all of them free range all day long!
We are definitely a crazy chicken couple!






Originally published in the June/July 2022 issue of Backyard Poultry and regularly vetted for accuracy.