Exactly what is a chicken coop? The small, backyard chicken coop became popular in America during WWII. That’s when chickens became part of the patriotic Victory Garden. The egg-laying hen turns insects, weeds, garbage, and waste into eggs for the nation. The USDA advised that it was both patriotic and profitable to keep an egg-laying hen. Small coops began showing up in gardens across America.
While we usually perceive the little buildings or hutches as being the chicken coop proper. Actually, most chicken coops have two areas: an indoor area, where chickens are sheltered at night, and an outdoor area, called a “run,” where they will spend most of the day.
What does a chicken coop do?
Chickens are like other birds, and will spend most of their time being active, looking for food and socializing. Some people think of bird nests as bird “houses,” a place where they go to sleep at night. Birds really only use nests when they have eggs to hatch and chicks to raise. Adult birds do not sleep in nests outside of breeding season. They just find a safe perch for the night.
Because people have domesticated chickens, we want them to be safe and protected from disease and predators. So, we have built coops for chickens to sleep in at night, that can be closed in order to keep them safe and comfortable. At night, chickens will follow their natural instincts, and sleep on an elevated roost inside the chicken coop.
Because people usually also want to harvest chicken eggs, we usually provide them with nesting boxes for them to lay their eggs. Chickens will naturally hide their eggs, so if chickens are allowed to roam free, every day is an egg hunt. But when they are living in a coop and provided with nesting boxes, they lay their eggs in the designated place, making them easy to find. If a hen is brooding, she will stay on her eggs in the nest box, but frequently they will simply lay their eggs in the nest and leave them there.
So, a chicken coop keeps the chickens safe from pests and predators. It also offers them protection from extreme weather, and has a place for them to sleep and lay eggs.
What is inside a chicken coop?
If you’ve only ever seen a chicken coop from the outside, you may be wondering what is inside.
The inside of a chicken coop needs to have:
- A place for chickens to roost
- A place for chickens to lay eggs
- A source of fresh water
- Many chicken coops also have feeders inside, although some people feed their chickens outside, in the run
The different types of chicken coops
There are three types of chicken coops:
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A chicken tractor, or chicken ark
This is a lightweight, portable chicken enclosure with no floor, giving chickens direct access to the ground in a yard, field, pasture, or garden. Chicken tractors have a relatively small indoor area and a relatively large outdoor area, proportionately. Chickens sleep and lay eggs inside the small roofed portion of the tractor but spend most of their time outside.
Chicken tractors allow chickens to have many of the benefits of free-range. This includes a diet that is more natural, foraging and grazing for a significant portion of their diet. At the same time, it protects them from predators. Chicken tractors also benefit land owners. The chickens eat weeds and harmful insects, and contribute nutrient-rich manure to the soil.
As the chickens forage for some of their food, their droppings go directly into the soil. Using tractors allow owners to spend less money on chicken feed and less time cleaning out the coop. Finally, in their hunting and scratching, chickens aerate the soil. Tractors need to be moved frequently so that chickens have access to new hunting and grazing grounds.
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A chicken coop with an attached run
This is the traditional chicken coop that most people think of. It is a small, fixed structure, attached to an enclosed outdoor area. These chicken coops offer more protection from weather, are more durable than tractors, and offer more protection from both pests and predators. They generally have a higher ratio of indoor to outdoor space than a tractor.
Chicken coops are usually elevated to some degree from the ground, and chickens enter and exit by a ramp. This can be easier for owners to access for cleaning and for harvesting eggs because there isn’t as much bending involved as in a low-to-the-ground tractor. Because chickens spend more of their time inside these types of coops, it’s important that they have both natural light and good ventilation.
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A fixed chicken coop, or hen house, with no outside area
These can look more like sheds or small garages and are helpful in climates that have extremes of weather, because the temperature can be more readily controlled indoors. These types of buildings need to have a lot of space per chicken, because they aren’t able to move freely from inside to outside, and must have natural light, good ventilation, and be cleaned frequently. Because the chickens are indoors all the time, their droppings quickly become a problem. Also, if chickens are overcrowded, they can become aggressive with each other. In a coop with ample space, there is room for chickens to get away from each other in the case of aggression, but if they are too crowded, the birds can peck and wound each other.
Ultimately, a chicken coop is a complete environment, indoors and often outdoors, designed by people to meet the natural needs of chickens, who need food, water, moderate temperatures, exercise, and the company of other chickens. A chicken coop is equally designed to satisfy the interests of people who want to keep the chickens alive and healthy, breed them if they desire, harvest eggs, grow chicks, and enjoy all the benefits of having chickens.
The modern chicken coop is the product of nearly a century of domestic agriculture, and the future may yet bring more advancements in design that meets the ever-changing needs and desires of people and the chickens they live with.