FlockSavvy Coop Plans
Six formats of one well-sorted coop — dimensioned drawings, a complete cut list, materials in lengths you can actually buy, and a build sequence. Including the details that decide whether a coop works: roost height, nest placement, vent area, apron width.
Complete Pack — all six formats
$39 one payment, instant download
118 pages of PDF. No subscription, no upsell, no kit to buy.
Buy the Complete Pack — $39Charged in US dollars. If your card is in another currency, your bank converts at its own rate.
- Six complete sets, 118 pages
- Instant PDF download, re-downloadable
- Personal-use licence — build as many as you like
- Free updates when a set is revised
- All sales final — see the actual pages below first
Six formats, one design discipline
| Plan | Size | Floor | Holds | Run | What it is for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Four | 4 × 4 ft | 16 sq ft | 4 hens | 40 sq ft | The smallest coop we will put our name on. |
| The Six | 4 × 6 ft | 24 sq ft | 6 hens | 60 sq ft | The size most first flocks actually end up needing. |
| The Twelve | 6 × 8 ft | 48 sq ft | 12 hens | 120 sq ft | Reach-in cleaning, room to grow into. |
| The Walk-In | 6 × 8 ft | 48 sq ft | 12 hens | 120 sq ft | 6‑4" of headroom — you clean it standing up. |
| The Thirty | 10 × 12 ft | 120 sq ft | 30 hens | 300 sq ft | A small barn: nine nest boxes in two rows. |
| The Tractor | 8 × 4 ft | 16 sq ft sheltered | 4 hens | moves daily | A-frame on wheels. Built weight published: 109 lb. |
Capacities are calculated at 4 sq ft of coop floor per standard hen — the figure that keeps a flock healthy, not the figure that fits the most birds on a product listing. See the size calculator for your own flock.
What's in each set
- Plan view, front elevation and section, all dimensioned
- Front wall framing drawing with stud spacing
- Run plan with the predator apron detailed
- Complete cut list — every piece, length and quantity
- Materials list in buyable lengths, plus mesh and hardware
- A numbered build sequence, in the order you actually work
- Ventilation and predator specifications, with the reasoning
- Adaptations for cold, heat, sloping ground and expansion
Why these are different
The drawings and the lists cannot contradict each other
Every dimension, stud count, rafter length, sheet quantity and mesh area in these plans is generated from one set of dimensions per design. Nothing is drawn by hand and then described separately, which is where most plans quietly disagree with themselves — a cut list that does not match the elevation is the single most common complaint about downloaded plans.
The capacities are honest, so they look small
We size at 4 sq ft of coop floor per standard hen. The Four holds four hens. You will find coops this size sold for eight. They are describing birds that physically fit, not birds that live well — and overcrowding is the root cause behind most pecking, smell, parasite and laying problems people write to us about.
The specifications are explained, not just stated
The roost sits above the nest boxes because hens sleep at the highest point they can reach. The vents sit above the roost and stay open all winter because damp, not cold, is what causes frostbite. Half-inch hardware cloth, never chicken wire. An 18-inch apron laid flat. Each of those comes with the reason, so you can adapt the design without breaking it.
The tractor tells you what it weighs
109 lb, calculated component by component from its own cut list, with the breakdown printed so you know what to change if that is too much for you. No other tractor plan we could find publishes a weight — and weight is the one number that decides whether a tractor keeps being moved or quietly becomes a badly ventilated fixed coop.
What this is not
Not a kit. You buy the timber, sheet goods and hardware yourself. The plans tell you exactly what and how much.
Not a carpentry course. We assume you can cut square, drive a screw and read a dimension. We explain the poultry decisions, not how to use a saw.
Not a claim that a tractor is as safe as a fixed coop. It is not, because its skirt cannot be buried, and the tractor plans say so on page two. If you have foxes or roaming dogs and your birds sleep out, build one of the fixed designs instead. We would rather lose the sale than a flock.
Common questions
- What exactly do I get, and how?
- 6 PDF sets, 118 pages in total, delivered as an instant download the moment payment clears — plus a link by email so you can download them again later. There is nothing to ship and nothing to wait for.
- What skill level do these plans need?
- Straightforward carpentry — square cuts, screws, no joinery. If you have built a deck or a shed, this is easier. You need a circular or mitre saw, a drill/driver, tin snips for the mesh, and basic marking tools. The tractor additionally needs a saw that will cut a 63° bevel.
- How long does the build take?
- Plan on two weekends for a first fixed coop: one for floor, walls and roof, one for the run, fit-out and mesh. The tractor is a single full day plus a couple of hours for the mesh. The run always takes longer than people expect, because meshing it properly is slow work.
- What does the build cost in materials?
- For The Six with a covered run, roughly $500–900 at current US lumber and hardware-cloth prices, depending on your material choices. Our coop cost calculator gives you a figure for your own size and quality tier.
- Why are the capacities lower than coops sold online?
- Because we count 4 sq ft of floor per standard hen, the figure that keeps a flock healthy. Retail listings count birds that physically fit. A coop advertised for six hens commonly offers real space for two or three, and overcrowding is behind most pecking, smell and laying problems.
- Can I change the dimensions?
- Yes, and the plans tell you how. The fixed designs extend along their length in 2 ft increments — one more rafter bay at a time. The two relationships that must not change are the roost sitting above the nest boxes and the vents sitting above the roost.
- Is a chicken tractor as safe as a fixed coop?
- No, and the plans say so on page two rather than in the small print. A fixed coop gets an 18-inch hardware-cloth apron pinned flat into the turf, which nothing digs through. A tractor’s skirt has to travel with the frame, so it lies loose. Against hawks, cats and casual dogs a well-meshed tractor is equivalent; against a fox, a determined dog or a raccoon with all night, it is not.
- What if the plans are not what I expected?
- The files download the moment you pay and cannot be returned once you have them, so sales are final. That is why we show you the product before you pay instead of after: the walkthrough video above runs through the actual pages, and the sample pages are the real drawings and cut lists, not marketing renders. Read the capacity and specification figures before you buy — and before you buy timber. If a file is missing, damaged or not what you ordered, email us and we will put it right.
- Can I sell what I build from these plans?
- Build as many coops as you like for yourself, and modify them freely — the licence is for your own personal use. Please do not redistribute or resell the PDF files themselves.