On our site, we want to offer access to as many chicken coop plans as we can. Some of these plans will be high end, others fall into the mid priced category…and many are FREE! For more information on free plans, check out the right side of our page – dozens of great links there! To see other affordable chicken coop plans, click here.
When it comes to the high end woodworking plans, Ted McGrath has a bunch…make that 16000 plans available through his website that can be purchased and downloaded for you. We decided to buy the package and see what the chicken coop plans are like. The initial price is listed at $297…and for buying just chicken coop plans…no thanks. However, it’s now sold for $67 instead. That may still seem a bit pricey for a few chicken coop plans and we weren’t sure just how many were included until we bought the whole set. More information here.
What we discovered…
As for chicken coop plans – there are not many. I’ve poked around what I think is the entire collection and I could only find 2 chicken coop plans. Because there are several thousand plans and dozens of categories to wade through, it’s entirely possible I missed some, but I don’t think so.
As for quality and detail, they were great – nothing flashy but easy enough to follow for any skill level. They had both large and small coops covered, but even what they considered to be a small coop was rather large.
Another View…
At first we were a bit disappointed – out of 16,000 plans why were there only a handful of chicken coops?
However, our disappointment turned to excitement when we realized that there were an incredible number of shed plans (nice shed plans!) that could easily be converted into chicken coops! And there weren’t just handful of shed designs, but hundreds!
The possibilities extend beyond sheds to Rabbit hutches, Dog houses, Utility buildings, Play house, Storage shed, Greenhouses…I think you’re getting the idea by now. There are HUNDREDS of ways to convert any of those structures into a lovely chicken coop!
Sheds That Can Be Converted Into Chicken Coops
Converting a shed or other structure into a chicken coop is another blog post unto itself but we wanted to inform our readers that this is possible and, in many cases, without a lot of revisions.
Chickens need a small door to enter in and out of the coop, which can be cut out of one of the sides. Then add a roost across another side and they have a place to rest at night…and finish it out with a nest box placed in a corner and you have yourself a chicken coop.
An example here…this dog house would be a great coop for 2 chickens. Add a roost toward the back, and a nest box in one of the front corners and you have a gorgeous backyard coop.
Another idea here…
Or this one…
If you’re not aware…Rabbit hutches are already considered acceptable chicken coops and many times are sold for either rabbits or chickens…here’s a snapshot of Ted’s bunny hutches, which are often smaller and work better as backyard coops.
Other Plans That Can Be Useful For The Chicken Farmer
Because there were so many plans to look through, we also noticed designs for road side stands if you want to sell your eggs, a farm house shop, tool sheds, equipment organizers, feeders, work bench, ideas for the garden (trellis, tomato plant stands), and the list goes on. More Information can be found here.
If you’re a DIY type, you may find yourself using any number of the plans listed on the site for whatever project or hobby you can think of, regardless of whether you live in the country or the city.
Comments From Customers
Pros And Cons Of Ted’s Plans
We’ve broken down what we believe is a fair and honest assessment of Ted’s plans (in our humble opinion anyway).
PROS
- Detailed Instructions – easy to understand/follow
- Great schematics/diagrams (my favorite part)
- Detailed Materials List – you know exactly what’s needed before you start building
- Basic but adequate views from top, side, and cutaway angles for the visual learner (like me)
- User friendly for beginners and pro woodworkers alike.
- List of all tools needed (basic woodworking tools will work fine)
- Videos to help guide construction (not for all plans unfortunately)
- Lifetime membership – no recurring fees.
- 60 Money Back Guarantee
- When new plans/extras are added or upgraded – this is included in membership so no additional fees
- You can order DVDs from the website to avoid having to search and wait to upload a plan.
- Incredible value…16,000 plans for $67.00
- All plans can be printed out – this makes it much simpler to reference while building.
- With a little creativity, you can choose any of the Ted’s regular shed plans and convert them to a chicken coop simply by adding a small chicken door, a few nest boxes, and roosts. Granted, the overall floor plan would need to be slightly altered to accommodate these revisions but it opens up a whole array of possible coop options by thinking of it this way.
CONS
- Because there are so many plans, it can be difficult to navigate all the files and find the type of plan you’re looking for. However, some of these issues may be related to how many bells and whistles you have on your computer. If you have a PDF reader, you’ll be fine and can search for individual plans to save you from having to scroll through 16,000 plans.
- I noticed some of the information about chicken coops was taken from a document from the early 1900’s – still relevant, but I’d read this guide instead for setting up your next chicken coop.
- Some of the pictures were very old, black and white, and bit grainy. Most of the time it didn’t really matter as the detail was clear enough to see the instructions/diagrams but it would have been great to see the information using more modern graphics.
- If you’re only wanting chicken coop plans, spending $67 may seem a bit excessive. However, there are hundreds of shed plans that could easily be converted into a coop by adding a chicken door, roosts, and a few nest boxes. I love building things with wood and knew I would be building other things (like a roadside stand for selling eggs) so I was okay shelling out the added dough.
- Upsells and product add ons – thankfully, you’ll get access to all plans for the initial price of $67. And with these plans you don’t really need to upgrade for added value (although we admit, we were a bit tempted). More on the extras can be found here.
Closing Summary
We hope you’ve gleaned enough information to decide if buying Ted’s Woodworking Plans is right for you…or not. As for chicken coop plans there aren’t many, but what they have are high quality.
And because there are so many other shed plans that will work as good or better as chicken coops (with a few modifications of course) we feel it’s a great value. There are so many different styles, shapes, and sizes of sheds, hutches, egg stands, items for the garden, and thousands of other useful items that can be used for your homestead.
We’ve researched several resources for chicken coop plans, and believe Ted’s Plans to be one of the best out there today!
