Building a chicken brood pen

Friday was a great day.  I decided I needed a new brood pen for my chicken coupe since I have a momma with a baby.  I priced out the ones at the feed store and they were about $120.00, too rich for me.  So I built one.  I like to reuse old wood for projects like this, because I don't mind if the boards don't match. Eventually they all change color and fade, so it doesn't matter and it saves a lot of money.  In this case, the only thing I had to buy was hardware for the door and hardware cloth, which cost me about $45.00  You will need:

table saw (to rip the boards)
chop saw or small skill saw
power screw driver
power drill
small square 
Level
tin snips to cut the hardware cloth
stapler with staples
three 2x4's cut to 36" and 4 scrap pieces 6-8" in length
one 2x4 cut to 27"
four 2x2's cut at 36"
four 2x2's cut at 27"
five 2x2's cut at 24"
four 1x2's cut at 27"
four 1x2's cut at 24" 
1 1/4" screws
2 1/2" deck screws
3" deck screws
a drill bit that is the same diameter as your deck screws.
screw driver tip to match the heads of the screws (phillips, roberts, etc)
hardware cloth
one pkg of two small hinges
window sash lock (one or two)

I started with several boards that were at least 24", 27" and 36" in length.  I ripped them down on the table saw to make them into 2x2's and 1x2's. (2x2's are actually 1-1/2 x 1-1/2" and 1x2's are actually 3/4" x 1-1/2")  You can buy the lumber and start with new wood if you need to. Cut your wood to length as outlined above.  To make the top of the pen, lay two of the 36" pieces and two of the 27" pieces out like this:

building a chicken brood pen square up the corners

(Tip: If you use a flat surface and a square to match up the corners, you will have less problems later with wracking or twisting of your project.) Drill a hole at the end of the 27 inch piece completely through the board.  By pre-drilling all your holes(through just the 1st piece of wood) you will avoid splitting the ends and ruining your piece:

build a chicken brood pen -  pre-drill the corners

(Tip: If you drill the hole at a slight angle, it will prevent the pieces from rotating on each other.)  Drive a 2-1/2" screw into the hole and into the perpendicular piece of wood:

build a chicken brood pen - screw together the corners

Continue this process all the way around until the four boards are connected into a rectangle.  Repeat this process for the bottom but add a center support board 24" long in the middle like this:

build a chicken brood pen -  floor

Cut your hardware cloth with tin snips to fit the top and the bottom and staple in place.  Next add the upright pieces 24" to each corner pre-drilling through the top or bottom as before.  Be sure you have the hardware cloth on the top of the bottom piece before you place the uprights:

build a chicken brood pen

 You will now have a box with no sides.  Decide where you are going to place the brood pen.  I chose the southwest corner of my chicken coupe near the electric outlet so I can add a heater when I need to:

build a chicken brood pen -- choose the location

  I decided to put it up off the ground, so this requires some bracing.  I took two of the 36" 2x4's and cut a bevel at each end 45 degrees facing each other.  You can do this on the chop saw or with a skill saw.  (Tip: If you tack a small piece of 2x4 scrap with 2 screws to the ends of the boards it makes it easier to attach to the wall and to the pen):

build a chicken brood pen -- support boards

Then I measured how high I wanted the bottom to be, and drew a line on both walls (Tip: if you use the level as your strait edge, you can draw your line perfectly strait and level at the same time).  Next attach the remaining 36" 2x4 to one wall and the 27" 2x4 to the other.  These will act as ledger boards and your pen will sit on top of these.  Using the level again, hold your support boards against the wall and lay the level from the ledger board to the top of the support board.  Mark a line where the support board meets the wall and pre-drill and screw the supports to the wall below the 36" ledger board.  Put the brood pen on top of the ledger boards and secure with 3" screws to both the ledger boards and the wall, getting at least a couple of the screws in the wall studs.  Use a level to adjust the support boards and screw them into the bottom of the pen remembering to pre-drill your holes:

build a chicken brood pen -- screw in the supports

Cut some additional hardware cloth to go along the outer side of the pen.  To make the door, take two of the 27" 1x2's and two of the 24 1x2's and put them together in the same manner as you made the top or bottom of the pen.  Cut hardware cloth to cover this square and staple in place.  Take the remaining four 1x2 pieces and place them on top of the section you just made, taking care to reverse the order of the boards so that the ends overlap.  Using 1-1/4" screws, pre-drill the holes and screw them all together.  This makes a nice secure door that won't twist.  Using the hinges, attach the door to the pen at the top.  Because my pen was against the wall and the door fit nice and snug, I was able to use just one window sash lock.  I installed this on the side.  You are now ready to put your pen to use:

build a chicken brood pen -- finished project

I put momma hen and her baby inside, which gives her significantly more room than in the dog kennel.  Also, with the hardware cloth floor, spilled water and refuse falls through to the floor below, which keeps the pen drier and tidier. 

 Now for the evening task of picking, husking and freezing corn.