Alright, so you’ve built the chicken coop, the run, the front door, and the nesting box… the last thing left to do is build the DIY shutters for the chicken coop! They may seem like a step to skip, and for a short while of course you can, but they are so valuable when it comes to heavy rain! They keep the chicken coop completely dry!
We planned each wall of the chicken coop according to our weather and depending on where you live, you may need to change the walls around to best suit your needs!
Our door wall faces the north and is solid so that in the winter the ladies can stay warm. The nesting box wall is blocked by our house so it really doesn’t get a breeze or rain or anything so it was a good wall to leave closed. The run wall is left wide open because that wall is facing south, which as I stated before is where our only summer breeze comes from! And last this window wall also gets a great deal of breeze in the summer because if the wind isn’t out of the south, the only other direction it comes from is the southeast! Lol!
When we get rain though, it is coming off the gulf, almost always in a southeast direction (except for in winter of course when it comes out of the north). When Hurricane Hanna hit recently we were able to keep the shutters closed for the week and the coop stayed dry! They are a lifesaver that you definitely don’t want to leave out!
Anyway, enough about the effectiveness of the DIY shutters, let’s build them!
Get the printable plans here: DIY Shutters for Chicken Coop
Get plans for the rest of the DIY Plans for Chicken Coop.
Materials for the DIY Shutters for Chicken Coop
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-5 – 1x4x6′ cedar fence pickets
-6 – 1x6x6′ cedar fence pickets
–2 sets of hook and eye latches
–saw
Cut List for DIY Shutters for Chicken Coop
-2 – 1×1 @ 45″
-4 – 1×4 @ 44 3/4″
-4 – 1×4 @ 13 7/8″
-16 – 1×6 @ 20 7/8″
Building the DIY Shutters for Chicken Coop
The shutters are built with the same simple method as the DIY Dutch Door for Chicken Coop! It is basically building a frame, then attaching boards to the back to give dimension but also create a thicker shutter without having to buy expensive wood!
Start out by building the frame! Using your Kreg Jig, drill holes at 1/2″ deep (our fence pickets are 1/2″ thick)and then use wood glue and 1″ screws to attach.
Next, add the 1×6 @ 20 7/8″ fence pickets over the frame, they will be flush with the edges. Use wood glue on the frame, then screw the boards directly onto the frame. I used the same wafer head screws as with the doors so that the heads look decorative and not ugly when you see them!
Build two of those babies, and the shutters are DONE! Now you just need to add the 1×1 @ 45″ to the window frame so that you can attach the shutters to the coop… I realized after I walked them over there to put them up that the battens kept them from having room to lay flat when attached!
Adding this little board takes care of that problem without even being obvious! Lol!
I just screwed the board straight into the frame of the window flush with the outer edge of the window frame. Use 2″ screws or longer!
Attach the hinges onto this board!
Attach the eye and hook latches to the back of the shutters. If you do the opposite on each shutter, for instance, use the hook on the back of the right shutter, and the eye on the coop behind the right shutter. Then you use the eye on the back of the left shutter and use the hook on the coop behind the left shutter. When you close the shutters, you will have a hook to use in the eye to keep them closed. Repeat the same on the bottom of each shutter as well!
For some strange reason, I didn’t even bother to take a photo with them closed! LOL! It’s dark as of now so I will have to update the post to add the pictures! You can have this Sketchup rendering until then!
Super cute open or closed! I think its the perfect touch to make the coop just right! 😍
Make sure and check out the other posts on the chicken coop as well if you need help with any of the other accessories to dress up your chicken coop!
Thanks for stopping by, have a good one!
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