Parts of a Chicken Coop – Labeled Inside and Out

All 13 parts on the diagram

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Outside 8

Coop (hen house) Hens roost in it at night and lay their eggs in it.
Roof Build it high enough to reach in and clean.
Door Hens need a doorway too, large enough to pass through easily. They are shut in before dark where the run is not secure.
Window Cover it with wire mesh. Then nothing gets in when it is open.
Vent Dampness and an ammonia smell mean a coop needs more ventilation.
Run Here the hens scratch, peck and move about by day.
Wire mesh Chicken wire is one kind. Hardware cloth has smaller openings, so it stops smaller animals.
Buried wire It is turned outward. An animal digging at the fence then meets more wire.

Inside the hen house 5

Roost (perch) Chickens like to be up high. A roost keeps them off the floor.
Nest boxes One box for every four or five hens is enough.
Bedding (litter) Pine shavings are a common choice. Soiled bedding is replaced with fresh.
Feeder It is raised off the ground to keep the feed clean.
Waterer Clean it often, along with the feeder.

How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-09-30 and kept only where two independent sources use it: Penn State Extension, Small-Scale Poultry Housing (https://extension.psu.edu/small-scale-poultry-housing); University of Minnesota Extension, Raising chickens for eggs (https://extension.umn.edu/small-scale-poultry/raising-chickens-eggs); Utah State University Extension, Basics for Raising Backyard Chickens (https://extension.usu.edu/poultry/research/basics-for-raising-backyard-chickens); University of Florida IFAS, Raising Backyard Chickens for Eggs (https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/an239); University of Georgia Extension, Management Guide for the Backyard Flock (https://extension.uga.edu/publications/detail.html?number=C969); and Wikipedia, Poultry farming, section Chicken coop (text only). Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry; nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

A backyard chicken coop in two drawings. Outside: the hen house on its legs and the run beside it, covered in wire mesh. Inside: where the hens sleep, lay, eat and drink.

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Outside, then inside

Numbers 1 to 8 are outside: the coop itself, its roof, door, window and vent, then the run, the wire mesh that covers it, and the wire buried at its foot. Numbers 9 to 13 are inside the hen house: the roost where the hens sleep, the nest boxes where they lay, the bedding on the floor, the feeder and the waterer.

Set the roosts away from the nest boxes, so the hens sleep on the rails and keep the nests clean.
Do not open a vent or window right above the roost: the hens would sit in a draft.

Questions and answers

What are the parts of a chicken coop called?

Outside: the coop or hen house, its roof, door, windows and vents, and the run with its wire mesh. Inside: the roosts, the nest boxes, the bedding on the floor, a feeder and a waterer.

What is the difference between a chicken coop and a run?

The coop, or hen house, is the closed shelter where hens roost at night and lay their eggs. The run is the fenced outdoor space beside it, where they scratch and peck during the day.

How many nest boxes does a chicken coop need?

One nest box to every four or five hens. Set the boxes off the floor, in a darker, quiet part of the coop, away from the roosts.

How do you keep animals from digging into a chicken run?

Bury wire along the foot of the run and turn it outward. An animal digs at the base of a fence, so it digs down into more wire. A mesh cover over the top of the run keeps out hawks and owls.