When I asked Mark what he wished he'd known about chickens when we first got started, his immediate answer was: "I wish I'd realized coops need to be big and accessible."  He detests our current coops and is looking forward to getting back to work on our Starplate coop in the near future.

I'm not as judgmental about Mark's early coops as he is --- when you ask your husband to build a chicken coop for $10 or less, any serviceable result counts as a success in my book.  But I agree that it's much easier on the chicken owner if a wheelbarrow will fit through the door, if you don't hit your head inside, and if nest boxes open to the outside so you don't even have to enter during daily egg runs.  All of these factors are really for the farmer, though, since I've noticed that chickens are mostly interested in quality of the roosts, safety from predators, and how quickly they can get outside to hunt down bugs.

You can read my wish list for the perfect coop here, and we'll keep you posted as we finish up version 3.0 this fall.  In the meantime, I'd love to hear your take on the perfect chicken coop, either in the comments or as an entry in our chicken contest.  Is there a design feature I've missed?