6 Best Free Walk-In Chicken Coop Plans
A walk-in chicken coop sounds like it should be simple: open the door, step inside, and clean without crawling through a tiny hatch. But some plans called "walk-in" only let you enter the run. The enclosed house where the chickens sleep may still be too small for a person to enter.
The six free plans below all have a human entrance into the enclosed hen house. Three also let you walk into an attached run. That gives you a useful choice between a standalone chicken house and a complete coop-and-run setup.
Backyard Chicken Project independently reviewed and compared these free chicken coop plans to help readers choose the design that best fits their flock, property, and everyday routine. The free plans include step-by-step instructions and detailed illustrations for the build. If you want additional resources, Easy Coops also offers premium versions with full materials and cutting lists, extra illustrations and blueprints, tool and fastener lists, and technical support. You can explore those optional premium plans at EasyCoops.com.
Affiliate disclosure: Backyard Chicken Project may earn a commission if you purchase through certain links in this guide, at no additional cost to you.
📊 Compare the Walk-In Coop Plans
| Plan | Walk into the house? | Walk into an attached run? | Overall footprint | Easy Coops’ current capacity | Best fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6×8 Cottage Style | Yes | No run attached | 6×8 ft | 12 chickens | A smaller standalone house |
| 10×8 Shed-like | Yes | No run attached | 10×8 ft | 20 chickens | More room to work inside |
| 24×8 Garage Shed-Inspired | Yes | Yes | 24×8 ft | 50 chickens | A large house-and-run project |
| 6×8 Garden Shed Hen House | Yes | No run attached | 6×8 ft | 12 chickens* | A simple shed-style house |
| 6×12 Walk-In Chicken Coop | Yes | Yes | 6×12 ft | 10 chickens | A more compact all-in-one setup |
| 20×9 Walk-In Coop & Run | Yes | Yes | 20×9 ft | 12 chickens | A longer attached run |
Easy Coops gives conflicting capacity figures for the 6×8 Garden Shed on its other listings and older PDF. Check the note under that plan before choosing it for your flock.
Our quick take: Start with the 6×12 if you want both a house and run you can enter without taking up a huge stretch of yard. If you already have outdoor space planned, compare the 6×8 Cottage and 10×8 Shed-like houses. The 24×8 is a much bigger undertaking and makes sense for a very different kind of setup.
🏡 1. 6×8 Cottage Style Chicken Coop - Best Smaller Walk-In House
This coop looks like a little cottage, with a covered front entry and a proper door into the enclosed house. That door is the reason it belongs here: you can step into the area you need to clean instead of reaching in through a small opening. The plan does not include an attached run, so you'll need to account for your chickens outdoor space separately.
Easy Coops currently lists this 6×8 design for 12 chickens, with an Intermediate build difficulty and an estimated $2,575 in new materials. Its older PDF cover says up to 15 chickens. I'd use the current listing as the comparison figure, then look closely at the usable interior, roosts, and the space your birds will have outside. This is also a different design from the other 6×8 hen house farther down the page: the cottage has a covered porch and a different entrance layout.
🐔 Current listed capacity: 12 chickens
📐 Footprint: 6×8 ft
🚪 Walk-in access: Enclosed house
🌿 Attached run: No
🔨 Difficulty: Intermediate
💰 Estimated materials: $2,575
⚠️ Keep in mind: The older PDF says 15 chickens, and you'll need outdoor space.
👉 Download the free 6×8 Cottage Style chicken coop PDF
🧹 2. 10×8 Shed-like Chicken Coop - Best for Working Inside the House
If you're drawn to a coop you can enter to change bedding and reach the corners, this shed-like house is worth a look. It has a human door with steps, windows, and a familiar pitched roof. It's a standalone enclosed house, though, not a house with a run built onto the side.
The current Easy Coops catalog lists it for 20 chickens and estimates $4,400 in materials. Its older PDF says up to 30. That's a big difference, so I wouldn't choose it based on either number alone. Check the actual interior floor space, roost layout, and ventilation in the PDF, then plan where the flock will spend its time outside the house.
🐔 Current listed capacity: 20 chickens
📐 Footprint: 10×8 ft
🚪 Walk-in access: Enclosed house
🌿 Attached run: No
🔨 Difficulty: Intermediate
💰 Estimated materials: $4,400
⚠️ Keep in mind: The older PDF says 30 chickens; a run is a separate project.
👉 Download the free 10×8 Shed-like chicken coop PDF
🏠 3. 24×8 Garage Shed-Inspired Chicken Coop - Best Large House and Run
This is the big project in the group. A solid, shed-like hen house sits beside an attached mesh run, and the plan gives each section its own human entrance. That means you can go into the house to clean or check roosts and enter the run without trying to work through one shared doorway.
Easy Coops lists the complete design for 50 chickens, with an Intermediate difficulty and an estimated $6,575 in materials. The important detail is that 24×8 feet is the footprint of the whole structure, including the run. It is not 192 square feet of enclosed sleeping space. If you're considering a flock anywhere near the listed capacity, check the house and run dimensions separately in the drawings before buying lumber.
🐔 Current listed capacity: 50 chickens
📐 Overall footprint: 24×8 ft
🚪 Walk-in access: Enclosed house and attached run
🔨 Difficulty: Intermediate
💰 Estimated materials: $6,575
⚠️ Keep in mind: This needs considerable yard space; the overall footprint includes the run.
👉 Download the free 24×8 Garage Shed-Inspired chicken coop PDF
🌿 4. 6×8 Garden Shed Hen House - Best Simple Shed-Style Design
Here's the other 6×8 house, and it's easy to see why the names and measurements caused confusion. This one looks more like a straightforward little garden shed, with a front human door, windows, and a separate chicken entrance with a ramp. The Cottage Style plan has a covered porch instead. They are two different PDFs and two different layouts, even though both are called 6×8 coops.
The free catalog currently lists this Garden Shed for 12 chickens, as Beginner friendly, with an estimated material cost of $4,075. But Easy Coops' separate product listing says 20 chickens, while the older PDF cover says up to 24. Those numbers don't agree. I'd choose this plan for its walk-in shed layout and check its usable interior space carefully, rather than relying on the largest advertised capacity. We also covered this house in our free plans for 13-20 chickens.
🐔 Free-catalog capacity: 12 chickens; other Easy Coops figures conflict
📐 Footprint: 6×8 ft
🚪 Walk-in access: Enclosed house
🌿 Attached run: No
🔨 Free-catalog difficulty: Beginner friendly
💰 Estimated materials: $4,075
⚠️ Keep in mind: Check the interior space and the conflicting capacity figures before choosing a flock size.
👉 Download the free 6×8 Garden Shed hen house PDF
🔒 5. 6×12 Walk-In Chicken Coop - Best More Compact House and Run
The 6×12 combines an enclosed house and a mesh aviary in one plan. Each has its own human entrance, so "walk-in" really applies to both sections. If you want protected outdoor space attached to the house but don't have room for the 20×9 or 24×8 designs, this is the one I'd compare first.
Easy Coops currently lists it for 10 chickens, with an Intermediate build difficulty and about $3,350 in materials; the older PDF cover says up to 12. Remember that the 6×12 measurement includes the aviary. Look at the house area on its own when deciding how the plan fits your flock. We previously included this design in our 9-12 chicken coop plans guide.
🐔 Current listed capacity: 10 chickens
📐 Overall footprint: 6×12 ft
🚪 Walk-in access: Enclosed house and aviary
🔨 Difficulty: Intermediate
💰 Estimated materials: $3,350
⚠️ Keep in mind: The older PDF says 12 chickens; the footprint includes both sections.
👉 Download the free 6×12 Walk-In Chicken Coop PDF
🌳 6. 20×9 Walk-In Chicken Coop and Run - Best for a Longer Run
This plan gives you a solid walk-in hen house beside a long mesh run. There's human access to both areas, and the house also has outside-access nesting space. If the 6×12 feels too tight around the run but the 24×8 feels like far more building than you want, the 20×9 sits between them as a yard-layout choice.
The current Easy Coops catalog lists it for 12 chickens and estimates $4,800 in new materials. Its older PDF says up to 15. As with the other combined plans, the full 20×9 footprint includes outdoor run space; the enclosed house is smaller. Measure both parts against your yard and flock plans. You can also see this coop alongside other options in our 9-12 chicken plans roundup.
🐔 Current listed capacity: 12 chickens
📐 Overall footprint: 20×9 ft
🚪 Walk-in access: Enclosed house and attached run
🔨 Difficulty: Beginner friendly
💰 Estimated materials: $4,800
⚠️ Keep in mind: The older PDF says 15 chickens; the total footprint includes the run.
👉 Download the free 20×9 Walk-In Coop and Run PDF
⚠️ Check These Things Before You Build
First, look at the PDF drawing of the house door, not just the outside picture. A full-size door is helpful, but you should also check its opening and the clearance inside. Next, check whether the stated footprint belongs to the enclosed house or to the house and run together. That matters especially for the 6×12, 20×9, and 24×8 plans.
Think about where the chickens will spend the day, too. A standalone walk-in house still needs an outdoor plan. For any design, look at ventilation, drainage, secure latches, mesh openings, and how you'll protect the run edges from digging predators. Price the materials locally before committing; the dollar amounts above are Easy Coops estimates, not quotes for your build.
🔨 Tools and Materials You May Need
The exact shopping list depends on the PDF you choose, but these builds commonly involve lumber, plywood, roofing, exterior screws, hinges, door hardware, and wire mesh or hardware cloth. Useful tools include a tape measure, speed square, drill/driver, circular saw, and a way to cut and fasten the hardware cloth. Check your selected plan's measurements and materials before buying anything.
If a walk-in house isn't the right match for your yard, our other free-plan guides cover 2-4 chickens, 5-8 chickens, 9-12 chickens, and 13-20 chickens.
