My son, Keith Yohai, built me a rock solid fortress, there is the hen house and the chicken run, together it makes the total chicken coop. Poultry netting (chicken wire) is too flimsy but you can get a roll of stucco netting for about the same price. The lower the number of the gauge of the wire, the stronger it is. Stucco netting is #17 gauge and easily twice as strong as chicken wire. Also, dig a trench a couple of feet down at the fence line and angle it away from the fence. Put the stucco netting wire into it. It discourages wild animals from digging down under the fence.
I was going to build a conventional hen house but it was too expensive. I saw online hen houses that were off the ground. It turns out that for so many reasons: safety, ease of cleaning, chicken warmth and comfort, it is great to have it off the ground. I can also store hay and feed underneath it.
We had a really strong, double walled, insulated dog house that Keith had made, but the dogs liked lying on the covered porch better. So, Keith made a 3' high "table" and we set the dog house on top of it. The chickens love going up the ladder to roost at night! It's so warm in the winter I don't have to heat it and it keeps animals from being able to dig into it. Plus, it's very easy to clean! I got a piece of cheap linoleum to put on the floor (keeps the wood dry). There is a convenient waist-height door on one side of the hen house where I can sweep the straw from the hen house into a big plastic bucket and take it to the compost heap. Keith added nesting boxes onto the outside of the dog house/now hen house and I can lift the lid and reach in and gather eggs. Inside the hen house are 2 wooden perches 2 ft. up from the floor. Keith put wooden blocks on either side of them so I can lift them up to clean. I have a 6-12" layer of pine shavings (the mites don't like the turpentine smell from the pine shavings) and straw on the floor.
One other tip: we put a tin roof on and I highly recommend that if you can afford it. It keeps it dry in the outside chicken run, keeps the flying predators out, and provides shade. I keep a plastic chair inside the chicken run so I can go hang with the "girls". When I sing "Summertime" to them, they get really peaceful and then start singing with me. Hysterically funny, I've gotta make a video of it someday...
