First Coast Pet

Posts Tagged ‘build a chicken house’

Build A Chicken Coop

Building A Chicken Coop

Choosing What Type of Coop You Require

Different Styles Of Coops

Probably one of the decisions you’re struggling with right now at this point is determining which type of chicken coop you desire.  There are a variety of different chicken coops that you can build, but understanding which one is going to best fit your needs is important for getting optimal results. If you spend the money on a chicken coop, it is only logical that it needs to match an individuals needs, so getting started on the right foot is important.

Factors involved

There are some important factors to take into consideration before coming to a decision on what type of chicken coop to build.The following guidelines will set you off down the right path to choosing wisely and being completely with your new chicken coop once it’s built.

chicken house plans

Chicken House Plans

There’s an old saying that goes about people . . . “don’t plan to fail; they fail to plan.” (I believe that was Harvey MacKay). Same holds true for your Chicken House Plans. You want to have plans so that your baby chicks wil grow in a healthy, safe environment. There are as many reasons families want to raise chickens as there are people. In our particular family, we were given a “gift” of about a dozen baby chicks one fine Easter morning. I first thought, “oh no, what am I going to do with all these chickens???” However, I remembered another great saying “if life hands you lemons, make lemonade.” (I promise, no more quotes). I was not thinking of eating the little chicks, but the thought of low-cost eggs sounded like a great idea to me. I was reveling in the thought about how fun it would be — a family project to build a chicken house, and soon we would be enjoying our own organically fresh eggs. It was a one-time investment that if done correctly, it could pay off for years just in fresh eggs alone. So when you are looking for the best Chicken House Plans, consider these following steps in your plan. The first thing you need to plan is where you will locate your new chicken house. From this point, you will know what your limitations are. One thing to be mindful about is that a basic 4 by 8 foot structure. This makes it easy on the materials sides because most plywood and other materials come in 4 x 8 foot sheets. Secondly, you want to establish the frame for the chicken house play area. This can be done by attaching by nails or screws the bottom of four pieces together. (You really should use screws that you can drive with an electric screwdriver. This makes it easy to disassemble in case you ever need to move your chicken house; you can simply unscrew the wood and away you go!) When this is finished, you can secure two corner sections, consisting of two parts that make up each corner. With the framework finished, the play area can be closed off with chicken wire. Once your chicken house frame is done, you can begin witht the actual house. You would probably want to consider if you are installing some sort of chicken house door, and if so, where the location would be. For our family, it was better to put the door near the back nesting area, which helps with your egg hunts down the road. How you attach the door is going to be determined by what kind of door you would like. One idea that we used was a door near the nesting area, which opened upward. Our door had a long wooden dowel added to prop in the “up” position so we could easily access inside the chicken house. Next you should install the roof. Plywood (which comes in 4 x 8 foot sheets) is perfect for this, but you can check with your local lumbar supplier to see if your location requires a different type of building material. Once the roof is up you can move forward with the nesting area of your chicken house. Here, the size is going to depend on the number of chickens you want to raise. A basic 4 foot by 8 foot chicken house is probably enough room to raise 10 chickens. For our nesting area, we made two support from 4 foot sections attached on both sides of our frame to support the nesting box. With the support in place, you can build a basic nesting box out of plywood to place on this support system. The nesting area usually goes near a back wall away frorm the front entrance (and near that door location for eeasy acces to the eggs. In the front of your chicken house you want to cut an opening, much like the size of a small pet door, so that the chickens can access the chicken house play area. When you’re finished with your chicken house, make sure you sand all the rough edeges and corners smooth and safely cut or bend all chicken wire out of the way from harm. You also want to double check that no sharp edges of the chicken wire protrude and are either removed or bent in such a way that they will not harm the chickens. Ventilation and lighting are critical to your chicken’s health and welfare. You may want to have open sides that can be closed with hinged doors made of plywood. That way you can open the doors in the daytime hours for light and ventilation, and they can be closed in the evening or when you need to protect the chickens from bad weather. When it comes to chicken house floors, you have some options. Most folks use sawdust, but some farms and others have access to hay or use straw. Others even use sand at the bottop of their chicken house. Check with your local feed store or veterinarian to see what is the best material for the weather conditions in your area. Having a solid chicken house will provide your chickens with a safe, healthy environment where they can grow and prosper. For us, the kids enjoyed watching the chickens grow, and they loved getting the eggs for our breakfast table. Enjoy your flock of chickens, and make sure you consider these steps in your Chicken House Plans

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