Learning the fastest means of buidling a chicken coop isn’t a bad idea afterall. Don’t you agree?
Keeping chickens used to be confined to families living on farms or, at least, in very rural areas. However, many people are beginning to consider raising a few chickens even in cities and subdivisions.
These people, while they may not live in the country, still want to enjoy the taste of fresh eggs and have their children understand more about the source of the family’s food.
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Building a Chicken Coop
One important consideration to having a few chickens is the chicken coop.
Although one can buy pre-made chicken coops, many people want to custom-build their chicken housing.
Perhaps they want a particular look to the coop, or maybe they have unique space considerations. Some people simply want to save money by building a chicken coop themselves.
Building Space for the Chickens
Before building a chicken coop, a good plan for construction is very important. When considering a building plan for chicken housing, one must first determine how many chickens will live in the house.
Each chicken needs about four square feet in the coop, so before the building process begins, one should make sure that the structure will be large enough for the number of chickens that will live there.
If the chickens will be free-ranging during the day and only come back to their house at night, they need a little less space in the coop than those that are always confined.
If the chickens will be penned up all of the time, they will need a covered run connected to the chicken coop. This safe area will give them a place to scratch, peck and dust bathe.
In the covered run, each chicken needs eight to ten square feet of space.
Chicken Coop Design Features
Chicken coop building plans should include an access door through which the chickens can enter and exit the coop.
Additionally, chickens sleep off of the ground, so they will need roosts. Chickens can roost on any platform off of the ground, but they will need about 12 inches of roost space per full-sized bird.
Chicken housing should also feature nest boxes to encourage the birds to lay their eggs in a clean place. Without nest boxes, the chickens will lay eggs everywhere, and the eggs will get dirty and broken. For less than ten hens, one nest box is enough.
Otherwise, two nest boxes will be needed. Every well-designed coop needs a full-size door.
Even if the nest boxes are accessible from the outside of the building, owners must be able to get to the interior of the coop to clean it, maintain it, and occasionally handle the birds.
Additionally, building the chicken house tall enough for an adult to stand in will make caring for the hens much easier.
Coop Building Aesthetics
Most homeowners are also concerned about the appearance of the building that houses their chickens.
Although the chickens will not care at all about how pretty the chicken house may be, no homeowner wants to have an eyesore in plain view of the home.
When designing a chicken coop, homeowners may want to include extra features like pretty, painted molding and trim to the exterior of the house.
Painting the chicken house to coordinate with the home and landscaping around it will make the coop seem more like a design feature of the backyard.
Having a few pretty chickens can add joy to the lives of many people. Carefully considering the design of a chicken coop can make building a coop seem less intimidating.