Saucy Pet

Posts Tagged ‘building chicken coops’

When it comes to building a chicken pen, it should be a fun family project that everyone can get involved in.  Unfortunately, if you do not know what you are doing, chicken pens can become a costly adventure.  To help you on your way, I have gathered up a few important things you may not have been aware of when it comes to building a chicken pen.  Here are some things everyone should know when it comes to building chicken coops.

What a Chicken Pens should NOT do:

•   Consume your life
•   Cost excessive amounts of money
•   Take you an entire season to complete

What a Chicken Pen SHOULD include:

•   Design
•   Protection
•   Ventilation
•   Lighting

These are just  few of the very important things that go into buiding a chicken coop, both of which should be taken very seriously before you begin your project.  Want to find out a few hidden secrets about raising chickens?  Some additional important factors that will come into play when deciding whether to build a chicken pen at all.  Maybe you realize what goes into building a chicken pen, but do you know what goes into raising chickens?  Below is a list of common things people often overlook until they have their coop all set up and their new pets already home.

•   You can expect to see ONE egg from each hen each day, if they are healthy.
•   Hens cannot lay eggs until they are approximately 6 months old.
•   Chickens have personalities, and that means they do not always get along.
•   Roosters do not only crow in the morning, and can often become very loud.
•   Eggs do not need to be fertilized by a rooster.
•   Chickens will fly, not for far distances, but they can and they will fly.
•   Chicken will go potty in their food if they can which can make for a messy clean up job for you.

Well if that didn’t turn you off and your still interested in building a chicken pen, you should definitely look into a good source for a decent set of plans.  You can find a good set of plans online, you can choose to pay for them, or you may find them for free.  If you choose to go with a free set of plans, just make sure that the plans include the important things discussed.

If you’re still a little concerned and have a few more questions, check out Building a Chicken Coop for more information on building a chicken pen, and raising chickens as pets.  Happy Egg-laying!

Building Chicken Coops

Building chicken coops can become a costly project if you don’t plan out the process properly. So what are the proper tools you ask?  The proper tools would be a plan.  A plan is the most important tool you will need.  With the proper plan you will do fine, even if this is your very first time. You will not need extravagant plans or over priced tools to begin your project of building a chicken coop.  No one should have to spend an excessive amount in order to house their new pets, nor run back and forth to the hardware store to purchase a new set of tools every ten minutes.  With the right set of plans you are off to a great start and are prepared to have the most egg producing chickens possible.  Building a Chicken coop has been done, and it’s been done well and very effectively without breaking the bank or your back!

WHAT SHOULD I LOOK FOR?

Below is a list of things to plan out in advance before beginning building chicken coops

Layout:  A coop that will last for a long, long time and is fully functional without having to drop money and time into for repairs will have a good design.  Consider things like:

Cleaning.  It is recommened that you slope the floors for easy clean-up.

Door & Window placement.

Did you choose the proper location in your yard for you coop?

Protection:  Protection is a must when building chicken coops.  Do you have a good plan so your coop is protected at all hours of the day from predators?  Do not take this key fact lightly, you wouldn’t want to loose your new pets to a coyote or raccoon, would you?

Ventilation:  For the healthiest chickens, ventilation is a must!  Not worth the hassle later on down the road!

Light Source:  A good lighting source will not only benefit your chicken health, but will also be an added benefit to keeping your flock protected from predators too.

Looks:  Not necessarily a major factor, but one that should be considered.  After all you will be looking at this coop for some time to come.

If the time has come and you are ready to begin your project, you have planned out the best ideas and have even possibly bought a good set of chicken coop building plans, well then, get to it!

If you’re still in need of a little bit more information before you begin, try visiting Building a Chicken Coop for more detailed information and some great design tips.  And don’t be embarrassed, even men need direction sometimes!  Trust me, you will be happier in the end and so will your precious chickens!

One thing you have to understand when getting your chicken coop building program started, is you need to stick with the guidelines.

When you’re start your chicken coop building endeavor, the fist thing you have to do is survey the area. It’s important to figure out where you’re going to put it and whether or not it’s going to be portable, semi-permanent or planted. It’s also important to have everything in place so you can give your chickens the best comfort possible. It needs to be clean, secure, and a good place for your flock to sleep and lay eggs.

Then simply follow the guidelines below:

Plan and Design

If you already know how many chickens you’re going to have, you should already have some sort of idea as to how big the chicken coop building needs to be.

Thinking Ahead

Always be one step ahead of yourself. Think about the factors that will come after you have your plan and design set up.

• Allocate 4 heads of chicken per feeder and waterer;
• Save time by building the nest boxes at the same time you do your chicken coop building.

Find the Right Setting

When you are looking at the positioning, the biggest thing to worry about is the sunlight. Your chickens need a good amount, but without the coop being directly in it. Plus you have to think about predators who may try to get in and take advantage of your chickens.

Saving Money on Materials

There will be a point when you start thinking about the overall cost. All the materials that need to be bought can usually be found in second hand shops. So if you want to save some money we recommend starting there.

You also may want to purchase additional materials for future expansions. Once everything is built you may realize that after a year or two it needs to be bigger. Whatever the reason may be, you will already have the materials.

Building Chicken Coop Fun

In the end it starts getting fun when you actually get to start working on it’s creation. The chicken coop building process can be easy or difficult. It all depends on you and what course of action you take. For instance; you don’t want to forget the little things like notes, the plans, measuring tape, sander, power saw, work bench, face mask, gloves, and anything else you need. All you have to do is follow the guidelines we’ve given you today and you’ll have fun creating your chicken coop building.

In the end, just stick with the building chicken pens guidelines and you’ll be happy with the results.

how to build a chicken house

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 a number of reasons that families want to raise chickens, as many as there are people. For our family, we received a “present” of 12 baby chicks for Easter Sunday. My first impression was, “holy cow, where are all these chickens going to sleep???” 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 step is to consider the location or placement of your chicken house. From this point, you will know what your limitations are. On e thing to keep in mind is a simple 4 foot by 8 foot box-type structure. This makes it easy on the materials sides because most plywood and other materials come in 4 x 8 foot sheets. Second, you want to frame out a play area for the chicken house. You can accomplish this with nails or screws at the bottom of the four pieces. (I recommend using screws and 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. When this frame is done, you can enclose the play area with chicken wire. Once the basic chicken house frame is complete, you can begin with 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. It’s been our experience that if you put the door closer to the nesting area rather than in the front, it works a little bit better for your other tasks down the road. Attaching the door will depend on what kind of door you prefer. We had a door that opened toward the back of the nesting area that had a long piano hinge across the top, and the door opened by pulling the door up (toward the sky). Our door had a long wooden dowel added to prop in the “up” position so we could easily access inside the chicken house. The next step is generally installing 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 location of this nesting area is in the back wall (away from the small chicken entrance) where our upward opening door is location for easy access to the fresh 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 completed, you want to make sure you sand smooth all the edges and corners for the safety of your chickens. 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. For your chicken coop floor, you have a few options. Most folks use sawdust, but some farms and others have access to hay or use straw. Some people even used sand as a bottom for their chicken coop. Check with your local feed store or veterinarian to see what is the best material for the weather conditions in your area. With a solid chicken house, you will provide your chickens with a healthy, safe living arrangment where they can grow and propser. Our family enjoyed watching the chickens grow, and they took pride in the eggs that were collected for our breakfast table. Enjoy your flock of chickens, and make sure you consider these steps in your Chicken House Plans

.