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Posts Tagged ‘chicken house plans’

Backyard chicken raising is a wonderful hobby.  You will enjoy delicious, fresh eggs almost daily. If you intend to raise your hens as pets you will not think about having the occasional Sunday roast dinner courtesy of your feathered flock, but it is an attractive option for some poultry keepers.

But, whatever your plans or aims, you must raise and keep your chickens properly in order to achieve them. So here are the 10 vital steps for raising and keeping your poultry happily and in great condition.

Step 1, decide on the breed. It is very important to get the right birds for your particular location and circumstances.  Susceptible to hot or cold climates, boiler or layer, hobby or business – these are just a few of the aspects when choosing your flock.  Your local chicken supplier can advise, or other neighbors with hens of their own.  

Step 2, decide on the right number of birds. Hens need space in which to forage, exercise and nest comfortably. Plan on about one square meter or 10 square feet for each bird.  This will govern the maximum number of chickens you should plan on getting, based on the available space you have. Three is considered the minimum, because hens like company.

Step 3, decide how much time you will have available. You will need to allocate a period daily for providing food and water, cleaning out the coop and other jobs such as inspection of perimeter fencing. Budget about 15 minutes per day, at the same time if possible – hens love routine.

Step 4, build shelter and housing.  Poultry must have places to roost, nest and forage safely. They also must have a place to shelter from too much sun and they need a supply of fresh water. A good chicken coop will have easy access for cleaning and a way to collect eggs without disturbing the hens too much.

Step 5, provide protection. Safety from predators is vital, and threats come from many creatures including cats and dogs, rats, wild animals, birds of prey, even snakes.  Do not underestimate the ability of predators to gain access to your hens through or under fences over time.  The coop and hen run must be safe and secure from all such predators.  Look out for eagles and other big birds of prey, and put a suitable covering over the run if necessary – it will also stop your chickens flying up into nearby trees!

Step 6, consider health hazards. Poultry can suffer from quite a few diseases, so do some research into the common ones in your area.  Try speaking to local chicken farmers and vets, as well as online forums – you will get a lot of help from the chicken-keeping community.  

Step 7, identify applicable laws.  You must comply with all national and local regulations relating to raising or keeping poultry, although often these are not too oppressive.  Your local town hall or government offices should be able to give you all the guidance and information you need.  

Step 8, provide a good diet.  Hens need a diet of greens, grains, protein and fresh water. Protein is particularly important – talk to your local feed supplier for advice on this.  You might need to introduce protein supplements and grit into your hen food, but most likely free range hens will get enough from their own foraging. There must be a constant supply of fresh, clean water.  If you are away during the day or on vacation, you should investigate automatic water dispensers for your hens. The rest of your hens’ diet should be met by foraging around their pen area.  

Step 9, consider weather and climate.  So long as they have shelter from hot, midday sun, most chicken varieties are able to adapt to a wide range of weather and climactic conditions. They do need to keep their feet dry, however.  

Step 10, consider your local environment. Usually keeping chickens is viewed as a good thing, so you should not encounter significant problems here.  Perhaps talk to any neighbors who might have concerns about possible noise or smells, to reassure them.  They might like the thought of a supply of free range eggs on their doorstep!

You can see that these vital steps are neither difficult nor obscure.  Following them should ensure that you have happy and healthy chickens in your backyard. Oh, one last thing – each of those happy hens should provide you with 6 fresh, free range eggs per week for most of the year!

We have a great deal of information about how to build a chicken coop and where to get the best chicken house plans on our website. Good luck with your birds – we know you will enjoy them!

There’s lots of varieties of chickens to keep and you should consider them all before you choose your chicken coop plans. There are many different breeds so it all depends on the type of chickens you’d like to keep. Some chickens seem healthy but their egg-laying ability is weak while other chickens produce lots of eggs each day. There are many things to consider when selecting the breed you want to keep so please read on for more information.

One of the first things you need to think about is where do you plan to put your chicken coop? Is your yard big or is it small? Is it large enough to let your selected amount of chickens to roam? You have to think about this factor because chickens differ in breeds some are small and others are large.

You should also think about where you live in the world It is going to be terribly hot for a lot of the year if you live along or near the equator. If you live north or south of the equator the climate is cooler. Now, which of the two are you?

There are cross breeds that can resist any weather that may come. A very resilient breed is the Production Red. They are friendly and are resistant to cold temperature. So if you live somewhere that is cold most of the year or suffers from very cold winters, this is the breed you should keep.

Another tough chicken breed is the Bantam They love to fly around, a very good reason why pens can be worthless. These breeds are tough but pretty for their fluffiness is incomparable. They are rubbish at laying eggs but when they do, their eggs are very small and not worth selling.

If you want a good egg laying breed, and most of you probably are, then two good choices are The Pekins and Silkies. You can get different colors with these too. If you try to crossbreed a silkie with a cochin bantam, you will have a great breed because the result is a kind which never bit, hurt or scratched anyone as proven by top breeders.

Be careful with purebred chickens as they are very fragile, they tend to choke on their own food, and sometimes have heart attacks without any probable cause.

If you are looking for a cheap egg-laying chicken, you can settle with a leghorn. They are a bit flighty but if you carefully clip their wings it will be OK. Leghorn’s may not be the best pets for kids though because they aren’t the prettiest chickens and they can get grumpy some times.

If you do want some great pets for kids then a Cochin Bantam cross breed is for you. Breeds that came from a Cochin bantam’s bloodline are fantastic because of great traits like sweetness, manners, and you have a great breed that can easily be noticed at shows.  Bantams are sweet and mild mannered so any related cross breed will take on this temperament.  They are also a small breed.

Another great selection would be the Barred Plymouth Rock. You get the best of both worlds with this breed. They lay eggs pretty much every day in the warmer months. On top of that, they are friendly, easy to keep happy and healthy, and are quite pretty creatures too.

If you are looking for a beautiful chicken to exhibit then Americaunas are the breed for you They are a beautiful bird with deep dark gold feathers. Their beaks are quite similar with a falcon’s because some breeds have pretty curved beaks. They are also a tough breed that can cope with the cold nights of a bitter winter.  It is almost the complete package but unfortunately they are not the best egg layers.

If you are just starting out then stay away from the more unusual breeds because they are harder to look after. Keep all of these things in mind when selecting the chicken breed to keep then you can select the right chicken coop plans for that breed.

If you are interested in building a chicken house in your property, you will need to have a solid chicken house plan in order to make most of this project as this will be your starting point. The internet nevertheless provides a good source of valuable information. There are many websites that are devoted to this topic of chicken house plans.

The new way of saving money is producing your own food by placing a chicken house on your place. This way of growing your own chickens offers fresh eggs and poultry thus economizing on some food expenses. 

Always make a point to have a chicken house plan that is easily understood. Looking at them but cannot discern what they are trying to teach is a clear indication to proceed to the next plan. You will not be able to make your own chicken house with chicken house plans that do not make any sense.

You do not want to be in the middle of construction just to notice that the plans neglected to note many serious parts required for the design. Ensure that the chicken house plan holds a complete list of needed materials for the construction.   

When you acquire your chicken house plans, make it sure they are complete and that no measures have been excluded before you lead off building on your chicken house.It is always important to study everything before beginning the project.

As a final tip, make it sure that the chicken house plans do not cost a big amount of money. As a comparison, the cost must always be lesser than the actual building of the chicken house. In fact, there are many web sites that propose free chicken house plans.

Check out mychickenhouseplans.org for information on Chicken House Plans and designs.

For related topics to this posts, check out how to Chicken Coop Designs Blog for more reference. Also see Plans Chicken Coop for related articles.

chicken house plans

You don’t want to forget this critical part of your chicken house plans.

Building from chicken house plans without nesting boxes is like building your own house without a bedroom.Well, maybe.

You need nesting boxes for several reasons, the first being its importance to the chickens themselves.The nesting box is the comfortable, safe area where the hen feels safe enough to relax in some shade and away from the light.
A general rule is to create nesting boxes on a ration of one for every three to five hens. When a hen is ready to lay an egg, she will search for that quiet, private place – something that is soothing and safe.  The nesting box fills this purpose and gives the chickens that safe, comfortable place to lay eggs.

Nesting boxes are not only beneficial to the chickens, but they are helpful for those folks who are raising chickens as well.Primarily, your chicken house will be organized, and the eggs are found in one area.Without any nesting boxes, your hens will roam about finding any place to lay its eggs.Then egg hunting becomes a reality rather than an Easter pasttime.Additionaly for the people raising chickens, having nesting boxes allows you to determine the freshness of eggs and simplifies egg collection.You can determine the freshness of certain eggs because of the order and time you collect your eggs from the nesting boxes.

So Now, How Do You Construct The Nesting Box?

Size is important to remember when making nesting boxes.In contrast to the chicken, it needs to be small so the hen feels safe and comfortable.However, you cannot make them so small that you can’t clean them.  A good sized nesting box is about one-foot square, but you can check with your local feed store or veterinarian for the breed of chickens that you are raising. 
For more on the design of the nesting boxes, read the rest of the article here for complete chicken house plans

When doing a blueprint for your chick coop construction project, remember that it can be a challenge to make the best chick coop. Just before that construction, read this article further. You might have several options like starting from scratch but you might opt to take a small chicken coop and alter the plans to be used as a coop by your chicks. Chicks however have different needs from the small chickens and adult ones. These requirements vary from those of mature chickens too. With the chicks hatching, they demand to be kept incubated. These are the days when they still have their down feathers. In this delicate stage, they need to be kept warm and dry, so remember these facts in mind always. 

Make it sure that there are many windows facing the sun during the morning.This will provide the natural source of warmth for the chicks. Because they will spend the first six weeks or so inside the coop, the chick coop must be constructed in a way that it must allow the chicks to remain warm, dry and secure. 

With the growing of full feathers, this signify that the chicks will need a run to go outside. Moreover, have the doors face the morning sun as chickens are morning creatures.  They love to be outdoors during the early part of the day and late afternoon. If possible, have the run in the shade in case the chicks desire to keep themselves cool during a hot weather. 

As a final tip, just verify that your plan included all the necessary requirements. You want to have all the materials and tools accessible to go before breaking ground on the coop.Never get to the middle of the project without getting hold of all the necessary tools. Read all the directions carefully and be guided by your chick coop construction plan, you will have more success if you just stick to what was planned.

Check out mychickenhouseplans.org for information on Chicken House Plans and designs.

For related topics to this posts, also check out Chicken Coop Designs Blog for more reference. Also see Plans Chicken Coop for related articles.

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

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