Do you want to build a chicken coop? Not too sure about your level of DIY skills? Having difficulty finding a starting point? Working to a limited budget? It's okay, believe it or not most people that choose to have chickens felt exactly the same when they started! Here are 5 ideas that should help to give you the confidence to at least make an educated start on your project and keep you making mistakes which could quickly turn your project into a bad dream. Tip 1 - Look: It may sound simple, but loads of people go and build a chicken coop without thinking of the end result and how it will look! If the design that you are working from does not have a picture then do a rough drawing based on the dimensions in the plan. Same applies if you are planning your own hen house. Sketch it first and then work your way back from there. ! Tip 2 - Design: The design of your coop will be the biggest aspect regarding whether you enjoy rearing hens and whether you get heaps of fresh eggs on a steady basis. When you build a chicken coop keep in mind that everything should be kept as basic as possible. If the eggs are difficult to gather because the doors release the wrong way or are too heavy, if the enclosure is difficult or too fussy to clean, if your girls do not have an adequate amount of light, air, roosts, nests or find getting to their food and watercdifficult then you are destined for disaster. Some down-to-earth measures to prevent problems consist of; * inclining the floor slightly to reduce puddling, * ensuring that the coop doors open outwards, * having egg collection doors by the nesting boxes so that you do not have to traipse through the coop to collect the eggs. Tip 3 - Safety: Your birds will want protection in two ways when you build a chicken coop 1. protection from the weather 2. protection from predators Protection from the weather. It may seem obvious to make sure that your coop is weather-proof, but have you considered how much protection they get from the run? If you have a run then covering it is unquestionably a fantastic thought as this will serve as shelter from the weather and other animals. Chickens function their best when they have a house that is kept at a reliably cozy temperature. Ventilation is in but drafts are absolutely out, so make sure that the windows and ventilation holes are positioned where they offer the most air with the least draft. Insulating the hutch is also a fantastic idea as this will help to keep it cool in sunny weather as well as warm in winter. Defense from predators. There are many other animals both feral and domestic that would like to have your chooks for dinner so keep in mind the defense of your chooks when you build a chicken coop. Other helpful tips like attaching a wire guard over the house windows and doors, putting lockable doors on the house, digging your run enclosure into the ground and covering your run are simple steps that you can take. Tip 4 - Site: The next most vital issue when you build a chicken coop is where you locate it. In a perfect world the location should be in the open, on free draining soil, if at all possible on a slight hill, and positioned so that it gets the maximum daylight with the smallest amount draft. It doesn't matter how nice-looking the site that you choose is, if you build a chicken coop in a basin, under trees and where it catches the most wind and least sun then your chickens will not be happy. Tip 5 - Get Well-informed There are loads of people who have spent thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours just trying to build a chicken coop. Depending on which article you glance at the average American is likely to spend somewhere between $250 - $500 constructing their own chicken coop. The huge shame is that according to the countless poultry farming forums on-line a lot of of these people are still not 100% pleased with their pen and tussle with it on a on a daily basis. A first-class plan will consist of ample light and air in your enclosure. It will be relaxing for your hens to lay in and easy for you to care for, scrub and gather the eggs from. It will also feature areas where you can conserve money on materials. Loads of people that build a chicken coop do so by 'trial and error', they throw away both time and money by erecting first and fixing up the blunders later, but by having the right plan when erecting your poultry house you will shortcut the route and make sure that you get it right first time - saving you both time and money.
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Don't fall into the traps that many new chicken farmers do when they build a chicken coop. By following a few simple rules you'll avoid these pitfalls and soon be gathering those fresh eggs, saving yourself money and loving the whole experience!
Fortunately there are a great selection of plans available for when you want to build a chicken coop that contains all the essentials with easy peasy step by step instructions. Click Here to find out how to make building a chicken house a breeze - In fact I bet it even makes your neighbors jealous and your eggs taste better!
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