Chicken Coop Plans : Building A Chicken Coop » Blog

Why Raising Chicken Can Be A Fun Family Activity and Beneficial

chicken coops plans — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 14:03:57 +0000

A lot of people find raising chicken fun and a wonderful family activity, apart from being another source of income. Domestication of chicken largely for human consumption has greatly evolved and now new ways of raising chicken has been adopted to increase production.

Most people have different reasons why they want to raise chicken but a good percentage of them simply enjoy living the countryside life, the air, nature and taking care of animals. After all, life at the city means living amidst tall building, polluted air, frozen food and abnormal heat that usually comes from too much carbon dioxide.

Apart from the joy of simply raising chicken, this is also a great activity and bonding experience for the entire family. In addition, having poultry can give you a steady income, supply of eggs and chicken for your family’s consumption. So in a way, you will not just receive additional earnings but also getting food and huge savings.

So what are the other benefits of having backyard poultry aside from bonding with your kids or wife and generating additional income for your family? Well, raising your own chickens give you assurance that your eggs and meat are healthier and safer. A chicken that lives naturally and free to roam around a good environment can produce highly nutritious and flavorful eggs compared to those chickens that are feed with commercialized food.

Another reason that makes raising chicken ideal especially if you live on the countryside is the fact that chicken droppings is actually good for the soil, as they act as natural fertilizer. If you also have a garden nearby you can use the droppings to make the soil healthier so that your flowers will grow faster and healthy.

Moreover, chickens are easier to take care of rather than dogs or cats. For one, you do not have to bathe or take them for a walk like the usual household animals. All you have to do every day is to give them fresh waters, fed and most importantly to ensure that your coop is clean every day.

Imagine this, every day you and your kids can pick up the eggs in the morning, clean the coop and fed the chicken. It is a ritual that will surely be enjoyed by each and everyone and the memory will certainly last forever.

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How To Build A Green House In Your Backyard

chicken coops plans — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 05:31:03 +0000

Hope you are hard at gathering all relevant information about building your own chicken coop. Here is something new which you might be interested – Building A Green House in Your Backyard!

Your greenhouse is really, really special simply because it is your own to build, care for and use! No matter what you build it with it is guaranteed to bring you joy. Here, I think it would be good to go over some of the important considerations that could help you decide which greenhouse would be best for you. All the research you do would lead you to the very simple conclusion that a greenhouse that suits your pocket and fulfills your requirements would be the one you should opt for! >> Building Your Own Greenhouse

"A wonderful resource with handy tips, it answers all your questions…"

"…Whether you are a backyard gardening enthusiast or a commercial grower, it is indeed an alluring idea to have the freedom to choose what you wish to grow, in what quantity and when. With a host of modern facilities that help you optimize yield growing plants including vegetables, herbs, fruits and flowers in a greenhouse has evolved into a fascinating art based on the solid principles of science. This e-Book tells you everything about greenhouses from choosing the kind of structure that would suit you best to picking the appropriate utilities and plants. A wonderful resource with handy tips, it answers all your questions right from planning to setting up, preparing soil mix, choosing plants, irrigation, ventilation, heating and cooling, pest management, and harvesting." – Rachana

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Deciding On Your Chicken Coop

chicken coops plans — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 18:21:10 +0000

Building a chicken coop – re-use, buy or build?

Building Chicken Coop

Getting the right chicken coop is essential for your chicken's health, well being and safety. First you need to decide on the size (in order to accommodate the size of your flock). Then you need to determine the amount of laying boxes (depending on the amount of laying hens you have).

And finally, you'll need to ensure that your coop is fully secure from predators of the night, such as dogs, wolves and ferrets who can all dig, claw and chew their way past more than most people think.
When getting a chicken coop, you basically have three different options. You can either re-use, buy or build your own.

Re-using a chicken coop

There are many prebuilt structures you can consider instead of buying or building your own. An old dog house is a great example. However, you will still need to make adjustments, drill new holes, add more space and attach laying boxes in most cases.

Buying a chicken coop

Buying a chicken coop is a great option for saving a bit of time, and perfect for those who wouldn't know a hammer from a ham sandwich. There are plenty of prebuilt chicken coops available in a variety of sizes and features to meet your needs. The biggest drawback of buying a chicken coop is that you'll often be paying a lot of money that you really don't need to be, where the manufacturer puts their markup on the retail price, and uses materials that are really unneccesary. Buying a coop is usually left for the urban farmer with a small flock less rural areas.

Building your own chicken coop

The majority of chicken farmers will tend to want more flexability for their chickens. This means the ability to increase or decrease the coop size, add a run or widen the indside coop floor space for the winter periods.

That's why building your own chicken coop makes a lot more sense. Furthermore, it can be very economical and pretty straight forward with the right plans. You don't need fancy tools or a degree in carpentry in order to build a secure, spacious and modern looking chicken coop either.

Whichever method you choose, make sure that your chicken coop is both spacious and secure. Remember that wooden floors can easily rot, so consider building on a concrete base too.
Finally, don't forget to accomodate for laying hens adequately, with enough laying boxes and space for them to roost (and let's not forget, produce those delicious fresh eggs every morning without fail!).

Building A Chicken Coop

Building The Right Features For Your Chicken Coop

chicken coops plans — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 18:17:49 +0000

How to build the right features for your chicken coop

Chicken coops are extremely varied, with no real limit on the design, complexity and features some people will consider. Everything from a simple wooden hut with chicken wire fencing, through to elaborate dens with high security and fancy egg dispensers.

Either way, there's no need to spend a lot of money and frustration building the perfect chicken coop. Once you know how many chickens you're planning to farm, you'll have a good idea of the space required.
From there, you can go ahead and pick out the key features of the coop that will be suitable for your situation.

So, what features are right for you, your land and ultimately your chickens?

For suburban areas, security needs to be heavy. Not just because of predators, but because of escaping chickens too. You may also consider the look and design of the coop too, to better fit in with the surroundings.
Rural chicken farmers would likely be more concerned with space, practicality and again, security. Remember – dogs, wolves and other creatures of the night can dig fast, and be under that fence in just a few hours or less.

To make the coop secure, make sure you cover the top of the coop, even if it is a high fence. Furthermore, try to avoid traditional chicken wire as the holes are large enough for smaller predators to climb through and get a free lunch.

Also, make sure you bury the chicken wire fencing deep under the ground where the coop is situated. Try to do 12 inches into the ground to prevent those midnight diggers from massacring your flock.
Finally, make sure you are prepared for the eggs! Laying hens, which are very common for most domestic chicken owners and farmers, need adequate space when laying. You'll need around 4-5 boxes per hen.

You will also need to give laying hens space to roost, because that's what they like to do most! Roosting space should be around 6-10 inches per bird, and around 2 feet off the ground (the same applies for nest boxes). Finally, make sure the nes boxes are around 1 square foot in diameter to give each hen the space they need to cohabit.

How To Build The Right Size Chicken Coop

chicken coops plans — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 18:15:09 +0000

How to build the right size right chicken coop for your needs

When it comes to chicken coops, options are plentiful. Whether you decide to make something from scrap material for a small enclosed space, or buy a more expensive prebuilt coop for a large field, there's a few things you'll need to consider before getting started with your chicken coop.

First of all, you will need to consider the key features of the coop. These are the size, protection from predators, roosting poles, ventilation, and nest boxes.

Will your chickens be living full time in the coop, or have access to an outside run or wide open fields? Will you need a moveable coop that you can relocate easily whether moving home or making use of fresh ground?

Once you know the answers to this, you can decide on the square footage, based on the number of chickens you have or are planning to buy. It's always better to go for a larger coop, so that you have the option for your chickens to breed or buy in more at a later stage. However, prebuilt chicken coops are often more expensive and quite often, you'll be paying too much for materials.

The general rule is that chickens which have access to an outdoor run should have 2-3 square feet per bird inside the coop, and approx 4 square feet per bird in the run.

If your birds are going to be couped up all winter, you'll need more space inside the coop, at around 5-10 square feet per chicken. More space will also help prevent pecking and fighting problems too.

Chicken Coop Maintenance Tips

chicken coops plans — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 10:37:41 +0000

Maintaining Your Chicken Coop

What are the things you should pay attention to once your chicken coop is up and running? What maintenance should you concentrate on for your chicken coop to ensure that your chicken house remains in tip-top condition?

These could be endless but here are some tips your can consider: