Building a poultry coop does not have to be difficult! Everyone with simple do-it-yourself tools and a patch of land can do it! Using thoroughly tried and tested poultry cage plans is simply the best way to get started. Building a hen house without the proper plans will result in money, time and materials down the drain. Each chicken, to be happy and healthy and producing eggs consistently will need at least 4 square feet of living space. If there are too many in a small area they become str5essed tend not to lay eggs on a regular basis and also can more easily become ill.
A good first step is to make sure you have enough space to house your chickens comfortably. If your space is limited, you need to start from the area available and divide it by 4. This will give you the number of birds appropriate for your given space. For example, a run measuring 4 feet by 8 feet has an area of 32 square feet. Divide this by 4 32 / 4 = 8. So, you can see that Eight is the maximum number of chickens you could keep reasonably in a run of this size.
In your plans, always keep in mind the comfort of the chickens. In his excellent book, Bill Keene has done this! Anybody with basic do-it-yourself tools and a small garden area can follow his instructions. The plans are easy to understand and follow and the lists of materials and tools needed are very helpful. Keene also appreciates that the value of using recycled materials in your chicken house is both cheap and environmentally friendly. Keene encourages responsible husbandry - his reminder of tasks to be done weekly, monthly and sixth monthly should be replicated onto the calendar of any careful poultry keeper. The level of detail is just right, from a list of the color of the egg you might look forward to from your hens. If you follow his advice, your contented birds will produce lots of eggs..
For healthy and happy birds you must give them a good sized house with plenty of space The first thing to decide on before building work starts, is what number of hens you will be looking after. Good chicken house plans will also make sure that there is no congestion as an undersized crowded coop leads to bad results like diseases, pests and cannibalism. If your birds do not get enough air then they would be more likely to contract all kinds of sicknesses and diseases, they could even become weak and die prematurely.
Keeping eggs clean and free from excreta which is really is just good maintenance.
This means you will need to work out how to keep on top of the sanitation of the chicken coop as birds make plenty of droppings as well as eggs! With this in mind, it is vital to think how easy it wil be to access the coop for regular cleaning. You can make this simplier and easier by providing the coop with a small perch which chickens enjoy. You'll like it too because a tray or container can then be placed beneath the perch to catch the droppings which makes things easier. This is a good way to keep disease free perches.
Without a perch, proper upkeep of sanitation would become awkward because the birds would just leave their droppings anywhere. The best way is to ensure that you have a number of boxes or any other type of containers under the perches to collect the droppings.
This is why quality plans are essential as each and every one of these issues have been thought of already!
Each nesting box should have enough space for a maximum of six chickens. Make nesting boxes dark for best results. This makes the chicken feel comfortable and relaxed. Placing straw into the nesting boxes will stop your precious eggs from getting cracked or broken.
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