If you’re a veteran in the chicken industry, you know all about chicken coops. Making plans, selecting the construction materials, and choosing a location should come as second nature. After all, you’ve done this all before already…
Or you already have the chicken coop that you need, and it’s working mighty fine for you, so you don’t have to worry about anything else aside from keeping it clean, reinforcing any structural deterioration, and making sure it doesn’t look like an eyesore from the outside.
But chances are, you wouldn’t be reading this if you were a veteran. It would be pretty safe for me to assume that you’re here on a mission: to increase your knowledge of taking care of your chickens. So without further ado, let me give you some tips on how you can build your chicken coops.
Planning and building your coop is undoubtedly one of the longest and hardest phases of starting your backyard poultry farm. You will have to consider the materials you will be using and their compatibility with your location. The number of chickens you want to keep will be a factor as well.
Let’s face it, you’re basically planning a miniature house that you’re going to keep in your backyard. You want to make sure that it’s not too big, not too small, and not too ugly so that you won’t have to be ashamed of showing off your creation.
Chicken coop planners usually advise the newcomers to look through a wide variety of materials that they could use in building their structures.
There are plenty of choices, and it really depends on you, the builder. The budget-conscious will want to stick to materials that cost very little to procure, and will do very well with choosing wood as their base material. The problem with wood is that it is susceptible to warping, depending on the presence of humidity within the area.
Another good choice would be plywood, a fabricated sheet or panel of wood that solves the problem of warping and expansion. But – and this applies to wood as well – plywood is an organic material that rots easily.
Given the right circumstances and environment, any sort of wood will rot, and once that happens, you’re in for a major overhaul. It also won’t offer much in terms of protection to rodents.
These buggers will chew straight through your structure and compromise the interior of your chicken coop. Plan your construction well if you are thinking of building your coops with these two materials.
If you’ve got the time and the resources, though, build a concrete chicken coop yourself. These structures are strong, hardly giving the change of seasons any chance to wear down the insides of the coop.
It may take a while to build, and the structure might be pretty permanent, but a concrete chicken coop is a good investment; not only is it structurally sound and sturdy, it will also protect your chickens from a wide variety of threats, whether it be the elements or predators out on the prowl.
Inside the chicken coop, you will want to make sure that your chickens have enough space. Plan the chicken coop design in such a way that a chicken will have at least three feet of personal space for itself at any given time.
Ensure that there are ample windows for ventilation, but not too much so as to compromise the health of your chickens with a cold draft. Most builders draw chicken coop plans that depict windows facing the south so that sunlight is readily available.
Place your feeding and watering bins in strategic locations throughout the coop. Although water bins might be better off outside, especially if you have a coop made of perishable materials. The added humidity might be bad for both the chickens and the coop itself.
There are plenty of other tips on how to create a beautiful and functional chicken coop, but that’s going to be material for another day.
Stay tuned for more plans and ideas on building the perfect coop. And if you’re on your first attempt, remember: plan your way around the endeavor carefully, and you will never go wrong.
