How To Build A Chicken Coop

The choice to keep and raise chickens necessitate the need for adequate housing, so one may want to learn how to build a chicken coop. There are a number of aspects which must be featured in a coop in order to maintain one’s flock and keep them safe. Nests will also need to be roomy enough to allow for the hens to lay their eggs, and it is highly suggested to offer the chickens a covered and enclosed pecking area.

How To Build A Chicken Coop

When looking to learn how to build a chicken coop it is rather simple. One of the more important aspects to keep in mind when building your own coop is how to disinfect and clean the coop. It is best if the floors and walls are constructed of a material that can be hosed down. Hosing the interior down will be quicker and easier than having to scrub the coop every couple of days.

It is important to remember that the interior of the coop must be kept in sanitary condition. If the chickens are living in dirty accomodations they can get sick. If the chickens get sick the quality of the eggs they produce will be less than desired, and may even get the people who eat them sick.

Roosts are also a good idea when planning how to build a chicken coop. Roosts will allow the birds time to get out of the nesting boxes but still remain in a safe atmosphere. The roosts should not be more than 18 inches from the floor. If they are too high up the cickens can get harmed when trying to access them. If the roosts are to low to the floor, the chickens can trip over them or spend way too much time on them making them a hazard to the production of eggs and the water supplies.

Nesting boxes are another consideration that needs to be planned out correctly when deciding how to build a chicken coop. A typical chicken nest for laying eggs is approximately 18 inches wide and 12 inches tall. There are sections between the actual nests to avoid hen fights and to keep the nests separated. When making plans for your chicken coop, remember that for every two chickens there should be one nest. Chickens do not always lay their eggs at the same time, so the two to one ratio is a suggested nest count.

Make sure that the chicken coop is properly ventilated. Chickens can get sick when humidity rises in the coop. The smell from the chicken droppings can also become quite pungent if the coop is always closed up. A good ventilation fan can be used, or one can plan for a couple of windows in the coop when planning how to build a chicken coop.

How To Build A Chicken Coop – Conclusion

If the individual does not desire to plan and draw up their own blueprints for a coop, there are many available at home and farm stores and online. However one chooses to go, detailed plans will make the job easier when engaging in how to build a chicken coop.

Tags: nesting boxes, how to build a chicken coop, birds time, 12 inches, actual nests