subject: Design A Chicken Coop-Do It Yourself And Learn To Save Hundreds [print this page] Design A Chicken Coop-Do It Yourself And Learn To Save Hundreds
Learning to design a chicken coop is not as hard, or intimidating as it seems. It is actually quite simple if you have the right information and the right guide. It is something you can do. Not only will you be designing your own chicken coop, you will be saving yourself hundreds, and maybe thousands of dollars. To buy a pre-made coop can cost you up near one thousand dollars, and it comes in a flat box and requires you to put it together anyway. So why pay all the money just do it yourself anyway? Makes no sense. In this article you will learn a basic blueprint to design a chicken coop. First you need to figure out the following things:
A place for itp
How many hens you have or plan on getting
Size
Will it be portable or fixed
How to protect your chickens
What you are protecting it from
First after you figure out where you plan to build it you need to figure out the size,the type(fixed or portable), and protecting it.
Size
About 3 to 4 square feet per hen is optimum for chicken coops when the hens have access to an outdoor scratch yard or are allowed to free range outside for all or most of the day.
However, if the hens stay solely in the chicken coop and don't have outdoor access, they need more like 10 square feet each to live comfortably.
Portable or Fixed Coop
If you are having the chicken as more of a pet, then I would recommend designing a portable coop so that you can carry it with you wherever you go.
Protection
Make sure access to your coop is controlled. The easiest way to do this is to create a fenced-in "chicken run" outside of your coop. Although chicken wire is the normal means of fencing in a coop and run, pretty much any kind of wire fencing will do as long as the holes in it are not big enough for your chickens to get out or predators to get in.
