subject: How To Keep Chicks Warm And Cozy - Building Your Coop The Right Way [print this page] Raising your chicks can result in many great factors. You can provide eggs and meat for your family as well as fertilizer for your garden. Chicks need appropriate housing. You can build a coop to keep your chicks warm and cozy even if you are not a carpenter. You do not need over-complicated building plans but you must however meet the basic needs of your chicks so they will be healthy and happy.
Place the chicken coop in a high spot
The first steps in ensuring your chicks are warm and cozy is placing the coop in a high spot. You want to ensure that their yard will not accumulate puddles during heavy rains. Before you begin building your coop for your chicks, look around your property to see what you already have available to place your chicks in. If you do not have an appropriate building, look for scrap lumber or plywood. If you do not have these things readily available on your property, you must purchase these materials in building your chicken coop.
You will need chicken wire and fencing
Additional materials you will need are chicken wire and fencing to enclose your chicken coop. Another type of material which you will need to ensure warmth for your chicks is straw. You will want to slope the roof of your chicken coop which will not allow the rain to run directly over the door.
Perches and nest boxes
Place perches and nest boxes along the walls of your chicken coop. These will need to be approximately four feet off the ground. Fill them with lots of straw which will aid in keeping your chicks warm and cozy.
Installation of heat sources for your chicken coop
You will need to install a heat source into your chicken coop. You can utilize a one hundred watt bulb in a reflective clamp style lamp. You can purchase this from a hardware store. Your chicks need the warmth consistently throughout the day and night.
Summary
The heat source which you utilize should be on one side of the chicken coop which will allow your chicks a range of temperatures. Your chicks will let you know if it's too cold or too warm for they will peep very loudly. Pay attention to your chicks for if they are literally smothering each other under the heat, this means that you need to add more heat to the chicken coop.
