Follow these 3 easy steps to help you build your very own chicken coop
Build a safe and pleasant looking chicken coop for your chooks with the following 3 steps.
1. Build A Safe Haven For Your Chooks
Your chickens need all the protection they can get. They need a shelter from marauding predators and at the same time a place where they can rest and be safe in times of rain, heat and cold weather. First, you must consider location – build a chicken coop in an elevated, well-ventilated area, free from moisture so that the coop dry quicker in the event that it gets wet. Ensure that there is adequate fencing around and even under the coop if there is a risk of burrowing predators like foxes.
2. Ensure it Can be Easily Cleaned and Maintained
The chicken coop must be built in such a way as to allow regular cleaning and maintenance. This is important to prevent disease and illness to ensure your chickens are healthy and laying to it’s full potential. Clean is required at least once every 3 months and so it helps to keep this in mind when building the chicken coop.
One way of making your life easier is to design the chicken coop floor with a low angled slope to allow cleaning water and disinfectants to drain quickly with gravity. Having a sloping rooftop in a similar way also ensures that rain water runs easily down the sloping rooftop preventing water from pooling and leaking into the living quarter.
3. Always Maintain A Bright and Warm Chicken Coop
Adequate sun light and ventilation and warmth in a chicken coop is essential for healthy chickens. This is especially important in the colder months as your chickens are essentially exposed outdoors. Insulate your chicken coop walls using thick construction materials and build the living quarter so that it is in an elevated position above the ground. This will help to shield the chickens from the cold wind and wet and cold earth whilst at the same time trap warm heat inside. Windows are also useful as it allows heat from the sun to penetrate heating up the room.
There you have it, 3 key points to remember when building your chicken coop. Plan ahead, do some research, draw out your plans, involve others and have fun building something you all can be proud of, your very own chicken coop.
If you are looking for ready made chicken coops instead, visit Howie Kingsly’s guide on how to find chicken coops for sale and find a cheap chicken coop.
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