Chicken House Plan - A Smart Step Towards Self - Sufficiency.Get A Chicken!!!

CheckLists can save your bacon, save your money, save lives for you, and make you look good. Checklists help you Focus!!! Make your checklist now. He who fails to plan , plans to fail .Planning is the key to building a Chicken House successfully. Necessary measures will depend upon your individual situation. What is important is that you plan before emergencies do occur. If you can answer the following questions confidently then go ahead . There is no stopping you now.

1. How many hens am I going to raise ?


2. What breed am I going to raise?


3. Will it suit my life-style?


4. Will I be able to spend quality time with the chickens?


5. Do I have adequate space and the right location ?


6. Are there any city laws to be considered ?Have I considered them?


7. Are there any predators[ cats , dogs , foxes ] dwelling in your area ?

Depending on your need you can choose to build any one of the following designs . The size of your Chicken House is directly proportional to the number of chickens you are planning to raise.

Small Chicken Houses : The name says it all. Small Chicken Houses are for those planning to keep few chickens . It's less expensive and easier to maintain . For those with space constraints I would recommend the humble, small Chicken House .

Medium Coop: Medium sized coops having 5 to 10 chickens are meant for those starting with a smaller number of birds but planning to increase the number in the long run.

Large Coops : If you plan to raise and breed a large number of chickens then the large sized Chicken House is for you. Your chickens will love you for giving them ample space to move about. Additional space means higher yield of eggs for you . Limited budget might not work well with this design for it will be a little pricey.

Wooden Arks : It is also known as the Chicken Tractor. Its a Portable Chicken Coop without a floor. If predators are not much of a problem and space is not a constraint then a wooden ark is just for you. It can house from 2 to 4 chickens.

Eglus : A 21st-century plastic henhouse for urban gardens , the eglu is now most sought after by Modernists. A complete redefinition and make-over to the classic stationary Chicken House. It is so compact housing two chickens , with a fox and badger-proof Chicken run , designer feedholders , sunshade and a privacy screen while nesting [ How chic is that ? ].

If space and mobility are your constraints then the Mobile Chicken House is for you . With the stationery model there are problems that one can easily overlook and later on regret. The manure of chickens has a relatively high content of nitrogen and tends to saturate the surrounding atmosphere with nitrogen and pathogens in a short while. It creates a bitter-tasting forage that is unpalatable to the flock.

To combat these weaknesses, use light range shelters that can be moved by hand or tractor each day, so that the flock also moves to fresh ground. This keeps the birds away from yesterday's vegetation regrowth and stimulates forage ingestion by the poultry. .

Benefits of A Mobile Chicken House :

1. Less expensive than the stationary Chicken House


2. Cleaning and Maintenance becomes easier


3. Monitoring becomes easier


4. Protection during bad weather


5. Easy to relocate - Especially for people who lead a nomadic life


6. Light weight

Do you know how to keep your Chickens clucking happily ? Well love your chickens as you love yourselves and you will be blessed with eggs and a happy flock. Sketch your Chicken House plan and consider it in all angles . Spending ample time with your design is the key to making the Chicken House an ideal one.

1. The Chicken House Plan should include space for => Roosts , Nesting Boxes , Water and Feed.



2. The Chicken House should be draft free but with adequate ventilation and light . Chickens do not eat in the dark. It also takes skill to protect chickens from the elements - not every day is 70 degrees with an azure sky and wispy breeze. The shelters must be designed to shut tight for cold days, and have plenty of ventilation for hot days. During flooding, put out hay bales for the chickens to perch on.



3. Make the house predator safe . Predators generally include snakes , rodents , foxes , dogs and cats .The two points of vulnerability are : predators and weather. Every Chicken Farmer has experienced losses from these and combats them in various ways. Some have guard animals who live with or near the Chicken House. Dogs can be bonded to the birds and protect them from foxes and coyotes. Some folks use geese to dissuade aerial predators. Tight shelters help.
   



4. A perch for your chicken house will do them good. Placing a tray beneath the perch will collect all the droppings making the Chicken House easier to clean.



5. Vegetation in the surrounding will make it more pleasing to the chickens.



6. Make place for a chicken run and build a shade.

Half-way through it wouldn't be very exciting to find some crucial materials missing . Get all your homework done even before you begin.

Housing bought from a reputable manufacturer meeting all the basic principles then that may be the quickest and easiest method of housing your chickens. If you wish to make housing yourself, keep to the basic principles and remember not to make it heavy as you may want to move it either regularly or at some stage if it is not permanent.

REMEMBER : Make the access as easy as possible for you to get in to clean, catch birds, or collect eggs. Occasionally, second-hand housing becomes available. Beware of disease, rotten timber, and inability to transport in sectional form.My Favorite Website has all that you need to begin planning your Chicken House today .

After you've made the decision to buy a chicken coop, then the next step you need to consider is where you intend to position it, and on what. You want to keep in mind that if you live in colder climates you'll want to keep the chicken coop warm and protected, but yet still allow for a good amount of ventilation.

Chickens, just like humans, require a constant supply of fresh air, so you need to position the coop with this in mind. It's vital that your chickens live in a comfortable temperature, and get adequate light. A good tip to remember is to face any windows of the hen house in a southerly direction as this will allow for the most light through the day into the coop.Many people also don't consider on what the coop should be placed.

Typically there are four common choices.

On a bare patch of soil : The advantage to placing the coop just on the ground is price - it doesn't come much cheaper. If you do choose to do this , be extra sure that it's packed down as firmly as possible as if it isn't rainwater can break it up and you'll have quite the mess on your hands. On the cons side, one issue that often occurs with dirt is that it's more susceptible to rodents, so if you know you already have rodent issues, you may want to lean away from using this type of ground. Finally, it's not going to provide all that much insulin in the colder winter months, so assess your climate before making the decision to use this type of ground.

Concrete is a good choice for those who are really looking to set up a permanent coop and want it to be heavy-duty. Concrete is going to be your most expensive option by far, but you won't experience many of the problems with it as you would with other building materials. One of the best parts about a concrete floor is that it will be very easy to clean, making maintenance of your coop that much easier.

Another fairly popular option is a Wood floor, which has the benefit of being relatively cost effective and easier to clean than an earth floor. The downside to wood is that it can begin to rot, particularly if you have a lot of moisture in the ground or get a lot of rain through the year. Wood is also not rodent proof, meaning that you may start to experience problems with this as well.The final nice thing about wood is that it's relatively easy to install as the flooring, so your coop shouldn't take all that long to build.

Finally Straw or other Lightweight Flooring such as grass clippings or sawdust is the last option to think about when you come to position your chicken coop. Again these are relatively cost-effective solutions for those who do not want to pay the money that's required to build a concrete floor. Another additional plus with straw is that it makes for easy clean-up if you just opt to replace the straw (obviously you will have the earth flooring underneath).

So, keep these options in mind as you go about planning for your chicken coop. Assessing the above factors before you buy your chicken coop will be critical to ensure that you are buying the right kind of chicken coop to meet your needs.

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