Building a Chicken Coop - Tips to Keep in Mind

Are you thinking about building a chicken coop? That's a great idea, because it's as easy as ever before to make your own coop. With careful planning you can learn how to build a coop that will be there for you to enjoy for many years to come.

Think about what size of hen house you will need. The absolute minimum should be 3-4 square feet per bird. Anything less and your pet chickens will have too little of space. If you are thinking about housing larger types of poultry in your coop, you will of course need to allot more space per bird. Also remember that you will need some space for a waterer and a feeder, so don't go too low on your calculations. If you don't have enough space for building a larger chicken coop you should rather get fewer chickens rather than overcrowding your coop. Giving your chickens enough space will keep them happy and healthy. This will also give you more eggs, chickens that are forced to living in confided coops produce fewer eggs.

Your chickens need the sunlight! When you build a coop for your chickens, make sure to position it so that it faces the sun as much as possible. Also, if you live in a very rainy climate you need to take care that the coop is well protected from rain and wind. Make sure that your hen house can't be flooded if you get a lot of rain. One way of doing this is to build your chicken coop on a higher area of your property. In any case, the spot you picked needs to be properly landscaped to ensure better durability.

Slope the floor towards the door. This way it will be easier for you to clean the coop by spraying it out without flooding the building.

Furthermore, the basic idea of building a chicken coop is to make it as easy as possible for you to enter the coop and to make it as difficult as possible for predators to get to your chickens. So you will have to do some planning on where to place fencing and how high it has to be. Don't forget predators that may dig their way into your hen house. A proper chicken coop plan and careful planning will help you eliminate most of the risk right from the start. A well thought out construction plan will ensure that your efforts pay off.