Wednesday, August 26, 2009

When picking Chicken House Plans keep your chickens health in mind.

When deciding on your chicken house plans make sure to choose a design that is easy to maintain and healthy for your chickens. Just like any pet your chickens have basic needs. They need food, water, a place to sleep, a nesting box, and an area to roam.

 

Now, let’s break these down.

 

Food and water. You’ll want to make sure that the feeder and water bowl are accessible for all your chickens. Keep it low enough for the small chickens but not so low that it is easily spilled.

 

Roosting place. The roosting place will need to give enough room for all the chickens to roost at night. You can use wooden poles or two by fours for this.

 

Nesting boxes. Nesting boxes should be easy for your chickens to get into and big enough to allow for comfort while sitting and laying eggs. Make sure your layout allows for plenty of room for the nest boxes when picking your chicken house plans.

 

Chicken run. A chicken run is the area of the coop that allows the chicken to go out of the chicken house and roam in the yard. It should give them plenty or room to peck and scratch. It should also be protected from predators.

 

Free range chickens are allowed to roam free without a wire coop to hold them. If it is safe to do so.

 

Make sure your chicken coop design is easy to clean to keep the ammonia smell down. This is a very big factor if you are building your chicken coop in a residential area or have neighbors close by. It also helps keep your chickens free from disease.

 

After all, no one wants to have the smell of chicken poop wafting around during a backyard barbeque.

 

These are just a few tips for your chicken house plans. If you want some great chicken coop plans and designs click here.

 

You also get a list of materials with each design to save you time and money. After all a happy chicken is a productive chicken.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Building Chicken Coops that are safe for Hens.

When building chicken coops you want to keep in mind the safety of your chickens. Many predators will see your chickens as an easy meal. There are steps you can take to protect your chickens from these vermin.

Building chicken coops that are hard for predators to get into.

Raise you hen house up off the ground. A couple of feet will do fine. This will deter animals from digging through the walls of your hen house. Also wrap the bottom area, (the couple feet you raised your hen house) with wire to keep predators from coming in through the floor.

Building chicken coops using thicker wire will protect your chickens better.

Use heavier rabbit wire rather than chicken wire to prevent animals from chewing through the wire and getting into your chicken run. Place wire over the top of your chicken run to keep hawks from swooping in on your chickens.

Use barriers when building chicken coops.

Place a barrier around the bottom edge of your chicken run. A one by ten board will do fine. Dig a trench around your chicken run where the wire will meet the ground and put the board into the trench, bury it and attach the top of the board to the bottom of your wire.

This will stop animals from digging under the wire.

Another tip when building chicken coops would be to put chicken wire under the eaves of your chicken coop to keep squirrels from neting in the eave of the hen house.

When it comes to snakes there are no sure fire ways to keep them from trying to get your eggs or baby chicks.

You can find great plans for building chicken coops by Clicking Here.