If you have taken the decision it is time to start building your own chicken house, there are few things you have to keep in mind before you start. It is much better to get through your plans to build a chicken house once again, just to insure everything is in place. This will prevent you from making mistakes that later would cost you many hours of additional work.
1. Size is very important
Size is probably the single most important factor, that you should examine one more time before you start building your chicken house. It is your obligation to make sure your chicken house will be spacious enough for your chickens.
You should provide your flock with at least 3 to 5 square feet per every chicken. If you wonder how big your chicken house should exactly be, you have to establish the breed of your bird and then choose the minimal space required for its size.
The last tip I have on this matter is building your chicken house bigger than what you need. This is a wise thing to do, because more space won’t hurt you and if your chickens will grow bigger, or you will want to get more of them your already build chicken house won’t require costly modifications.
2. Protection from weather conditions
The second thing you have to take care before you build a chicken house is protecting your chickens from harsh weather conditions. This includes, rains, strong winds, low temperatures etc.
The basic action to insure your flock is safe and happy is making your chicken house waterproof. It means you have to make the roof, floor, windows and all the other parts of the coop resistant to water.
As to protection from the winds, you have to make sure your construction is durable and heavy enough to withhold them. Making a chicken house that is too light will allow a stronger gust to destroy or at least throw your chicken house around.
As to protection from low temperatures, if you live in a cold climate you have to install some kind of insulation. This will make sure your chickens won’t suffer from cold.
3. Create easy access points
You should choose a chicken house plan that has a lot of handy access points, for your own sake. It will allow you to clean your chicken house much easier as well as collect the eggs without too much effort.
4. Give your chickens some fresh air
The forth thing you have to think about before you begin building your chicken house are windows. You have to provide enough sunlight into your coop, which by the way, is very important for proper health of your flock. Windows are also sources of fresh air, which as you may realize is crucial to remain healthy.
Design your chicken house in a way that prevents drafts inside of it. Too much air flow may make your chickens sick and that is something you would like to avoid.
5. Protect your chickens from predators
You should keep in mind that your chickens are a tasty prey for many animals that live in your environment. That is why you should always provide enough protection for your birds, or some day they will be gone.
Plan a fence before building a chicken house and use durable materials that will withhold attacks of larger aggressors. The other thing you should do is dig some of the fence of your chicken run into the ground to protect your flock from predators that would like to dig underneath it.
Above you have a list of some of the most common mistakes people make building a chicken house. Make sure your chicken house plan is up to job, before you start banging nails and cutting wood. This will help you to avoid a lot of problems later.
