Chicken House Plans

Chicken House Ventilation – Plan Well Ventilated Coop

Chicken_House_Ventilation There are many factors to a well planned chicken house and one of the most important is ventilation. Chickens produce a lot of moisture, ammonia and heat. Without proper air circulation in your coop they may get sick or even die. Below you have 3 reasons why you should spend more time on this issue.

1. It removes dampness and humidity.
If you supply your chicken house plan with good ventilation sources, it will help to decrease the humidity and dumpiness in it. The air in your coop gets moist because your hens are constantly breathing out water vapor. This is a natural process and the same principle applies to humans. Just try breathing on a window or a mirror, and it will fog up. If you live in a very cold climate and interior of your chicken house is very humid, your chickens may suffer from frostbite and respiratory diseases.

2. It removes ammonia fumes.
As you may have notice chickens do not pee, they only poo. Their poo contains a high concentration of uric acid, which helps them to save water. However, uric acid left in contact with oxygen transforms into ammonia – a highly toxic substance that is dangerous for health of your chickens.

3. Temperature control in summer.
This reason to include ventilation inside your chicken house plan is quite obvious but, it is still worth mentioning. Providing enough fresh, cold air will help to decrease the temperatures inside your coop. If you expose your chickens to temperature over 90 degrees of Fahrenheit, there is a great probability your chickens will start to experience serious health problems. And if the heat keeps raising, they may die.

How to ventilate your chicken house

1. Passive Ventilation
Passive ventilation is the most natural and effective type of ventilation for a small chicken house plan. This method is cheap and easy to implement. All you need are some holes, a window or a special ventilation slot. This method takes advantage of the natural tendency of hot air to rise as well as winds.

2. Mechanical Ventilation
Next method you can use to ventilate your chicken house plan is by including mechanical devices that will suck the air out of your coop. It is the best solution if you plan on build a very large construction that, will have to accommodate many chickens.

Right about now you should be wondering how much ventilation does your chicken house plan need. The answer is simple, as much as you can provide. Chickens can withhold very low temperatures so you don’t have to worry about that. My advice is to cut as many holes in your coop as you can, preferably ones that will be easy to cover when the temperatures get a bit too low.

Another thing you should avoid are drafts. You want fresh air not wind gusts aimed at your chickens. Therefore, it is a good idea to build ventilation holes that can be easily covered if there is a need for it.

Chicken House Plans – Chicken House Building Plans

chicken_house_building_plans Many people decide to face the task of planning their own chicken house. However, their lack of experience and knowledge quickly shows that this task is not as easy as most of them think. There are many variables and important problems you have to address before drawing the first line.

I like no other person understand that. Even though, my first chicken house was built using ready made plans, since then I’ve gained a lot of information and experience in this topic. That is why I’ve decided to write this article, which will be a guide for people who are just starting out.

Location, location, location…

If you want your chicken house plan to be accepted and liked by your chickens, you have to choose the right place to build it. This is very important as even the pretties and well thought through coop won’t be worth a red cent, unless he is located on a safe and even piece of land.

You have to consider things like the kind of soil and climate you have at your disposal. If it rains a lot throughout the year in your area, it is a good idea to elevate your chicken house from the ground a bit. This will prevent flooding. Furthermore, if the soil in your backyard is too soft, house may be sinking into the ground with time under the weight of the chickens and the coop.

You should always pay attention to things like this, in order to avoid unpleasant surprises after a short period of time.

Choose the right size

Size is another very important factor when it comes to building a comfortable chicken house. The last thing you want is a chicken house plan that is too small to hold all of your chickens. That is why you have to create a very detailed blueprint that will allow you to insure everyone of your chickens has enough space to live.

Another thing you need to remember is that you will have to include many accessories like waterers etc. Always make sure they fit your chicken house or else, you will be forced to make many last minute changes and that is the sure fire way to make mistakes.

Build great windows

Light is a very important thing for chickens as their entire day depends on it. Failing to locate windows of appropriate size, will cause your chickens to feel weird and lay eggs during wrong hours.

You should also remember that windows are responsible for ventilation in your chicken house, so placing them wrong may cause drafts or lack of fresh air. Both are wrong, and you have to make sure they aren’t present in your chicken house plan.

Add the chicken run and fence

Your chickens require regular exercise, this need can be easily met by building a chicken run. It doesn’t have to be anything special, just make sure it is large enough, and you protect it with a fence.

Fence is critical to protect your chickens from predators. Don’t get fooled by thinking that natural enemies of chicken are absent in your neighborhood. You simple haven’t seen them yet.

As you can see there are a lot of things you have to remember about while planning your chicken house. That is the exact reason why, I’ve decided to acquire professionally designed chicken house building plans during my first construction. This way I’ve avoided many hassles and made sure my chickens were living in the right environment.

Chicken Tractor Plans – Build A Chicken Tractor

Chicken_Tractor_Plans Chicken tractor plans are very popular among people with large gardens. This simple construction is ideal if you want to limit the amount of feed required per chicken as well as make your flock feel more “natural.” But what is a chicken tractor? It is simply a chicken house that has no floor and is mobile.

Because of that perks, you can move it around supplying your chickens with fresh grass and bugs they love. The other quality of a backyard chicken tractor is the ease at which it can be built. All the characteristics above make this chicken house plan ideal choice for people who would like to let their birds run around freely but can’t, because of their neighbors gardens. All right, now lets dive into all the qualities of good chicken tractor plans.

Is it really mobile?

Chicken tractor has to be mobile. The thing is, how mobile you want it. There are two options when it comes to the ease of transportation, you can either build a very light weight construction you just pick up and put somewhere else or install wheels that help during the process. The option you choose depends on how you will be using it.

If you plan on changing the position very often, you should go with a light weight construction. It will be easier to handle in the long run. On the other hand, if you want to move your mobile chicken tractor once a week, you can invest in more stable but heavier construction on wheels. They are usually harder to move, that is why you need wheels.

Does it protect your chickens?

The biggest issue with chicken tractor plans is the fact they do not provide adequate protection from both predators and bad weather conditions. Their biggest disadvantage is their light weight, as you may suspect, building your chicken tractor too light will make it vulnerable to stronger winds and bigger predators who can flip it over with a bit of effort. It applies especially to small chicken tractors.

Choosing the right weight for your chicken tractor is an art. It should be light enough so you don’t have trouble carrying it, but in the same time heavy so it remains stable. The only advice I can give you is, build it as heavy as you can. You can also use tent pegs to make it more stable during storms and harder to flip over.

The last thing you have to do is surround the area where your chicken tractor is with a fence. It is a good idea to dig the fence 15 inches into the ground so none animals will get under it. This should be enough to protect your chicken tractor from various dangerous predators.

Some important design tips.

You should make your chicken tractor well ventilated. However, it is important to avoid creating drafts inside. The other thing you should keep in mind while choosing the right chicken tractor plan are windows. Chickens require a lot of light, especially in the mornings so you have to supply it. Remember that your windows should face the direction at which the sun rises.

Your chicken tractor should have appropriate size for your flock. You should supply around 4 square feet for each chicken. This way you will avoid many problems caused by lack of space like, aggression and disease spreading.

As you see, good chicken tractor plans have to take into account many factors. It isn’t just about the good looks, this will be the place where your chickens will spend time, and you have to make it as cozy and comfortable for them as you only can.

Chicken House Plans

Chicken House Ventilation – Plan Well Ventilated Coop

Chicken House Plans – Chicken House Building Plans

Chicken Tractor Plans – Build A Chicken Tractor

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