Sunday, March 28, 2010

Get the Most Out of Your Chicken Housing Plans

There are chicken housing plans designed to make your DIY project successful. Chicken breeders are opting to build their own chicken coops instead of buying due to the costs. If you're looking to build your own chicken structure, here are 3 tips to help you build the right house for your needs.

First you should determine the size of the chicken coop you need and choose the appropriate chicken housing plans. You should build a chicken house large enough to accommodate the number of chickens you plan to raise, and not necessarily the number of birds you have on hand. Chickens need ample space to roam so you should plan about 10 square feet per chicken. The size of your structure will also depend on the size of your yard.

Not only should your chicken housing plans provide room for your chickens, it should provide space for you to perform maintenance, feeding, and egg collection. Your chicken coop will need to be cleaned periodically; therefore you will need to access the structure comfortably. You will need room to feed the birds and clean out their nesting boxes. The floors may get muddy so you will need to be able to clean that area.

After building your chicken house, you will need to protect your chickens from predators such as skunks and other rodents. A good set of chicken housing plans should account for protection. A simple way to keep predators out is to set up chicken wire around the structure. This wire fence should be about a foot deep into the ground to prevent from digging underneath.

Chicken pen plans will make your DIY project run smoothly. To get the most out of these plans, you need to pick the best blueprint to fit your needs and resources. The aforementioned tips should help you started in the right direction.


Sunday, March 7, 2010

Poultry House Construction - Things You Should Know


Poultry house construction is not as difficult as it may sound. If you're going to tackle this project, it is a good idea to have a plan. A good plan allows people with minimal carpentry skills to build a chicken coop at the fraction of the cost of a prefabricated structure. Before you start this project, here are some things you need to know.

Know Your Plan

You should have a plan written on paper. You need to know what size and dimensions of your house. You need to know if you want a static or movable structure. What type of design do you want? These are all questions that should be answered before getting started. By having your project planned, you can precut and label your materials to make building a breeze.

Know Your Neighborhood

What does this have to do with poultry house construction? First, you may need to check with your local township to see if it is legal to have a chicken coop. This may not be an issue in rural areas but you may need to construct your house in a way that is eye pleasing to your neighbors. You may think that bright
orange coop is cute but your neighbors may think otherwise.

Know Your Chickens

It would help if you knew a thing or two about raising chickens. You want to keep them healthy so you will need to construct your chicken coop so they'll be comfortable in all types of weather conditions. You'll want to have the windows facing in a direction where they can get sunlight during the day. Your structure should have proper ventilation and climate control. Also, you need to protect you animals from skunks and rodents.
Poultry house construction can be a fun way to spend a weekend while saving a lot of money. Having good plans will make your project run smooth. A person with minimal carpentry skill can produce a well built chicken coop provided they have a great chicken pen plans.

Ideas for Hen House Designs

A great set of hen house designs eliminate a lot of frustration and leave you enough time to enjoy the rest of your weekend. You may ask why not buy a pre-made chicken coop? If you shopped around for a prefabricated coop, you may have noticed these structures can run anywhere from $500-$1000. If you cringe at the thought of spending that amount of money, you should consider building your own. The great thing about this project is that it doesn't require specialized tools or advanced carpentry skills.

Good hen house designs should address a few areas other than the outward appearance of the coop. It's one thing to build the chicken coop, it's another thing to maintain the structure and care for your hens once it is built. There are few things you should take into consideration.

What size chicken coop do you need? This will be determined by number of chickens you plan to raise. You can fit 5-7 hens into a small hen house. If you plan to have more hens, you will need a medium or large coop. Chickens need sunlight to be productive during the day. You will need to position the house where the sun can shine through the windows during the day. The window should not be obstructed by large trees in the yard.

The hen house designs should also address proper ventilation and climate control. You need to be able to keep your hens warm in the winter, cool in the summer, and dry in the rain. You should plan to have windows that open and close as needed.

The coop should be constructed in a way that you can properly maintain and clean it. A good start would be to elevate the structure from the ground to prevent it from sitting in wet soil. You should be able access the feeding areas without too much difficulty.

There are many things to consider when raising hens. A good set of hen house designs should address each area you need to consider. Good step by step chicken pen plans are critical especially if this is your first time building a chicken coop. It will save you a lot of time, frustration and money.


Thursday, March 4, 2010

Backyard Hen Houses You Can Build Yourself

http://easychickenpenplans.blogspot.comIf you're interested in raising chickens, you may want to consider building your own backyard hen houses. Taking on this task has many advantages. You can design these hen houses based on your specific needs and the cost will be much cheaper than buying a prefabricated house and its associated transportation costs. With careful planning, this project is easier than many would think. Before starting this project, you need to take a few things into consideration.

City or Township Ordinances
Before you start building your backyard hen houses, you should check the ordinances of your town. It would be a shame to build a beautiful hen house only to find out that it doesn't comply with the laws of your town. Also, is this structure visible in the neighborhood and would your neighbors approve?

How Many Chickens are You Planning to Raise
This will determine the size of the chicken coop you need to build. If you're only going to have one or two chickens, a small coop would suffice. If you are looking to raise 5 or more, you should consider building medium or large sized hen houses.

Ventilation and Climate Control
If you live in an area where you see drastic changes in climate, you need to design your backyard hen houses with the proper ventilation in hot weather and enough warmth in the cold winter months. Sliding windows and doors can help control your climate. Without proper ventilation, your chickens can get sick and won't produce quality eggs.

Protection
Your hen house should provide protection against raccoons, skunks, and other predators. The best way to do this is to install chicken wire around the hen houses about a foot deep to prevent animals from digging underneath.

These are a few things to take into consideration when building your backyard hen houses. With easy to follow chicken pen plans, you can easily construct a chicken coop.


Building Chicken Coops Can Be So Simple with the Right Plans

If you think building chicken coops is too much of a hassle, think again. Building your own chicken coop can be an easy task if you have good plans. Most good plans only require tools you probably already have and materials that can be obtained in your local area. Most premade coops will cost at least $500 and you'll probably have to pay more to transport the coop to your backyard.

Before you start building chicken coops, you should take a few things into consideration. First, you should have a plan on paper. You should have an idea how you would like to design your chicken coop. What size coop do you need? What color would you like to paint it? You also need to consider your neighborhood. Will your design be a distraction to your neighbors?

Another consideration before building chicken coops is the cleaning and maintenance. The building materials should be easy to clean to prevent the spread of disease among your chicken. The design should allow to you to access all the areas that need cleaning and maintenance. It is advised that the coop should be elevated to protect it from damp soil.

Your chicken coop should protect from all the weather elements. If you live in an area with hot summers and cold winters, your design should address these climate changes. The window and doors should be able to open and close. You can also position the coop to allow heating and natural light from the sun.

Many people have had success building chicken coops when equipped with good chicken pen plans. With careful planning, you can build a coop that will protect your chickens from the elements and keep them comfortable in the changing climates.

Easy Hen House Plans that Will Save You Money

Anyone with good hen house plans can build their own structure right in their own backyard. If this is your first time raising chickens, you will need to decide whether to buy or build your own hen house. Buying your own chicken coop involves less work but will cost much more than building your own. You can expect to pay at least $500 for a hen house. If have good hen house plans, you can build your coop for only the cost of the materials which you should be able to find at any home improvement store.
Having step by step hen house plans is strongly recommended if you decide to take on this project. It will save you a lot of frustration and remind you of things you need to take into consideration. A good plan will address the following areas.
First you need to plan the aesthetics of your coop. This is how your hen house will look from the outside. You need to plan the color and design. If you live in an area where hen houses are not prominent, you may need to ensure the design and color is pleasing to your neighborhood.
Good chicken pen plans need to address functional aspects of your chicken coop. Size is in an important factor. The more chickens you plan to raise, the larger the structure needs to be. Small houses accommodate 5-7 chickens, medium 8-12, and large 16-24.
Climate control is another issue your hen house plans need to address. You need to keep you chickens warm in the winter, cool in the summer, and dry in the rain. A well built chicken coop will protect against all these elements.
You also need to build protection for your chickens. Animals such as skunks, raccoons, and other rodent may try to harm your animals. The best protection is to surround your hen house with chicken wire buried about a foot deep to prevent animals from digging underneath.