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.


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