Wednesday, April 7, 2010

The Chicken Pen Building Tips

Almost anyone can learn how to build a chicken pen if they follow good chicken pen plans that outlines the process step by step. If you're looking to build a chicken coop, you probably already discovered the high cost of buying a new structure. Building your own chicken house is a cheaper alternative and isn't very difficult.


Determine the Size of Your Coop

This decision is largely influenced by the number of chickens you plan to raise and the space in your yard. If you are just raising a few chickens, a small chicken coop should be sufficient. You also need to think if you want to build a chicken pen that will occupy a large portion of your yard.


Find the Plan That Fits

Once you determined the size and design of your coop, you need to find a blueprint that fits your needs. You don't want to spend time building your chicken coop only to discover you need windows that face the south on order to allow maximum sunlight. A good blue print will also account for proper ventilation and climate control.

Gather Your Materials

Your plan should outline the materials you need. Before you begin to build a chicken pen, you need to get these materials from your local hardware store. Getting your material precut and labeled can make your project more efficient. You might want to have some extra material on hand in case you make a mistake.
After these 3 steps, the only thing left to do is to build your structure. This project can seem overwhelming if you never done anything like this before. A good set of plans will make this process a lot easier. Once you realize your cost savings, you'll be glad you learned how to build a chicken pen.

Monday, April 5, 2010

Build Your Coop Anywhere with Chicken Tractor Plans

There are many styles of chicken coops to choose. If you looking for flexibility, you should consider chicken tractor plans. A tractor is a lightweight, portable chicken cop that has wheels attached for easy movement. Although this design is lightweight, you will still pay a lot a of money for a prefab structure.

Chicken tractor plans will allow you to build a chicken coop that can be moved to different parts of your yard. This design has many benefits such as the ability to raise free range chickens while keeping them protected. There are no floors in this model there for the chickens can feed off the grass, weeds and bugs.
While being able to roam on the grass, they are protected from predators.

A portable coop allows you to move your coop when the season changes. For instance, you can move your coop in a shady area during the hot summer months. Or, the coop can be moved closer to the house in the winter to make egg collection and tending too your birds more convenient.

Chicken tractor plans are probably the easiest plans to follow. There are no floors to build. The chicken tractors are generally smaller coops therefore there is less material to purchase and assemble. As with most coops, you need to purchase wood, steel mesh, and maybe some PVC.

Chicken pen plans allow you to build a coop that offer great flexibility. You have the option of raising free range chicken while keeping them protected from predators. You will be able to move your coop to different parts of the yard as needed.