Chicken Coop Plans Blog
There are some people that raise chicken in their backyard but the hens refuse to lay any eggs. Chicken that do not produce eggs most probably is due to poor housing facilities.
It does not take a lot to satisfy a bunch of hens. But the housing does need to be adequately sized, has good amount of ventilation and protect the birds from the weather.
It is not surprising to find some backyard chicken coops which are too small, inadequate ventilation while some are too open all together. If the walls of the chicken housing have cracks all over, it will permit strong draft to blow on the fowls.
Sometimes, it is not enough to improve on the existing chicken coop, you may need to build a new chicken house.
The first thing you may want to consider when building a new chicken house is choosing the perfect location for the coop. Ideally, the chicken house should be located on southern or eastern slope, near an orchard or wood lot so that the birds have plenty of shades.
A coop built on a southern or eastern slope allows snow to thaw more readily and the ground will dry up and warms much quicker.
Choosing the size of the chicken coop depends large on the breed of the fowl and the amount of protection needed. As a rule of thumb, allow from three to five square feet of floor space for each hen.
If you have chicken which are heavy breed, you may need to allocate a larger space for them. Crowding of the birds may not yield good results. The hens may be unable to lay any eggs due to crowding stress.
Actually, there is no best method to provided ventilation in a DIY chicken coop. Some people may choose using a simple curtain front while others will use an open front.
Open fronts does provide excellent ventilation but many people will go for the curtain front because it can be placed over most of the opening during bad weather.
Here’s a tip you can use when deciding on the right ventilation for a coop. It has been found that a chicken house closed on 3 sides and curtained tightly on the south do not provide enough fresh air for the birds occupying it.
Hence it is best to have a narrow opening along the south side of the house just under the rafters. This feature will allow greater circulation of air than the curtained openings alone.
Looking for a good step by step chicken coop plans? If you are, check out Bill Keene’s Building a Chicken Coop guide. It has all the information you’ll need to build the perfect chicken coop with ample space and good ventilation. For more information, click on the link below.
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