Chicken coops plans

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Raising chickens has become a high demanding job amongst farmers. You may not think that keeping chickens, feeding them, breeding them and using their eggs for food would be practiced regularly as it was in the past. Sure, times have changed and there are now many chicken raising factories that have automated egg hatcheries and such, but the fundamental procedures of raising chickens grows more and more each year as the world’s population continues to grow. Hence it is vital for a chicken raising farmer to understand these concepts and learn how to build a chicken coop.

For many of us who have a backyard chicken flock, one of the key issues we come across is finding some really good chicken coop plans for building chicken coops. There are hundreds of different breeds of chickens and as any experienced chicken farmer will tell you, it is not a good idea to keep certain types of chickens together in the same chicken coop.

The bantam chickens are the ones that do not grow any larger than one fifth to one quarter of the size of a standard chicken breed. They are known as the miniature classes of chickens and they are extremely cute and fun to watch.

While there aren’t many chicken coop plans designed especially for bantam chickens, I have found through my experience raising chickens that bantams and standard chickens differ in other ways besides their size. Therefore I have put together some chicken coop plans tips that will help you build a chicken coop for these miniature fowls.

#1:

Build a chicken coop that is tall and has multiple long and high perches. Unlike large standard chickens which tend to hang around at the bottom of the coop due to their excessive weight, small bantams can easily jump up to the highest perches, giving your chicken coop plenty of space to keep more chickens. Build plenty of perches, nests and feeders so that the bantams can jump around from perch to perch and eat from any part of the coop.

#2:

Bantam chickens have tendencies to jump really high and some can almost fly across an entire field. Therefore you want to make sure that if your chicken coop has an attached chicken pen or chicken run, it is covered with a high net or its surroundings have really high fences. The last thing you want is for your bantam chicken to fly over your fence because they are not smart enough to jump back across.

#3:

Bantams can be quite feisty. As cute as they are, bantam roosters can become quite aggressive when their territory is threatened. You may want to separate the chicken coop into smaller compartments with chicken wire. Keep one rooster per every three hens.

#4:

Be aware of injured bantams. For some strange reason, I have had many of my bantam chickens get eaten alive by the other bantams. This may sound absurd but it is true. Chickens tend to peck at each other at times and if they draw blood, the other chickens will begin pecking at the blood and eventually killing off the innocent chicken. This is why you should remove any chicken that you notice has been pecked or injured and keep it in its own cage for a week until it heals.

By following the chicken coop plans above you should have an easier time raising bantam chickens in your backyard. Bantams can be quite adorable but they require a lot of maintenance and care if you truly want to get the best out of your chicken flock.

Are you confident enough yet to build your own chicken coop? Many people have had success building their own coop and saved a lot of money in doing so. These are only just a few tips to help you on your chicken raising endeavors. For detailed chicken coop plan and instructions you should try these
advanced chicken coop plans

Once you have decided to build a chicken coop or run, the next decision to be made is where to build it. As with everything a little planning up front will save you some heartache at the back end, so here are some tips for you.

Build it close to your house if possible. You want to do this because it enables you to keep and eyes on the chickens (and if you are like me ensure that your 5 year old hasn’t decided to ‘liberate’ them and chase them around the backyard). By keeping them close to the house you limit the risk of a predator (neighborhood dogs, cats, or even some possums) from trying to get a free feed.

So with that in mind look for a flat piece of land – the flatter the better. This is just common sense as it enables you to build your chicken coop far faster and easier.

Also, be aware of the weather. I live in a mountain area and there is water run off when we get a downpour, obviously I had to be aware of this and not build my chicken coop in an area where both the chickens and the eggs were at risk of being washed away! So just remember to make sure that your hens have some shade when it’s hot, somewhere dry when it rains and some direct sunlight for when it is just right.

Finally always remember that you want to have enough space. Not that you need to build the chicken coop equivalent of a palace, but to ensure you have happy hens producing lots of yummy eggs then they will need some space. As a general guide about 4 square foot per chicken in the hen house should be a pleasant minimum.

Now I’m the first to admit that while sound advice, what I just gave is also pretty simple advice, consider it beginners advice. If you are serious about building chicken coops then I really suggest you grab a copy of the Building a Chicken Coop book. It will save you a fortune wasted material and even more in wasted time. How do I know this for sure? Because I bought a copy of it myself when I started building a coop and I can honestly guarantee it is a great help (I still use to today!) So click the link below to grab a copy:
Click here for uilding a Chicken Coop

Index: poultryOne.com / Chicken Articles / General Chicken Articles / Easy Hobby Introduction to Raising Chickens for Fun /

Reasons for Raising Chickens

The most common reasons for raising chickens is for fun (e.g. hobby farms), fresh eggs, fresh poultry meat and for gardening purposes (e.g. chicken manure and fertilizer and weed/pest control).

The reason you’re raising chickens may influence, to a certain degree,what you need to get started in this fun hobby. Of course, allchickens have general husbandry requirements regardless of the reason they’re being raised. All chickens need a chicken coop or house to protect them frompredators and the weather; clean water and fresh food; and adequatespace. However, your individual purpose for raising chickens mayaffect how you go about building the chicken coop or what type of chicken feed you give them.

The purposes for which you’re raising chickens has the greatest influence on whattype of chicken breed you get. If you want to raise chickens for fresh eggs,it’d be best to go with a dual-purpose breed like the Rhode IslandRed, or a commercial egg-laying strain such as the White Leghorn. Ifyou’re raising chickens for meat, you’ll want a fast-growing breedthat converts feed into body weight efficiently, such as the CornishCross. And if you’re raising chickens just for fun–well, thepossibilities are practically endless!

Starting the Process

First, consider how you want to start your backyard chicken flock. Mostbeginners start their first chicken flock using chicks purchased fromcommercial hatcheries like Murray McMurray Hatchery (poultryOne.com offers user reviews of chicken hatcheries). You can alsopurchase chicks from your local feed store.

If you’re feeling a little more adventurous and don’t mind taking afew moments to educate yourself on the matter, you can also start yourflock using fertilized eggs and incubating them yourself. This takes alittle more time, but it is a great experience and will be especiallyeducational for children.

Regardless of how you start your chicken project, you’ll needto put the new chicks in a brooder to keep them warm. Place thebrooder in an area that is free from drafts (which can be deadly forlittle chicks!) and protected from predators (especially littlechildren or family pets). Chicks need a temperature of approximately 95degrees F for the first seven days; this is slowly lowered untilthey’re completely feathered out.

Give your chicks easy accessto fresh, clean water and food. Feed chicks chick starter, a term for poultry feed with a high amount of protein that is essential for their propergrowth and development. If you purchased your chicks through acommercial hatchery, they may be a bit stressed out from being mailedcross-country. If you think it will help, purchase a chick vitamin-mixand add it to their water to help boost their immune system.

Housing Your Chickens

As your chicks become older, you’ll need to take them out of thebrooder and place them in a chicken coop. A good coop will protect your backyard flock fromthe weather, give them adequate space, provide roosts, and (if they’relayers) allocate some room for nesting boxes. Learn More About Building Chicken Coops

If I Am Raising Layers, Do I Need A Rooster?

That is a common question that we feel must be answered right here:No! We receive a lot of questions from people wondering if they needroosters to get their hens to lay. Thankfully, you don’t! In fact, ifyou’re raising layers you are probably better of not having a roosterto begin with.

Building A Chicken Yard/Run:

Your chickens would love to be able to play outside, where they’llhave access to sunshine, fresh air, and maybe some plants and bugs. Anoutside chicken yard or chicken run should be protected with a strongfence, and provide a small lean-to or shelter of some sort. You mightalso want to consider a portable run that can be moved around youryard so that your chickens can always have fresh ground to roam on.

The days of true “free ranging” are practically over. Cars and yourneighbor’s pets are dangerous foes, as well as natural predators likehawks and raccoons. A chicken yard is a happy compromise between thefreedom of “free ranging” and the confines of a chicken coop. Ifyou’re able to, we strongly encourage you to give your chickens somesort of outdoor enclosure where they can enjoy nature without the riskof being harmed.

What Do I Feed My Chickens?

We’ve got a great article on feeding chickens which has beenespecially useful to beginners. Feed comes in several forms, includingpellets, mash, and crumbles. Pellets are the easiest to feed, and thechickens can see them easier so that there is less wasted. However,experiment with the different kinds and see which works best foryou.

You will also want to give your chickens grit. Grit isbasically small pebbles and stones that the chicken stores in hisgizzard. Because chickens do not have teeth, the grit is used to grindup their food. For chicks, grit is only needed if the chicks areeating grain or other foodstuffs. Chicks fed mash or crumbles do notneed it. If you are feeding your chicks grit, do notgive chicks oystershell. The extra calcium in oystershell will causebone development problems in young birds (although it is highlybeneficial for layers!).

Raising Chickens Is Fun!

There is a lot more to learn about this fantastic hobby. This articleis merely a launching point to give you a few pointers about raisingchickens. As you raise these fun birds, you will need to learn how toprevent diseases, eradicate parasites, and deal with problems like eggeating and feather picking. But, with the resources frompoultryOne.com and help from other hobbyists in our free online poultry community,raising your own chickens will be a success!

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Feeding Backyard Chickens: It is crucially important to feed your backyard chickens the right feed for their purpose (e.g. egg-layers eat different feed than meat birds) and their age (e.g. chicks require different feed than pullets). Follow our easy tips on feeding chickens to ensure your flock gets the nutrients it needs.

Housing Chickens (Building Chicken Coops): Chicken coops may vary in their design, layout and paint color. However, all good chicken coops incorporate the same characteristics to keep the chickens safe and healthy. It’s very important to know how much floor space to give your birds; how to setup a nest; and where to place ventilation holes.

Hatching and Brooding Chicks – Many hobbyists fall in love with chickens the first time they hold a little chick in the palm of their hand. Keeping that little chick healthy so that it can grow into an egg-producing hen requires you to know a bit about brooding, feeding and caring for chicks.

General Care of Chickens: Did you know that a chicken is designed to live up to 30 years? Did you also know that a healthy hen can lay fresh eggs for up to 18 years? Most chickens do not live that long because they succumb to a multitude of stresses, disease, and predation. But with a little common sense and the right care and good nutrition, your backyard chickens can live a long and happy life.

A Beginner’s Guide to Raising Chickens (Part 1): A quick look at some of the many benefits of raising urban chickens, whether for fun or for profit!!

A Beginner’s Introduction to Raising Chickens: Yet another helpful article for beginners interested in raising chickens.

Controlling Mites in Chickens: Once you find a mite infestation on your bird, the treatment course will vary depending on the severity of the problem. If you have a minor problem, simply spraying the bird or dusting it once and then again three days later can usually do the trick. You may also want to replace their bedding and use poultry/livestock dust or Seven dust underneath the new bedding.

Poultry/Chicken Manure as Garden Fertilizer: Save your money by using your poultry manure as a wonderful soil amendment that can do much to increase the value of your soil and generate revenue in the form of fresh vegetables and fruits.

Chicken Stress Management: Learn how to keep your chickens healthy and happy by reducing their stress!

Your Chicken Coop’s Poultry Biosecurity: Protect your chickens with smart poultry biosecurity.

What Are Probiotics for Chickens?: What are “probiotics”, and how can they help you keep your chicken flock healthy?

Preventing and Handling Coccidiosis Disease in Chickens: Coccidiosis can wipe out an entire chicken flock. Educate yourself on how to prevent this disease from affecting your birds.

Preventing and Handling Marek’s Disease in Chickens: Marek’s Disase can kill your entire coop of chickens. Protect your birds by reading this article!

Upper Respiratory Fungal Infections in Chickens: Don’t think that occasional, unexplained deaths are normal.

Vaccinating Chickens Against Mareks Diseaes: The sooner you vaccinate your chicks, the more effective the vaccine will be. This is because the Mareks virus is virtually everywhere, travels on the wind, and can be anywhere in your environment. It’s true that you can take precautions to reduce the risk of exposure to your chicks until you have a chance to vaccinate, but basically, the longer you wait, the higher the risk.

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Index: poultryOne.com / Chicken Articles / General Chicken Articles / Building Chicken Coops (Part 2 of 2) /

Editor’s Note: This is a continuation of Part 1 of our guide to building chicken coops, which starts on this chicken coop guide. We’ve previously discussed chicken coop size requirements, the basics of chicken coops, and chicken coop ventilation. If you’ve missed the first part, read it first!

While specific chicken coop plans and coop designs may differ in their creative aspects, all backyard hobbyists should ensure their chicken coops implement certain common structural characteristics.

Protect Your Chicken Coop From Vermin With Rodent-Proof Designs:

The chicken coop you’ve built must keep rodents and other pests out. The coop should also be strong enough to withstand the digging or scraping of a fox, dog and other larger predators. Small pests such as rats, mice, snakes, and other critters may also wreck havoc in a poultry flock. Such problems can easily be prevented with thoughtful, proactive construction including fences, strong foundations and covered ventilation holes.

Planning Your Chicken Coop’s Flooring:

There are many different flooring material choices for backyard hobbyists. The most economical is plain ol’ dirt, packed down firmly to create a sturdy foundation. However, such floors are veryvulnerable to rodents. Dirt floors also do not provide the best insulationduring the winter, to say nothing of the chore of cleaning a dirt floor.

Concrete, if installed properly, is an excellent alternative to dirt floors. It is also the most expensive, though its easy-to-clean surface makes it the most sanitary flooring option. A chicken coop with a concrete floor is not only a breeze to clean, but also rodent-proof.

In-between concrete and dirt on the cost scale is wood-based flooring. Wooden flooring is relatively easy to install in your chicken coop. However, it may be susceptible rotting(especially the wood under the bird waterers) and is not especially sanitary. It is alsonot rodent-proof (then again, very few things are!). However, due to its lower costs, wood chicken coop floors are typically popular among chicken hobbyists.

Planning Your Chicken Coop’s Amenities:

Your chicken coop should have a place for the birds to roost, good drainage, nests (this is only necessary if you are raising egg laying hens), and enough feeders, waterers and space for the number of birds you are raising.

Chicken Roosts: Roosts should be made of smooth lumber or thin, sturdy pipes made of plastic. “Roosts can be made from old or new lumber, tree branches, an old ladder, or other sturdy material,” writes coop expert Judy Pangman in Chicken Coops: 45 Building Plans for Housing Your Flock. “Metal pipes are not the best perches.” Also, avoid using roosts that are sized too large or too small, due to the fact that the birds will not beable to grasp them well. Also, make sure there is enough roosting space for all of the chickens. Some individuals like to setup a ladder-style chicken roost to allow the birds to sleep at varying levels of height.

Chicken Nests: The nests you build in your chicken coop should be approximately twelve by fifteen inches long and thirteen inches deep. Provide litter or some other type of soft nesting material to keep the eggs from cracking. Allow the hens to become accustomedto the nesting boxes by placing them on the ground for the first two weeks. After two weeks, place the nests approximately 18 inches off of the ground. To encourage your hens to lay in their nests instead of on the floor, situate the nests in a dark area away from the general activity of the chicken house. Some people further entice their hens by hanging a flap of burlap or thin plastic over the entrance of the nest.

Feeders and Waterers: Be sure to have enough feeders and waterers so that all of your chickens have room. This is important because the chickens on the low end of the pecking order are sometimes pushed away from the feed and water if there is not enough space.

The Chicken Coop Door: The coop should have a large door that you can enter through ANDa small door for the birds. The human door should be wide and tall enough to allow you to carry in large objects such as a feed bag or plywood. The chicken entrance should measure about 10-inches(width) by 13-inches (height). For other poultry birds, like geese and ducks, the size should be adjusted accordingly. Thebird door is quite easy to construct out of a flap cut into the coop wall withhinges on one side and a latch on the other. If the door is high off the ground,keep some extra wood on hand to make a ramp that leads to the ground.

References and Recommended Reading:

poultryOne Reader Comments About This Poultry Article:

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“Thanks for your informative articles and pictures. I have 3 week old chicks and need to start thinking about a coop. You’ve been alot of help. I am a carpenter by trade so I can’t just throw 4 boards of plywood together and call it a coop, the coop that I build must reflect on my craft. It’s my gift, It’s my curse.” – Tom

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Index: poultryOne.com / Chicken Articles / General Chicken Articles / Building Chicken Coops Plans (Part 1 of 2) /

Editor’s Note: This chicken coop article is brought to you by poultryOne.com, the top online resource for raising urban chickens. Meet other friendly hobbyists, discuss this guide to building chicken coops, and get answers to your chicken coop questions about chicken housing requirements on our free poultry forums.

A backyard chicken coop is a poultry building or housing structure where chickens are raised. Cheap and easy to build, you won’t need to look into home loans for this structure. The inside of a chicken coop typically includes such coop features such as chicken nest boxes (for those raising chickens for eggs)); chicken feeders and waterers; and chicken roosts where the birds can perch to rest or sleep in the evening. Many backyard chicken hobbyists also construct coops with additional features such as windows and connected wire chicken runs so that their birds may gain access to sunshine and fresh air. Regardless of the type of chicken coop you plan to construct, it is important to take the needs of your birds into consideration when building chicken coops.

A chicken run can be as simple as wire stretched over a wooden frame!

Chicken hobbyists building chicken coops often have different pictures in their heads when thinking about chicken coop plans and housing designs. Some individuals may have a picturesque idea of a country-style miniature chicken house, complete with a white picket-fenced chicken run. Other individuals may possess a more utilitarian chicken coop plan idea consisting of a simple wire chicken cage propped up on wood beams for the chicken manure fertilizer to fall through.

Whatever your creative inclination, the chicken coop that you build for your flock does not need to be elaborate. A poultry coop can be as simple or fancy as you wish. If you’re a handy man, or simply skilled with a few construction tools, you can easily build a simple box-shaped coop without buying any of the many different “simple chicken coop plans” available online. However, you must integrate a few basic chicken coop requirements no matter what type of chicken coop you choose to build. Such requirements should also be kept in mind when evaluating ready-made coop options.

Chicken Coop Size Requirements:

Plan your chicken coop dimensions carefully. It is critically essential to ensure that your flock has suitable space. A variety of health problems may arise if chickens are not given enough floor space in their chicken coop. These include cannibalism, low egg lay rates and feather-picking. The more floor space you provide to the birds, the better. Chickens with enough space often perform more positively than their small-cage counterparts.

That being said, not everyone has the acreage to give their birds unlimited roaming space. Give your chickens adequate room by allowing a minimum of two to three square feet per bird, or more for larger chicken breeds. Also, the space requirements in a chicken coop will vary as your flock matures. Understandably, baby chickens need far less space than larger, mature meat birds. Review the coop space requirement chart below to calculate how big your chicken coop should be:

Minimum Space Requirements for PoultryType of Poultry BirdSq Ft / Inside CoopSq Ft / Outside in a RunBantam Chickens
Layer Hens
Large Chickens
Quail
Pheasants
Ducks
Geese
1
1.5-2
2
1
5
3
6
4
8
10
4
25
15
18

Planning Your Chicken Coop’s Ventilation:

Your chicken coop MUST be well ventilated! “Fresh air is good; drafts are fatal,” writes chicken expert Judy Pangman, in her book Chicken Coops: 45 Building Plans for Housing Your Flock. “Adequate ventilation is important.” Just as humans don’t like stuffy houses, chickens don’t like stuffy coops! If you don’t give your chickens enough ventilation, fumes can build up to a toxic level. Vents, placed on the south or east-facing walls of your chicken coop, can help to create proper airflow while also protecting the chickens from cold drafts. Alternatively, drill large holes on the north and south sides of the coop where the roof meets the walls. To keep out wild, disease-carrying bird visitors, cover these holes with mesh screens.

Coop ventilation goes hand-in-hand with coop insulation. Proper building insulation will help keep your chickens dry and warm in the winter, as well as cool in the summer. To keep the flock comfortable during these cold nights (and during the hot summer days), invest in propercoop insulation. 1.5 inches of Styrofoam sheets between the walls and ceiling provides excellent structural insulation. To reflect heat during the summer, some individuals choose to also use aluminum roofing and white paint. Additionally, cool the chicken coop by planting tallvegetation and/or trees around its exterior. If you do this, be careful not to let the plantsblock any ventilation holes and windows that you may have made. To provideextra insulation during the winter, you may also wish to try stacking hay balesagainst the north walls of the barn. Such rudimentary insultation is cheap, and when winter is over you can use the hay as litter.

In the second section of this poultry article, we discuss chicken coop flooring; how to protect your chicken coop from pests and vermin; planning nests, chicken roosts, feeders and waterers; and other chicken coop building basics. Read Part 2!

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References and Recommended Readings:

If you are going to keep chickens for profit or as a hobby, then having the right housing for them is an essential part of raising healthy poultry. If you don’t want to invest a lot of money, free chicken house plans that you find on online can provide you with an economical way to build the chicken house you need. However, choosing the plans is only the first part of your venture and the building materials are often where the major expenses lie.

Save Even More When Choosing Materials for Your Free Chicken House Plans

There are some additional ways to save money on your chicken house. When you are browsing through the free chicken house plans that are available, consider only those that give you a complete list of what materials you will need. Otherwise, you may end up purchasing the wrong materials and having to replace them or you may simply get more than you actually need.

There are hundreds of different designs available and you can adjust them to suit your needs depending on your carpentry skills. Unlike the typical chicken coop of the past, today’s chicken houses are made in many attractive designs that look more like a playhouse in your backyard than they do a coop. It is important, however, to choose the free chicken house plans that you have the skills to complete and that will meet your needs rather than basing your choice primarily on the attractiveness of the design.

If you are going to have only a small flock of chickens, there are many designs for coops that are portable and will offer the added convenience of being transportable. Rather than being made with a floor, you transport them to different areas of the lawn regularly to provide the chickens with fresh lawn. This is a good option for those who don’t have a lot of space to provide chickens with a run where they can move around. As a bonus, you don’t have to clean up the droppings since they will fall to the ground!

If you are going to have a larger flock of birds, you will find free chicken house plans for all sizes of houses including small, medium, and large ones. It is important to provide your chickens with plenty of room and to choose a design that will accommodate the maximum number of birds that you will have.

Materials to Use with Your Free Chicken House Plans

You don’t have to limit yourself to using new materials if you are trying to build your chicken house on a budget. While new wood is the most common material used for building chicken coops, you can also find used or scrap lumber available at some businesses. The same is true for windows and shingles. Call your local lumber supply store to see what they have available before you purchase new lumber. Some lumber stores also have the free chicken house plans available that you can use to help design your new structure.

You can also use other materials besides wood for your chicken house. If you have an old shed that is already standing, you may be able to do some simple repairs and transform it into a new coop. You may also use an old camper, pipes, barrels, etc. Many of the items that you will find lying about unused can be incorporated into your free chicken house plans in one way or another. Remember, everything you can get used or free will save you a little more money and help you create the chicken house you need without spending a fortune!

When I originally began building chicken coops many years ago I made my share of mistakes. My initial chicken coop was manufactured in a location with poor water drainage, making the ground mucky each time there was rain. My birds were less healthy and the eggs were constantly dirty and required cleaning. In addition, it was as much as 5 times larger than it needed to be which made it 5 times as pricey to erect.

Nevertheless, owing to trial and error, it wasn’t long before I was building chicken coops that were low-cost and painless to maintain. It was more fun that I had ever imaged it would, so I began keeping many unusual varieties of poultry, growing my own fertile eggs and hatching them an incubator. Additionally, I began keeping other types of poultry including turkey, guinea, quail, duck, and a number of others. Manufacturing well-designed poultry houses turned my hobby into a satisfying and worthwhile one. If you are planning to enjoy your brand new endeavor, do everything right on your initial try and circumvent pricey beginner mistakes.

Mistake #1: Not Planning Ahead

With some planning you will increase your chances of developing a pleasurable hobby. At a minimum you will need to draw a rough diagram of how your chicken house will appear. You will ideally include where the walls, doors, windows, feeders, nest boxes, and waterers will be placed. By developing as detailed of a sketch as you are able, together with measurements and proportions, you will be able to accurately estimate the amount of lumber, wire, and other supplies that will be essential for finishing the task. This can save you some cash from purchasing too many supplies.

When deciding on where to situate specific items in your chicken pen, try to place them in areas that will be most handy for you. As an example, putting a tiny hinged door in the correct spot can make egg gathering a trouble-free task. Construct the nest boxes on a wall with a small-sized outside-available door just above the nest. Putting together coops in this way will permit you to collect eggs from the outside without needing to go inside.

One of the finest approaches is to erect your chicken shed two feet off the ground and employ wire as the flooring. This will let the droppings drop below the wire instead of piling up in their home. It will remove the need for regular cleanup and keep the birds out of their droppings.

Mistake #2: Placing It in a Poor Spot

Building chicken coops in inadequate backyard places is surely a huge error that inexperienced hobbyists often make. Picking a poor backyard spot can be the cause of unhealthy, diseased, and unproductive hens. The chicken housing needs to be in an area with superior water drainage. Without suitable water drainage you will probably end up with a mixture of muddy water and droppings. Ingesting this impure water or tracking it into the feed and nesting area will surely result in a smaller number of eggs, illness, and even fatalities among the flock.

The chicken shed will ideally be built near an easily accessible water supply. This will make it possible for you to establish simple automatic watering practices and remove the need for you to give them fresh water each and every day.

Mistake #3: Not Providing Sufficient Sunlight

Pullets should have a minimum of 14 hours of daylight a day to provide you with eggs dependably, so build your chicken shed facing south for optimum sun exposure. This will also help keep the chicken shed drier which can help it remain cleaner. If you want to collect fresh organic eggs throughout the seasons of the year where there are less than 14 hours of sunshine per day you will need to supply them with synthetic lighting in the form of a low wattage light bulb. Putting your chicken pen near an accessible electrical supply is useful in these situations.

Mistake #4: Providing the Hens with Inadequate Air Circulation

For adequate air circulation you will need to provide a window or two. Bird droppings can be the source of strong and unpleasant odors that can possibly be harmful to their physical condition if permitted to build up. At least one window, but if at all possible two, should be placed in locations that will permit adequate ventilation and air circulation. With enhanced air circulation the chicken pen will stay cleaner and drier which will help prevent diseases.

From Wikibooks, the open-content textbooks collection

Building a pen can be easier than you think. You will need to know what type of chicken you are getting before you begin construction.

If your chickens are going to be larger, heavier, and less prone to flying away (like mine) then a simple post and wire design will work. However, most chickens are more airborne and you will need to design a pen with really high fences (if not with a wired roof) or get used to seeing your chickens on your roof.

No matter what design you choose, you will need to customize based on chicken type, local by-laws, and geography. Before proceeding, it is recommended that you check with your municipality to see how many chickens you may keep. In rural counties you will probably find that keeping livestock (including chickens) is OK. However, in more urban areas there may even be TOTAL restrictions on chickens. It should be noted that as recently as the 1960s people have been allowed to keep reasonable numbers of chickens in urban areas.

• 1 Choosing an Area
• 2 Post and Wire Design
  • 2.1 Construction
• 3 Additional Resources
• 4 Additional Notes

A very important factor in choosing an area to raise chickens should not be overseen. There are many predators out there who want to get to the chickens as an easy meal. You might come out one morning and your chicken have been scavaged by night predators who enjoyed a big feast. This can be devastating. Therefore it is imperative that they are locked in at night. Predators also can come during the day. For example Hawks like to snatch chickens. And they can shoot down from the sky very fast. You need to make sure you have a tight mesh on top of the roaming area, where they are fenced in. I have seen large mirrors placed in the roaming area too, which serve to distract the predators very well.

A post and wire design is the simplest way of building a pen. Just as the name suggests, all you need are some fence posts, the right kind of wire, fence staples, and appropriate tools (a regular hammer, sledgehammer, crowbar, and wire cutters will do). Do a simple survey of the area you want your chickens to live in, measuring the distance on all your fence lines. Anyone using a fence pounder should replace the next few steps with ones for a fence pounder as appropriate.

Once your survey is complete, it is time to buy your materials. Fence posts can be purchased from a variety of lumber stores. You may find that you can only order them in large bundles as the primary consumers of fence posts are farmers who need a lot of them. If this is the case, don’t worry; you will find that fence posts are incredibly useful for many purposes including support beams for storage sheds and the chicken house.

Although you could use chicken wire for containing your chickens, I recommend stucco wire. Stucco wire is usually used for holding stucco to the sides of buildings. It is stronger and taller than chicken wire. You will also need fence staples for attaching the wire to the posts. These can be found at most hardware stores. If you can’t find actual fencing staples, then staples used for attaching electrical wire to walls will do. I must stress that you shouldn’t skimp on your staples. You will need a lot, even if you have a small pen. Not only do you need lots during construction, you will need a supply for emergency repairs.

Now that you have your fence materials, you will need tools for building the fence. You will need a regular hammer for the staples, a crowbar for making holes for the posts, and a sledgehammer for pounding the posts in.

When selecting a sledgehammer you should keep the weight in mind. It should be heavy enough so that you are doing less of the work for pounding the post in and more is done by the hammer. However, if it weighs too much, and you have trouble lifting it, then you might not be able to pound as efficiently as with a hammer that has a more comfortable weight. A crowbar is needed to dig a hole to start the post. You should select a pole that comes to a point at the end. Now we have all the materials and tools needed; let’s get to the actual construction.

[edit] Construction

Building the pen is very simple to do. There are, however, some tricks that aren’t obvious that are only learned from experience. Some hidden tricks that are specific to chickens (cattle don’t need these on fences to contain them) will be covered here.

If the ground is dry or frozen you should bring a bucket of water along to soften the ground. Use the pointed end of your crowbar to pound a hole in the ground. When a hole starts to form, pour water into it occasionally to soften the soil. You should also leave your crowbar in the hole and use it to widen the hole by pulling you body weight against it. A 20 cm deep hole should be sufficient. The hole should be wide enough to hold a post. When you have finished making your hole, put your post, pointed end first, into the hole. Use your sledgehammer to pound the post into the ground until it is firm. On days when the soil is dry, having the post a little loose might work as the soil will slowly soften around it. To stabilize the post and allow the energy of your pounding to be used more effectively, it may be useful to have someone on the side opposite yours to hold the post while you pound. Be CAREFUL as, if you miss the post, you could injure your assistant. Space your posts about a meter apart. You should add two posts that are about a wheelbarrow width apart. This will be your gate later.

Once you have enough posts to put a fence around the area you choose to build your pen at, you can put wire up around it. To do this bring your stucco wire to a corner post. You should probably have more than one person do this as stuco wire is heavy. Hold the end of the wire to the post and hammer in with fence staples. Once your end is secured unroll your wire to the next post in line. Don’t wrap your wire around this one. Instead unroll the the wire a little beyond the post and staple what wire touches the post. Continue doing this until either the pen is complete or you run out of wire. If you run out of wire then you can continue on with another roll. If the first roll ran out just after a post then wrap it around the post as best you can and move on. Do not wrap the second wire around this post instead have it share the last post of the roll that ran out. Once that is done then continue in the same way as before.

If the wire runs out before reaching a post then you should probably pound a new post in so that the end of the wire can be attached. Then continue with the next roll sharing this new post.

To make a gate all you need is some particle board, hinges and a latch.

Cut the particle board to fit between the gate posts, and attach the hardware appropriately. Get a heavy-duty latch and lock for your gate. Animals are not the only predators that may helps themselves to your birds or their eggs.

It is also possible to raise free range chickens. If you do that, you might want to mix in with the regular birds several Guinea hens. They are not that large a bird and are not that good a meat producer or egg producer, but are good ‘watch dogs’ for the flock. The bugs and greens the free ranging birds get make very good eggs and meat. Guinea hens are good collectors of bugs. Free ranging birds also need protection at night.

Be warned: Free ranging birds leave eggs in the strangest places.

• “poultryOne’s Guide to Building Chicken Coops” – Comprehensive article on constructing your own chicken coop.

Urban chickens A great poultry web site

Some excellent sources for suppliesLocationSupplierCanadaPrincess AutoAlbertaUnited Farmers of Alberta (UFA)

If you have any suppliers to add (even if they don’t have a website) feel free to add them to the list or to the disussion page for this section. You can also suggest alternative methods of fence construction over there as well.

Volume 13 of MAKE Magazine has hit the newstands, and it includes an article I wrote about raising backyard laying hens, Backyard Hens…that link takes you directly to the article in the MAKE Digital Edition – read it online!

Here’s some additional resources and links to supplement the article.

Equipment and Supplies (including coops)

California Wine Country Chicken Chat – and extremely helpful and lively online community of North Bay Area chicken enthusiasts. Highly recommended!

Easy Hen Nesting Boxes – a clever use of cat litter buckets as nest boxes for your layers.

McMurray Hatchery – large online retailer of chicks and all sorts of chicken supplies. I’ve heard generally good things about them. When you order chicks, you have an option to receive a free “rare” breed mystery chick along with your others. The minimum order for chicks is 25, but consider pooling an order with friends or selling your extras locally. They sell the Chick-N-Hutch system that I use to house our hens.

My Pet Chicken – a supplier of all sorts of backyard chickens and chicken supplies, catering to those who keep a small number of chickens as pets. They sell a number of high-end chicken coops and supplies, and will ship as few as three chicks (though the shipping will cost…it’s expensive to send smaller quantities of chicks because it’s more difficult to keep them warm).

Mother’s Mini-coop – plans and how-to for a beautiful backyard chicken coop that can be moved around to provide more foraging opportunities for your chickens.

BackyardChickens.com – great resource site for raising small numbers of chickens, especially for urban farmers. Includes active discussion forums that could be very helpful.

Portable Chicken Mini-coop Plan – describes how to make a very easy movable chicken coop to house two or three hens.

Keeping Chickens In Your Back Yard – a weblog full of interesting posts about keeping chickens. Check out the gallery of subscriber chicken coops in the right column!

Breeds of Chicken – good site for finding photos and illustrations of different breeds.

Ware Manufacturing Hutches and Pens – I wanted to save time and effort, so I purchased a Chick-N-Hutch and Chick-N-Rabbit Pen like the ones shown here. I’ve been generally happy with them; the best prices I’ve found have been locally at Western Farm Center in Santa Rosa. JP at Western Farm is especially knowledgeable and helpful about raising backyard chickens.

Backyard Chickens on Squidoo – good collection of basic info and resources, including why your chickens will need a calcium suppliement like ground oyster shells and a source of grit.

My own hen house, built from scrap materials from the dump, and Tour de Coop, Wine Country Chicken Chat’s tour of local chicken coops in 2008.

Reference Books and Magazines

Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens: Care / Feeding / Facilities – probably the bible of raising your own chickens. More information than you need to get started, but a great reference to browse and own.

Backyard Poultry Magazine – the name says it all. They have an online library full of helpful articles.

Living with Chickens: Everything You Need to Know to Raise Your Own Backyard Flock – I haven’t read this myself, but it gets good reviews and would probably be helpful.

Building Chicken Coops – a “Storey Country Wisdom” pamphlet all about housing for your chickens.

Barnyard in Your Backyard – “A Beginner’s Guide to Raising Chickens, Ducks, Geese, Rabbits, Goats, Sheep, and Cows”

Inspiration

The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals Michael Pollan’s book has inspired many, including me, to take a closer look at where their food comes from and even start growing their own. His new book, In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto, sounds like another interesting read.

Polyface Farms – web site for Joel Salatin’s “beyond organic” farm in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. Salatin’s farm was described in detail in The Omnivore’s Dilemma.

Meet Real Free-Range Eggs – Mother Earth News organized an egg testing to compare nutritional values for pastured vs. factory eggs. The results are impressive…pastured eggs had less cholesterol and saturated fat, and more vitamins and nutrients.

The Natural History of the Chicken – This PBS documentary is really about people who have chickens in their lives. It’s a series of fun and quirky vignettes…watch it for fun! It’s also available on YouTube — here’s Part 1.

I hope you find these resources helpful — let me know in the comments if you have more helpful links, and I can add them to this page.

I’ll leave you with a slide show of photos of my own chicken-raising experiences, and a couple of low-res videos:

Chicks in their cardboard box brooder

Chickens in the back yard (calling them back to their coop)