Posts Tagged ‘chicken nest boxes’
FREE CHICKEN COOP PLANS: Free Chicken Coop Plans
November 3rd, 2010 | 
Author: CHICKEN COOPS GENERAL INFORMATION
So you’re thinking about building a chicken coop but don’t want to spend a fortune on
coop plans and building materials? This was my thought when I built my own coop a
few years ago. I’ve read that the average person spends $300.00 to build their coop
and I didn’t want to spend that much – I scoured the internet to find free (or cheap)
but well made chicken coop designs that I could either build myself or buy.
I’ve included the links to FREE coop designs on the left side of the page.
the links contain plans to big or small chicken coops, depending on your needs. I’ve
also added some ideas for cheap or free chicken coop supplies i.e. building
materials, chicken feeders, chicken water containers, chicken nest boxes, chicken
roosts, and a few recommended books on how to care for chickens. I’ll be adding more information to each of these topics as time goes on. For now, I wanted to give you the basics and show you some pictures of the coop that I use and some of the supplies that have worked for me.
CHICKEN COOP DESIGNS
There are hundreds of different designs available for your coop. A picture of my coop is posted here – It’s made of scrap lumber and left over house paint. If you’re looking to build a coop with the links to free plans below, you’ll be limited to only those designs…but at least they’re free, functional, and actually quite lovely! And you can always add your own design twists too.
How you design your coop will, of course, depend on your needs. If you are planning to have a small flock and want to build a smaller coop, you may want to consider a portable chicken coop. These are also called “chicken tractors.” They often do not have floors and can be moved every few days or weeks from one part of your lawn to another so the grass does not get trampled down. This is ideal for raising chickens in urban areas where there may be limited space for them to run around. It’s also beneficial for both your chickens and your lawn. The chicken droppings provide great fertilizer for your lawn and, by moving the coop often, the chickens get access to new bugs and fresh grass. Plus, you don’t have to worry about cleaning up the droppings!
You can use any design you want, or create your own – the chickens won’t likely care. But do keep in mind your skill level when building it. I used a design of my own creation – now this worked just fine in the end, and I had fun building it. But I didn’t have a lot of experience in wood working or construction so it took me a lot longer to come up with a blueprint, to figure out how much wood it would take etc. I also encountered problems while constructing it since my blueprint wasn’t perfectly polished and ready to go – so the construction process didn’t always go smoothly either.
In hindsight, I wish I would have simply used an already available design that I found online since it would have saved me a ton of time and energy. But like I said – I do take great pride in my little 4′x8′ creation and the chickens seem perfectly happy in it! You’ll figure out what will work best for you.
CHICKEN COOP MATERIALS
Chicken coops can be made from almost anything – revamping an old shed or camping trailer, using scrap lumber, PVC pipes, 50 gallon barrels, tarps, kits, and the list goes on. Wood is the most commonly used material for coop building. Depending on the size of your coop, buying new lumber can get expensive.
I was able to find a couple of businesses which sell used or scrap lumber and this worked nicely for my 4′x 8′ coop. I even found some used windows and a couple sets of unused shingle there. If you decide to build your coop with used lumber, be prepared to pull out some nails, cut out some broken pieces, and to be creative with what you find. It takes extra time and TLC to build a coop using “recycled” or used wood – but I found the extra time well worth it in how much money I saved!
Another view of my coop above – I lucked out in finding a few stacks of new shingles to use! I also saved extra space inside the coop by building the nest boxes on the outside – you can see the row of nest boxes in the picture, jutting out on the right side (which is actually the back of the coop). There are 8 total boxes for them to choose from.
CHICKEN NEST BOXES
The suggested size for chicken nest boxes is 15″ wide, 15″ high and 11 1/8″ (see picture for example). This can vary to a certain extent. My nest boxes are about 2″ smaller than this and work just fine. You can fill your boxes with straw or place some type of padding down on the bottom so the eggs won’t crack when they lay. I noticed that they tend to kick and scratch a lot of straw out of the boxes so I stapled a piece of padding onto the bottom.
I started off with 8 chickens and made a nest box for each chicken. It turns out they all used the same 2 nest boxes for laying eggs! I’ve even seen 3 chickens in the same nest box at the same time – therefore, you don’t need to make too many boxes. They tend to gravitate toward the same box. If you have a big flock – you’ll need to make more. In some of the links I’ve provided, there are some excellent pictures of nest boxes, diagrams, and “how-to” instructions for building nest boxes. A view of a couple of my nest boxes is pictured above.
CHICKEN ROOSTS
A 2″ by 4″ or 2″ by 2″ board works nicely as a roost. You can also use a tree branch measuring between 3″ to 6.” I used a 2 x 4 and rounded off the edges with a circular saw, and these are working like a champ. This step is not necessary, but I’ve found that they are able to grip onto the roost better when it’s slightly rounded. A view of my roost and walkway leading to the roost is pictured above.
I made sure to place the roosts where the droppings are not in my way when I enter the coop so I don’t have to clean it off my shoes after being inside. Depending on the type of coop you build, you may also want to consider positioning the roosts where you can easily clean up the droppings.
Chickens seem to like roosting higher in the coop at night, so I positioned mine about 4 feet off the ground. I then constructed a walkway leading up to the roost since we clipped their wings (more on this in a bit). It’s basically an 8″ wide board which angles up from the floor to the roost with some make shift “steps” nailed on and spaced every 6″ or so – something they can use to “grip” onto as they walk up.
Back to wing clipping, just briefly – we clipped the outer part of the wings – on one side only. Don’t worry – this does not involve pain for the chickens in any way, and it prevents them from taking flight. When the wings are clipped, it’s done toward the outer part of the wing where there is no blood supply. We didn’t clip their wings at first because we thought it would hurt them. They kept flying over the fence, however, and and we lost one to a neighborhood dog. Thus, the wing clipping, and consequent ramp from the floor to the roost inside the coop. There is a great illustration on wing clipping at www.backyardchickens.com.
CHICKEN FEEDER
The farm stores all carry a nice selection of chicken feeders and water containers but they can be rather expensive. I made a 5 gallon feeder and waterer using two 5 gallon buckets I got for free at our local grocery store – usually the bakery or deli section – and two 20 inch plastic planter bases. The plastic planter bases cost around $5.00 – I purchased mine from a garage sale. Of course, any local retailer such as Walmart, Target, or your local hardware store or nursery would carry them as well. The 5 gallon feeder I’m currently using is pictured above – after filling it with feed, it will last about 3 weeks for 13 chickens.
How it’s done: To make the Chicken feeder – drill several holes about 1 1/2″ in diameter around the bottom of the bucket. Make sure the bottom edge of the holes are no higher up than 1/2″ from the very bottom of the bucket. Next – place the bucket in the bottom of the plant base so the top of the bucket is still up. Don’t throw away the lid – you’ll still need it. Make sure the bucket is centered as best as possible in the plant bottom and then screw it in place using 3 or 4 screws until it is secure. That’s it! just pour in the feed and put the lid on and you’ve got 5 gallons worth of feed. I’m guessing this would be roughly 20 lbs of feed since it holds just under half of a 50lb bag of chicken feed in my feeder. I place my feeder on top of 2 concrete blocks – chickens are sloppy eaters and this helps prevent feed spillage. I’ve seen other people hang their feeders a few inches off the ground with rope. The suggested distance off the ground is about the height of the chickens back.
CHICKEN WATER CONTAINER
For the waterer, it’s the same method except you only need to drill one or two small holes (1/4″ or so) near the base of the bucket – and drill them around 1″ up from bottom of the bucket. You can vary the height or distance from the bottom of the bucket a little, but make sure the hole does not lie above the rim of the planter base – If you do, all the water will overflow out of the trough.
OTHER THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN BUILDING A CHICKEN COOP
Dimensions: Each chicken requires 3 to 4 square feet of space – this will need to be taken into account when designing your coop so you don’t make it too small. I would suggest making it a little bigger than you need since, if you’re like me, you’ll want to purchase more chickens each year.
Climate: Build your coop to suit the climate of your area. If you live in a warm climate, you will need to make sure there is plenty of ventilation to keep your chickens cool. In cold climates, it’s important to keep out the draft and to make sure it’s warm enough so that the drinking water doesn’t freeze. An insulated coop will ensure the coop isn’t drafty either. But you’ll still want good ventilation, however, to ensure that fresh air can move in and out of the coop – minimizing the likelihood of your chickens getting sick.
Elevated Coop: An optional part of the design is elevating your coop. Having it elevated can help with the flooding rains and keep it cooler in the summer heat. It also gives the chickens a shady place to go during the day. I elevated my coop and noticed I’ve never had any rodents in it either – I’m not sure it’s a way to fool proof your coop from rodents or predators, but it probably helps to some degree.
Location: If you live in the city, check your city regulations. Sometimes, they require you to be at least 5 ft from the property line. Also, try to make a coop that won’t be offensive to your neighbors. It doesn’t have to be as pretty as the home you live in, but not too unsightly so as to reduce property values. Keeping on top of the smell is also key, since you don’t want to damage relationships with your neighbors.
It’s beneficial for the chickens to have adequate sunlight as well – for staying warmer in cold climates and for maximum egg production. Putting a window on the south side would allow for the light to enter the coop all day.
Deep Litter Method
You’ll also have to consider if you’re going to clean out the droppings on a regular basis or if you want to use the “deep litter” method, which is less maintenance. This is important to consider for designing the floor of your coop. Some people prefer to use a chicken wire floor so the droppings fall into a container under the coop for easier cleaning, less odor in the coop, and a way to regularly stay on top of the cleaning.
With the deep litter method, you essentially have around 4-8 inches of wood pellets, wood (pine) shavings, or other bedding on the floor of the coop. Every few days you’ll want to use a rake or shovel to stir the droppings on the top into the bedding underneath. The chickens do this on their own, but you’ll want to rake it in a bit deeper and more evenly across the whole floor.
The bedding/droppings will begin to decompose underneath. As this happens, the amount or level of bedding starts to shrink down. As this happens, you’ll simply add another inch (or more) of bedding so you’ll always have about 4-8 inches. By using this method, the odor is minimal. You really only need to clean the entire coop out once or twice a year.
I use the deep litter method and highly recommend it – it saves me a lot of time, and I can use that rich compost for our garden once it’s done! I buy 40 lb bags of wood pellets for my coop – most large retailers i.e. Walmart, Home Depot, Lowes will carry some. It may be that they only stock up on wood pellets during the winter so it may help to call the store in advance. Another great place to get pellets is at farm stores, and they usually carry them all year long. However, the price may be a bit higher.
I start off pouring a few bags on the floor until I get about 5 inches of pellets, spread evenly across the floor. I occasionally (once a week) rake the droppings on top, into the pellets underneath. Then I periodically add another bag of pellets – about every 3 monts on average.
I usually know when it’s time to add another bag of bedding – when the coop starts to smell a little and just raking the droppings into the bedding underneath is not working to eliminate this odor anymore. After a year, I simply clean it all out and start the process over again. You can find more information on this process at www.backyardchickens.com which, by the way, is an excellent overall resource for all things related to chicken care.
Predator Control
If you live in an area near dogs, coyotes, racoons, skunks, mountain lions, fisher cats, red tailed hawks, or bears (the most common predators), you’ll want to make sure to make your coop is predator proof. For an outpen made of chicken wire or bird netting, you should embed the material 8″-12″ below the ground around the perimeter of the pen to prevent the would-be predator from digging in.
If your coop is fenced in with woven wire farm fencing (or any other type of farm fencing), it is a good idea to place either a strand of electric wire or barbed wire around the perimeter a few inches off the ground on the outside of the fence. Again, this will deter predators from entering.
RECOMMENDED LINKS TO NEW CHICKEN COOPS AND SUPPLIES
If, after reading all of this, you don’t feel up to the task or decide you DO have the money for a coop after all or don’t want to go through the work of building a coop – there are dozens of good chicken coops for sale. Here are a few links to some excellent coops and chicken coop supplies!
http://www.henspa.com
http://www.mypetchicken.com
I hope this information was helpful. I’ll be adding more as time allows. Good luck with your coop building adventures!
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Life on a Southern Farm: Chicken Nest Box Giveaway.
To celebrate our 20th chicken nest box sale from our on-line storeHenPals Chicken Nest Boxes, and to show our appreciation to everyone…we are having a giveaway featuring the 2 hole chicken nest box. A $45.00 value plus shipped free to you!
The nest boxes are made right here on the farm by FarmMan.See more here> Chicken Nest Boxes
If you would like to enter:
Open to U.S.A. 48 continental states.
You can enter by simply leaving a comment here for 1 entry.
If you don’t have a blog you can still enter. You can either leave an e-mail address with your comment, or e-mail me at gacountrygirl75 at gmail dot com, with your e-mail address, so I can contact you if you win.
or/andBlog about the giveaway on your site for 3 entries. Please leave a link to it.or/andTwitter it for 3 more entries.or/andTell about it on Facebook for 3 more entries.or/andStumble it for 3 entries.
The giveaway starts Monday- April 13 and ends on Saturday-April 18 at 11 P.M. EST.
Please let me know if you did any of the above so I will add your extra entries.
I’ll have the Randomizer.com site pick the number for the lucky winner.
The winner will be announced on Monday April 20.Good luck to you all.
Here are more pictures of the 2 hole nest box.
We also have the 4 hole nest boxes and the 6 hole nest boxes for sale onHenPals Chicken Nest Boxes. I hope you check out the site.
Several chickens can use the same nest box. Where we have the 4 hole nest boxes, we have as many of 5 hens laying eggs in the same nest.
FarmMan and I would like to thank-you all for your purchases and your words of encouragement over the last 6 weeks.It means a lot to us.This is just our way of saying Thank-you!
I’ll leave this post up all week.Have a great day and good luck.GaFarmWoman Pam
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Do It Yourself Chicken Coop Designs
Raising chickens is fun for the whole family. Kids especially love collecting fresh eggs.
If you have decided to start your own backyard flock then you will need to build a chicken coop. When building a chicken coop there are many things to keep in mind. You could design your own chicken coop or you could go with free chicken coop plans available online. There are some excellent step by step plans for building a chicken coop, which will include plans for build in chicken nest boxes and a feed and watering area as well as a roosting bar. Every detail will be planned out for you so all you have to do is build. Some excellent books on chicken coop designs can be found at Amazon.
Some people choose to design their own backyard chicken coop. If you are handy this should be a fairly easy task but here are some details you will need to include in your coop plans:
Nest Boxes: Nesting boxes are necessary. They provide a nice cozy place inside the coop for your hens to lay eggs. You will fill the nesting boxes with hay and the chickens will lay eggs in the box. Make sure you have enough boxes in the hen house. Chickens will share boxes but you should make sure they won’t be fighting over the nest box.
Hen House Feeder: Chicken coop supplies such as feeders come in many sizes and are available at your local feed store in various sizes. Raising chickens is fun for the whole family and with the right sized chicken feeder you won’t have to feed your hens every day. Depending on what size feeder you choose and how many chickens you have, you could end up feeding just once a week.
Proper Ventilation: The hen house will need adequate ventilation. Prior to building a chicken coop you should plan for good ventilation. Good chicken coop blueprints will allow good ventilation because good ventilation will help your flock remain healthy. The coop should have windows or openings to allow fresh air inside. These windows and doors can open to a chicken yard or they can be covered with chicken wire so hens won’t get out.
Chicken House Location: Chicken coops should be placed in a sunny, well drained high location. Plan ahead and make sure your chickens are located in an area which may have drainage issues in winter. Chickens need plenty of light in order to lay eggs. The more sunlight the hens have the better.
Build Your Coop With an Attached Yard: Hens can be down right mean to each other. It’s nice to have a penned in chicken yard for your hens. You can attach poultry wire over the top of the yard to keep your little egg laying friends inside the yard some people choose wing clipping but I haven’t found this necessary. This will allow less dominate hens to get away from mean hens. Build a coop with an chicken door for the chickens to go from the coop to the yard and a “man” door for you to enter the coop. Having a full sized door for you to gather eggs from the chicken house and do some coop cleaning easily.
Build the Hen House with Good Materials: Keep in mind when building a chicken coop predators and all the ways they will try to get inside the coop to your chickens. Innocent looking neighborhood dogs may try and enter the coop and harm your chickens. Using scrap lumber in your coop design is okay but just make sure the scrap materials will not compromise your hens safety.
Raising chickens is a wonderful experience for the entire family. There isn’t anything quite like fresh eggs. Doing research prior to building a chicken coop will save you a lot of headaches in the future and will also help your hens live long and healthy lives.
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Chicken Coops – Build a Chicken Coop – Free Chicken Coop Plans
Outdoor Chicken Yard
We want our chickens to be happy, but safe. In our region there are many predators that endanger free roaming chickens. Besides coyote which are prevalent in the area, there have been sightings of both mountain lions and wolves in the vicinity. Several of our neighbors have lost hens to these predators, even chickens that were thought to be protected by fenced-in yards.
In addition, we took the threat of avian flu into consideration when designing our outdoor chicken habitat. With rampant news about the dangers and spread of avian flu we decided that our coop needed to be enclosed on the top as well as the sides to prevent migrating birds from entering the coop in search of food and water. In the future we plan to provide a watering hole on the other side of our property for migrating birds.
Building a Secure Chicken Yard
You might remember our experiments with geodesic domes… We used our geodesic dome tent as a storage space for more than a year. During that time the tarp cover succumbed to the harsh elements and eventually shredded. We agreed that while the dome shape made a decent temporary shelter, the effort that would be required to make another cover was not worth the gain. Instead we decided to re-appropriate the dome frame for our outdoor chicken habitat.
To cover the dome we cut chicken wire into triangles and attached each triangle to the dome with tie wire. We interlaced each of the seams to securely enclose the dome. Around the outside of the base of the dome, we dug a trench about 6″ deep and 8″ wide. We lined the bottom and one side of the trench with chicken wire, overlapping the dome frame with the chicken wire and securing it to the frame with tie wire. We filled the trench with sharp metal scraps left over from other projects and then covered it over. The trench is designed to deter any animals that might try to dig their way into the chicken dome.
The chicken dome looks cool, but rectangular structures offer adequate stability for a lot less work and effort. In addition, we’ve discovered that its quite a challenge to catch a chicken in a round space. In a rectangular space, chickens can be easily cornered and caught. The verdict…no more domes.
Chicken Coop
The chicken dome abuts the barn and there is an entryway leading from the outdoor chicken yard to the interior chicken coop. The passage way has a guillotine style door that can be raised or lowered from inside the barn via a rope and pulley system. We looked into using a doggie door, but our research showed that chickens weren’t prone to push through a door.
Nesting Boxes
The interior chicken coop also houses the nest boxes. We first experimented with communal nesting boxes, which are large and unsegmented. This has not really been that successful. We’ve had trouble keeping the straw in the boxes, as well as keeping them clean. We have several improvements planned for our nest boxes. First, we will segment the nest boxes so that each compartment is just large enough for one bird. In addition the boxes will be shorter, which we theorize will keep the chickens from standing in their nests and thereby from fouling their nests. Next, we will make the lip on the front of the boxes higher in order to keep the straw from being pushed out so easily.
When our chickens first started laying, we immediately had problems with the chickens eating their eggs! To correct the problem we identified and quarantined the instigating chicken. It was easy to tell which one she was by the egg on her beak and feathers. We also placed burlap curtains over the nest boxes to reduce the light in the boxes. In my research I found that while chickens need ample light to maintain their health, too much light in the nest boxes can cause them to be anxious and break their eggs and then learn to eat them. To break the egg eating habit we collected eggs every half hour for about a week. We’ve pretty much taken care of the egg eating problem and now only find pecked eggs on occasion.
Chicken Roost
Our chicken roost is also a work in progress. We first started with a roost that looked a bit like a ladder. As it turned out the birds all fought for the top rung, which created discontent within the flock. Now our roosts are all on the same level and order is restored to the flock, but the birds are able to stand in the droppings that collect under the roost. We’d like to prevent this unsanitary behavior and will be rethinking the roosts.
Passive Solar Barn Plans
Click here to read more about our passive solar barn.
More on Raising Chickens
Read about our first experience raising egg laying chickens:
Egg Laying Chickens for Beginners
How we modified our nesting boxes and increased egg productivity:
Building Chicken Nest Boxes
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Life on a Southern Farm: Chicken Nest Boxes Made on the Farm U.S.A.
Made in the U.S.A. That is something you just don’t see much of anymore. Hard at work on a rural Georgia, U.S.A. farm are some fine products being produced… By my FarmMan.
Here is our new project that we have here on the farm. Chicken nest boxes in 2 or 4 or 6 hole sizes.
I get a good many e-mails asking about the hen nest boxes that farm man had built.The ones we used in the chicken house have the wooden roost. But if we sold those type the roost would either have to be unassembled to ship or the box huge to hold the chicken nest box with the roost attached.
FarmMan loves to build and invent things. He thought and tryed different solutions to the roost.Through trial and error process he came up with the idea for these.
The 1 inch X 1 inch 14 gauge galvanize wire on 9 gauge rods. There is a wood strip attached(from our trees and sawed on the sawmill). The roost can be folded up for easy shipment.
It is a fully assembled chicken nesting box with 2, 4, or 6 holes ready to ship out. The removable nest bottoms just have to be put back in the nest boxes.
FarmMan wanted the boxes to be safe for people and hens so he added a plastic strip guard around each hole opening.
We have sold a good many of the nest boxes with the wooden roost at local livestock sales in our area. Since I have so many inquiries about the nest boxes by e-mail we wanted to try and sell some of the chicken nest boxes on line. I went about trying to figure out how to do that. I found an on-line store site, buyitsellit.com . After several days of getting pictures loaded and the site set up , we now have an on line store- click here> Hen Pals Chicken Nest BoxesThe second day we had our first order! (Thank-you!) Shipping will be new to us but we will get it all figured out. The first one the shipping price that was automatically calculated was about $11 to low. I think I have it adjusted right now.
FarmMan even made these hooks for hanging the hen boxes.
I am so proud of my husband and the good quality chicken nest boxes he has made. The nest boxes are made from 26 gauge galvalume(aluminum-zinc alloy coated sheet steel).The are strong and sturdy and– pretty too. (He wouldn’t like that description)
Not only is he making chicken nest boxes, but catch and release traps as well.He has these squirrel/rat traps made from 16 gauge welded galvanized wire with 1/2inch X 1 inch holes.
The animals walk into the trap and you just turn the trap over to release them.
This is the smaller wire mouse trap.
You can also click on the picture of the Chicken Nest Boxes in the top right hand corner to go to the on line store site.I appreciate the interest and inquiries about the nest boxes and traps. We are excited and hope this adventure turns out well.I know you and your chickens will love these nests!
Of course there are more projects and things waiting to be invented and made, right here on the farm in Georgia, U.S.A.
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Building Chicken Coops and Constructing Chicken House Plans
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!
Didn’t find the poultry answers you wanted? Ask a question in our poultry forum or search for more great info on raising chickens at poultryOne.com:
References and Recommended Readings: