Chicken coops plans

Chickens are active birds who spend much of their day foraging for food–scratching and pecking with their claws and beaks in search of seeds, seedlings, fruits, berries, insects and worms. They also eat lots of green plants, rich in calcium and vitamins. In the wild chickens start foraging before dawn. Perched in the trees, they see morning light almost an hour before we do. Roosters crow at dawn and during the day to make announcements (“Here’s food!”), sound warnings (“Hawk!”), and keep track of each other (“These are my hens, stay away?”). At midday chickens like to return to their resting place to preen, sunbathe, and dust bathe. Preening and dust bathing keeps their skin and feathers clean and water resistant by getting rid of built-up oil and distributing fresh oil from the preen gland located at the base of their tail. Chickens require full-spectrum natural sunlight for vitamin D and overall health. They also need ready access to cool shady places to avoid overheating. Above 80 degrees F, chickens develop heat stress which can kill them. Below 20 degrees F, their combs and wattles can develop painful frostbite.

In the late afternoon, chickens like to forage before going to roost. Though they have excellent color vision, chickens do not see well at night making them vulnerable to predators. Weasels, foxes, raccoons, possums, owls, hawks, dogs, and sometimes cats prey on chickens. At night they should sleep in a predator-proof coop with elevated solid–not swinging–perches such as 2X4s and sturdy branches big enough in circumference for a good grip and far enough from the wall so they don’t bump into it. (As “broiler” chickens mature they usually become too heavy to perch and must be able to sleep comfortably on the ground inside the coop.) Droppings below the perches must be removed often and cleaned out regularly, to avoid disease and the toxic ammonia fumes from accumulated droppings that can cause respiratory illness and blindness in chickens.

Fresh Food and Water

Chickens must always have access plenty of fresh clean potable water. Their foraging areas should be free of applied chemicals and their food must be fresh. Store their food in clean, dry, rodent-proof metal containers. Moldy food can poison chickens and should never be fed to them. Premixed nutritionally-balanced food is available in bulk at feed stores, or you can make your own by mixing together chicken scratch (whole wheat & cracked corn sold in bulk at feed stores) and a good selection of wild bird food. Premixed poultry rations often contain antibiotics as a preventative for disease. Chickens have gizzards instead of teeth to grind food. To grind, gizzards employ grit–pebbles and other hard indigestible objects chickens pick up while foraging. An indoor chicken should always have some grit available. Chickens love fresh treats. Offer them cooked spaghetti with or without pasta sauce, steamed rice, grapes, fresh greens, chopped cooked potatoes (never raw peels), bread, raw tomatoes, hard-boiled eggs including the shells (eggshells have calcium and other minerals for chickens).

Clean, Comfortable, Predator-Proof Housing

The purpose of a coop is to provide shelter from snow, ice, rain, wind, and predators. It should be roomy (at least 5 to 10 square feet per bird), well-insulated, and well-ventilated. Cold winter nights can be warmed and frozen drinking water prevented by installing one or two electric heat lamps above the perching area and by spreading a thick layer of wood shavings plus straw over the dirt floor. Chicken-wire walls should be covered with plastic or tarps during the winter in cold climates. The weather-proof roof should slope so as not to collect water and be made of a material that does not collect and hold heat. Roof and sides enclosed with galvanized mesh or chicken wire should go down at least 2 feet in the ground to prevent predators from digging under. Dig a trench around the coop and put the wire 2 feet in the trench. Refill the trench with soil to keep out burrowing predators. Or rest a pressure-treated wood frame on a ground-level base of 2 concrete blocks (16-inch depth) below the frame. The coop should be sunny and airy (but not drafty) and have cozy dim areas where the hens can quietly lay their eggs. Hens prefer a nesting place or nest box in the corner of the coop. Four to six hens can comfortably share a nest. Nest should be cleaned of droppings daily to prevent dirty eggs. Collect eggs daily and refrigerate to halt embryo formation if a rooster is included in with the flock. Healthy laying hens can live for up to 15 years (although non productive after about 3 or 4 years).

First answer by Jadeacres. Last edit by Jadeacres. Contributor trust: 2163 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 2 [recommend question].