The Cheapest Way to Build Chicken Runs

Posted on May 21, 2010, 9:07 pm, by lecoq and received 24 Comments ».

How to Build Cheap Chicken Runs

In this post I will tell the story how got started building cheap chicken runs. I messed up at first, but after I found the proper hen house plans it was a success!

If you want to take a peak at the plans now, click here

We live in a house with a nice, not all too big a garden. To make it a bit livelier, last year we decided to build a chicken run at the back of the garden. So without thinking about it too long, I got to work. I build the chicken pen first, using old wood I got from the place I work.
I never knew how chicken runs are to be set up, but I figured that a good lot of mashed wire attached to some guide poles would do the trick. I put a net over the chicken run and voila, I was finished.

All I paid for was the mashed wire and the poles. Altogether I spent only € 30,- on it, with enough room for five hens. I was so proud….

Then came the Misses. She gave me a big hug and whispered in my ear: “Tear it down love, it’s downright ugly”

How about that for all my hard work huh?

I was agitated to say the least. But when it comes to style & esthetics, my wife is right most of the time. During dinner that evening she told me she had seen a beautiful coop and chicken run for only € 749,- that would fit perfectly in our garden.

Now that was crazy. You know how many eggs each hen would have to lay to break even on that?” No matter how good that hen house looks, I can do that better for less “, I thought.

Now this chicken run had to be good-looking, fit all five hens in, be practical and most of all, be cheap. All easier said than done, I didn’t know where to start or how to plan this. To be honest, I knew nothing about keeping chickens in the first place!

So after some research I was where most of you guys are right now. I knew the basics, how chickens tick and how cool it is to have them. But I still couldn’t fit the pieces together. I needed a good plan that takes me by the hand, step by step and leads to a good result.

All the free stuff I downloaded was either incomplete, ugly or unreadable. Not a sure success. I just decided to give it a go and buy a plan. After all, if I wasn’t satisfied, there was a 60 day money back guarantee on it.

I was surprised by the comprehensive designs. No plans only a carpenter can read, just easy to follow plans with pictures to refer to. I loved it. The ebook took me from planning through preparation to building. It even had a customer service!

After one week our new pen and chicken run were built. My wife loved it! While I built the chicken run, she varnished the pen and prepared the nesting area.

And now, one year later, our chicken run still stands proudly, weathering our crazy,northern alps climate. All for less than €160,- One of our neighbours even asked us to build him a chicken run like that. So now I am even contemplating to make it a business.

Check out Chicken DIY Guide here

Tags: chicken run, chicken runs

The Comfy, Happy Chicken

Posted on June 16, 2010, 10:36 am, by lecoq and received No Comments ».

A Comfortable Chicken is a Happy Chicken

Keeping happy chickens increases egg count and egg quality. This does not only mean the right feed and a large chicken coop and run. They must feel secure and comfortable.

How to achieve this?

Build separate Nesting Boxes and place them well

Chickens are social animals and social animals need privacy. This is no joke! Studies proves that chickens in separate nesting boxes lay more and cleaner eggs. Communal nesting areas bring a certain degree off stress, some chickens seek ’shelter’ and build a nest in a corner on the floor. Result: dirty eggs, straw all over the place and in some cases the chickens eat their own eggs. This we do not want.

Here are some suggestions for nestboxes.

The lazy box: A cardboard box does the trick. Make sure you have the bottom side covered so the straw and the eggs stay inside the box. Weak spot: They get ruined easily.
The paid solution: A farm store sells nesting boxes for 10-15 bucks a piece. As I am a DIY kind of guy, this is not an option for me. Weak spot: They cost too much.
Plastic crates: Milk crates or beer crates make great nestboxes. Cut out the inside of the crates and put straw in them. Easy fix. Good feature: A plastic crate can be easily hung to a wall.
The proper DIY nestbox: Takes a bit of work and wood, but in my opinion this is the best solution. For plans click here

Placement of the nestbox

This is more of a practical thing. Make sure they are easily accessed. A hatch behind the boxes for easy egg collecting is a good idea.

Also see to it that the boxes are not in a draughty place in the coop. Of course ventilation is vital. An elevated nestbox can be a good plan. This way the airflow in the coop is optimal.

Finally, always see that the boxes are filled with plenty of straw and that they have a rim to keep everything inside the box. Clean regularly.

Tip: put a plastic tray at the bottom of the box for easy cleaning.

For more of the best chicken advice Click here

Tags: happy chicken, nesting boxes

Build your own Poultry Feeder

Posted on June 9, 2010, 11:32 pm, by lecoq and received 1 Comment ».

How to build a Poultry Feeder (cheapo style)

Going in and out of the chicken run every day to feed my girls was fun in the beginning, but as the days grow shorter and mornings are colder, it was no longer my idea of fun. What to do, what to do?
A poultry feeder was the only solution. But the proud cheapskate I am, it had to come free or much cheaper than in the local animal store.
So here we go:

Build a Bucket Feeder

Get a bucket, a used standard five gallon (20 liter) plastic bucket will do. Empty it, clean it. Make one inch (or 2 cm) holes at the bottom of the bucket, every hole set 2,5 inches apart.
Get a pot plant dish (plastic) attach it it to the bottom of the bucket. You can glue it or fix it with bolts and nuts.
Put the feed in and you’re done.

An elevated feeder keeps the feed a bit cleaner. Attach the poultry feeder with some string on the hinges to the ceiling of your chicken coop. Don’t hang it up too high though.

The feeder can be used inside and outside, just put a lid on the bucket for protecting you poultry feed from getting wet or contaminated.

Tags: bucket feeder, feeder, poultry feeder

Check your Chicken’s Health

Posted on June 8, 2010, 9:58 am, by lecoq and received 5 Comments ».

How a Healthy Chicken Looks

A healthy chicken is a happy chicken, that speaks for itself. But how do you know wether you’ve got healthy chickens or not?

Since I am no vet, I won’t bother you with symptoms and disease I know nothing about. What I can tell you, is how a healthy chicken looks and behaves. Here’s a simple check list of things to look at in a healthy chicken.

Eyes: If your chicken has ‘bright’ and alert eyes, it’s all looking good. But if she has hazy, foggy eyes or a film over her eyes, go see the vet.
Noise: A noisy chicken is a happy chicken. If your hen is a talkative bird it is a good sign. They are social animals and need to cackle a lot.
Struggling: A good sign, the chicken still has the power and will to fight back when caught. Usually ,hens do not like being picked up. If they’re docile they are either well tamed, but mostly it is a sign of a weak bird.
Check the combs: If your hen has a warm and soft comb it is good. When it is hard/swollen there could be trouble. Although it is no tell-tale sign.
Skin colour: Normally a healthy chicken should have yellowish skin colour. Of course every breed has its specific taint, but generally a yellow colour is a good sign. Just push the feathers apart and you’ll see the chicken’s skin.
Look in the bird’s beak. This is a bit hard to do. I get pecked a lot when I try to do this, but the colour of the tongue tells a lot about how your chicken is doing. The tongue should have a light pink colour.
The feet: If the feet are swollen, they probably have some kind of mite or vermin.
Droppings: The chicken poop should be a thick, black and white substance. If it’s very watery and/or yellowish there is something wrong.

When you have a sick bird, separate it from the rest of the flock and clean out the pen thoroughly to prevent disease from spreading.

click here for more information on chicken health and diseases.

How to Clean your Coop

Posted on June 7, 2010, 3:37 pm, by lecoq and received No Comments ».

A clean coop is a necessity

Chickens are messy critters and they leave their droppings anywhere they like. And when they feed there’s no table manners. The chicken feed is all over the place, often mixed up with droppings.

Did I mention they love to take dust baths? They do. This all accumulates to a smelly hen coop, especially in winter, when they don’t get outside a lot.

When to clean your coop

A thorough cleaning has to be done about twice a year. Depending on the size of your flock. I advise to clean the feeders and waterers more often. Just take them out and wash with dish-washing soap.

Refreshing the hay and/or wood shavings should be done every two months, in winter every four to six weeks.

How to clean the coop

Common sense really. Get the chickens outside in the run, sprinkle some grains or grit to lure them outside the coop when they’re reluctant to come out.

Remove the hay and shavings from the nesting boxes and floor and rince the floor and walls with a mixture dishwashing soap, bleach detergent and water.

2 parts bleach
1 part dishwashing soap
30-40 parts water

After scrubbing spray water over the walls , floor and nesting area to remove any soap and bleach residu. Wait until all is dry and then put fresh hay and/or wood shavings in the coop and nesting boxes.

Tip

Use the droppings as a fertilizer in your garden. Or add them to the compost heap if you have one.

Also, it is a good thing to have a removable plastic or aluminium plate on the floor of your coop to make cleaning easier.

I discovered this video on youtube recently that shows a very easy-to-clean coopdesign. I would love to have the exact plans for that. Enjoy!

Chicken Feed

Posted on June 6, 2010, 6:20 pm, by lecoq and received 3 Comments ».

What kind of chicken feed is good for your flock?

A chicken will eat practically anything that looks like food and fits in its beak. The good thing is that they’re not picky But you must see to it that they eat the right chicken feed.

You eat what they eat. If your chickens get fed with only barley or corn, you’ll get a taste of it too in their eggs and meat.
Needless to say that variation in their diet improves the egg quality and keeps your fowl healthier in general.

Seasons

Chicken diet is also season bound. In winter, when small bugs and insects are rare, I usually feed them a bit more corn and wheat and fish meal to compensate the protein levels .

In summer I try to give them as much green as I can. They can forage the garden for insects and worms themselves. They particularly love salad leaves, dandelion leaves and left over vegetables. Potatoe and carrot skins are also very popular among the flock.

You can mix your feed yourself or buy it at the animal store. But before you buy pre-mixed pellets, mash or grain mix for your chickens you must check what kind it is and what’s in it. If you’re still not sure, taste it. If it has a neutral taste, it’s probably all right.

In general, pre-ground mash or pellets will do, but if you’re keeping larger quantities, mixing your own feed might come a lot cheaper.

Note: Do not give baby chicks the adult feed! They need a starter mash, of which there are several. Switch to adult feed after 4 to 7 weeks.

Proteins

Chickens are omnivores, they need proteins a much as we do. That is why fish meal is a common supplement in a chicken diet.

A real treat are worms and small insects. These are full of protein too. If you free-range your flock they will peck them out the earth themselves, but if you keep them in their run it’s nice to give them a treat from time to time.

Grit

Grit is crushed rock that chickens use as “teeth”. Basically, it helps chickens digest their feed. For run-kept fowl it’s good to sprinkle some over the run surface every couple of days. Free range chickens will find their own grit in the pasture. No need to feed them extra grit.

If you don’t want to waste your time on pondering on what to feed your chickens, it’s time to go to the store! Don’t buy the cheapest feed, it is usually full of milling byproducts and not very nutricious. Better to pay a bit more for good quality feed.

Your chickens will be just fine when fed only this. Just remember that giving them your food scraps and gardening waste is a small effort to keep happy chickens!

For more detailed information and step-by-step instructions for raising your own flock click here

Tags: chicken feed

Planning and Preparation

Posted on June 3, 2010, 2:40 pm, by lecoq and received No Comments ».

As with any other DIY project planning and preparation are the ingredients for succes.

Planning

By now, you should have to have your chicken coop plan ready, on paper. Why paper? Because saw dust is a killer of laptops. And it’s easier to read and make notes on.

Make sure you have enough working space, and if there are kids running around fence them out or keep your working place safe. It’s best for your children and your tools.

Also, you must have chosen a good emplacement for your coop. Not too close to the house and well away from ponds, streams and other open sources of water.

Preparation

Get the right building materials. Wood can be costly, but you can save money by using old wood, maybe left overs from another project. Just make sure it’s not rotten. That is how I did it.

Netting and wiring. You can save money here too, but I think if it’s new it just looks better. And mashed wire is not too expensive.

Tar paper or roof tiles. I prefer tar paper. It’s cheaper and easier to work with.

TIP: when fixating roof tiles or tar paper, work from the lowest point up. Sounds logically, but I made the mistake of doing it top-down. I had to re-do the whole roof.

Tools

Good tools are an asset. So it is worth investing a bit of money in a proper power drill, a circular saw and a jigsaw. Of course you can rent or borrow them as well, but as a DIY fan I’d rather posess them myself.

Other tools needed are a hammer, nails, screws, a shovel and measuring tape. And sand paper for the finishing touch. A moveable work bench makes life easier too.

Tags: planning, preparation, tools

Chickens and Chivalry

Posted on May 30, 2010, 9:28 pm, by lecoq and received 2 Comments ».

The chicken is generally not associated with heroism or great deeds. Infact, if one says ‘chicken’ the first thought that comes to mind ’scared off easily’. This doesn’t do our feathered friend the honour it deserves.

Any animal will run away from a fight it can’t win, even a lion. Just because we humans don’t, does that make the chicken a ‘chicken’?

I’ll even go one step further and state that roosters are more courageous and knightly than any other animal or man I know.

How so? First of all the rooster, unlike other flock and pack leaders, will not eat before his hens have eaten. He even calls them to diner. Can’t say that of an alpha wolf. Allright, chickens aren’t predators but then again, a rooster has to eat and procreate too.

Secondly, the rooster calls his flock home or back into the pen when bad weather arrives, when strangers are near or when night falls. He kind of takes care of the flock. And he calls them out too in the morning…

Lastly, the rooster is a proud animal that attacks when his hens are in danger. He won’t run off until his flock is safe. That’s why usually the rooster gets killed (first) in case of a predatory attack on the hen coop. Ever seen a cockfight? These are vicious animals.

Roosters have the virtues of knights, something we should appreciate more than the way a chicken looks when it is running.

They are truly chivalrous.

Tags: Chicken chivalry, rooster

Chickens that made History

Posted on May 25, 2010, 8:15 pm, by lecoq and received 3 Comments ».

Chickens have played an important role in many big and less renowned historical happenings. Their doings have been translated as omens, their blood was and still is used in rites of all kinds. They are very interesting creatures indeed.

Although they play a role, the bottom line is that in the end, the fowl usually snuffs it…

So that is why today I will share a less macabre chicken chronicle with you.

My wife was born and raised in a small village north of Salzburg in Austria.

Around the year 1520 this village was divided by a stream and the nearest bridge was in Salzburg, way off in those days. Since there was only one church,this formed a big problem on Sundays, for half the people of the village had to take the long way round to get to church.

This problem was addressed to the big man lord-master of the time, the archbishop of Salzburg.
To solve the problem he had two options:
The first was to build another church and install another deacon to run the show.

The second option was to build a bridge.

The poor archbishop was between a rock and a hard place. This was a time in which bridges and churches were valuable real estate. He went for the bridge option and unite his flock in one church (this was probably the cheaper option too).

When the bridge was finished a new quarrel arose about the new name of the united village. The archbishop, the modest man he was, wanted to have the village named after him. So during the opening ceremony of the new bridge he had the announcement made that the first who was to cross the new bridge was the one the village was to be named after.

Now guess what happened: Just before the bishop wanted to cross on his high horse, a runaway chicken cut him off and went first.
Since that day the village is named Henndorf.

Tags: Chickens history

Building DIY Chicken Runs

Posted on May 9, 2010, 11:20 pm, by lecoq and received No Comments ».

Five things to consider before

building chicken runs

When you plan to build a Chicken Run by yourself, there are some important aspects to think of before you start.

These are:

> Weather Resistance

> Placement

> Ease of Access

> Security

> Comfort

Weather resistance

Depending on the local climate your choice of building materials for your chicken runs is very important. For instance: Plywood works fine in a dry climate, but is extremely sensitive ( and therefore weak) in humid areas or in places where there are massive temperature swings.

The more expensive hardwood is less affected by weather and temperature changes. Whatever choice of materials you use, it’s always good to paint and/or varnish your chicken run.

A good structure plan could keep your material expences down. That’s why I recommend a proper chicken coop plan.

Placement

Keep stress levels low. Chickens do stress a lot and easily. Therefore place your chicken runs well away from your living and sleeping quarters (this will help to reduce your stress levels too ). Also try to keep young children and pets away from your hens. Their presence seriously affects the egg production.

Keep your chicken runs and coops away from open water sources like sprinklers or drainage canals. Humidity is bad for hygiene. It attracts bugs, lice and other vermin. Not to mention salmonella bacteria.

Ease of Access

Access to the nesting area in your chicken runs has to be as stress-less for you and your chickens as possible. Their nesting area is the holiest of holy, so make sure that there is enough space and that the nests are clearly separated from the feeding area. Breakfast in bed for chickens is a bad idea.. Easy access is also important for cleaning purposes.

Security

When life in your chicken run goes about peacefully and naturally, egg production and quality will be at its best. Although it is sad to say, intrusion by predators or noisy pets and kids is inevitable. Somehow, sometime this will happen.

That’s why keeping a padlock on your Chicken Coop is a good idea. And against diggers I dug a one foot deep trench around my own Chicken Run and filled it with garden tiles.

Do not place your Chicken Runs out in the open. If you have no choice but to do so, surround the structure with some pot plants for shade, coolness and a sense of security for your hens.

Comfort

A comfy chicken is a happy chicken! Keep the nesting area as draft-free and dry as possible. Plenty of space with hay or saw dust is a must. One note to saw dust: Chicks consider anything that fits in their beaks as food. Sawdust is a poor choice of food and may kill your chicks. So if you have new-borns, the proper furniture for your chicken run nesting area is hay.

A final word of advice

If you want to have chicken runs with healthy and happy chickens, getting these five aspects right is essential. With the right coop design four out of five essentials are covered. All you need to do is put your DIY chicken runs into the right place.