Housing
How To Build A Simple Chicken Coop
How To Build A Simple Chicken Coop In Four Dead-Easy Steps
If your mind is set on keeping chickens in your backyard, but you do not know where to start because of the overload of information on how to keep chickens that’s coming your way, I advise you to forget everything that you heard, read or saw. Everything. I will tell you how to build a simple chicken coop and start keeping your own flock right now!
There’s only three things a Happy Chicken needs:
- Shelter
- Food
- Space
That’s all. The latter two are easy to solve: Food you can buy at a pet store or at a mill. Space should be you back yard or terrace. That leaves us with only one thing. A Hen House.
This is where most aspiring hobby farmers fail. Some build or buy too large a coop and get into trouble, some are incredibly bad at building a simple coop themselves and there’s people who start out with way too many chickens and a small shelter.
4 Steps To Build A Simple Chicken Coop
- First get a decent plan for a simple Chicken Coop. To visit simple, easy to follow plans at a decent price Click Here. I highly recommend these plans, as I have used them to (re) build my own Coop and Run several times.
- Get your tools and building materials. Good tools are a blessing for life, as most DIY-ers already know. To find affordable wood, I suggest you visit a sawing mill and buy your wood there. This is way cheaper than buying wood and mesh wire at the store.
- Find a good spot. Not too close too water, not too exposed to the elements and not too far from the house.
- Study your plans carefully before you start building. Print them and follow the easy steps and imagery in the best plans for a simple Chicken Coop. I finished a simple chicken tractor design that can hold up to three fowl within a day!
Chicken Nesting Boxes
Happy Chickens need comfy Nesting Boxes
Keeping happy chickens increases egg count and egg quality. This does not only mean the right feed , a large chicken coop and run. A happy chicken must feel secure and comfortable. The nesting boxes area is an important feature of a successful chicken coop.
How to achieve this?
Build separate Chicken Nesting Boxes
Chickens are social animals and social animals need privacy. This is no joke! Studies proves that chickens in separate nest 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.
Suggestions for building nesting boxes
- 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 nesting boxes. 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 nesting box: Takes a bit of work and wood, but in my opinion this is the best solution. For plans click here
Placement of the nesting boxes
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 nesting box 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 the eggs 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
For those who want to ‘go pro’ I’ve listed some chicken nest products below:
Chickens and Climate
I live in a beautiful mountainous countryside in Austria, near Salzburg. The views are amazing and yes, my hens enjoy them too. The climate is pretty extreme though. Due to the mountains, summer can turn into winter and back into spring within twenty four hours.
That’s gives me the occasional cough, so one can imagine how the weather can influence the health of your chickens and chicks. Although their plumage gives them insulation that can keep them warm or cool at will, long periods of moist weather and sudden weather changes will take their toll. Not only on the chickens, but on your chicken run as well.
Preventive measures
Insulating, ventilating and maintaining.
Insulation
Properly insulating your Chicken Coop is essential. I’m not talking double walls and heating here (although I sometimes think it is worth considering). Making sure that there is plenty of dry hay on the floor and that it is changed regularly will do a lot of good. Because of changes in temperature and humidity wooden boards expand, shrink and bend. Draughty slits will be the result. Having the right building plans and materials can prevent this from happening.
Ventilation
The placement of your ventilation holes is important too. The best place is directly beneath the roof. This way potential draughts will be above the nesting areas. The air circulation keeps humidity levels low, even in rainy periods. Moisture alone is danger to your chickens’ health. It attracts bugs and lice, and salmonella can occur in humid nesting areas.
So place your chicken run away from any sources of water, be it sprinkler systems or drainage. This will also keep vermin at a distance. And I can’t point this one out enough: Clean the coop regularly. Good hygiene leads to more and better eggs.
Maintenance
After building your chicken coop it is necessary to check on the structure on a regular basis. Knock on the wood so to say. It’s not a big deal, but if you find a crack in the boarding or rotten wood, repair it before it endangers the health of you chickens and the state of your coop.
