Build a Chicken House � Chicken House Building Tips

By Shannon Clark

If you’re looking to build a chicken house, there are some important things that you must consider first before doing so. Many people just jump right into the building process and end up neglecting certain aspects which really cost them a lot of time and money in the long run.

By keeping the following building tips in mind, you will be sure you’re making all the right decisions when it comes time to building your chicken coop.

Here’s what you need to know.

Tip# 1: Always Factor In Chicken Number

The first thing to keep in mind as you go about building a chicken house is how many chickens you plan to have. You are going to need a much larger chicken house if you want to raise 10 or more birds compared to if you only want two to three.

Making sure that the size of chicken coop you choose is correct is vital otherwise your chickens are not going ot lay eggs properly.

Tip# 2: Think About Your Climate

Next up, in order to build the right type of chicken house you need to think about your climate. How much rain do you get? What type of temperatures do you typically experience?

All of these will factor in when it comes time to decide what type of materials you want to use while building..

Tip# 3: Do You Want A Mobile Chicken Coop?

Third, consider whether you want to have a mobile chicken coop. Many individuals like being able to move their chicken house around with them, either for cleaning purposes or just because they want to watch their chickens when they are inside the home.

Mobile designs typically work best when you have a lower number of chickens due to the fact larger houses are much harder to transport around.

Tip# 4: What Is Your Price Range?

Finally, the fourth tip to keep in mind is cost. When you build a chicken house there are many different things you can do to keep your costs low if you are on a limited budget. In some cases, if you know some quick and easy tricks you might even be able to build a chicken coop for free. It’s all about understanding what types of materials can be used and then factoring in the cost of building and purchasing those materials if necessary.

So, keep these chicken house building tips in mind. If you do some reading first before getting started, you will definitely cut your total costs down.

Here is more information on how you can build a chicken house on a budget.

To read my review of ‘Building A Chicken Coop’, please click HERE:

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Check Out ====> How To Build A Chicken Coop

Raising Chickens 101: Chicken Behaviors

The groups that chickens live in are called flocks. Chickens are very social birds. But they are often aggressive toward each other.

They have a “pecking order” which is the order of the weakest bird to the strongest. Chickens dominate the weaker birds especially when they are competing for food or a nest.

Chickens are noisy like many other birds. They often cluck at each other and roosters’ cock-a-doodle-doo at dawn.

Chickens are not very fond of water. So instead of taking a bath in water, they like to take dust-baths. They like to keep their feathers in good condition so they also stroke themselves with their beaks.

When chickens aren’t feeding or exercising, chickens enjoy taking a nap by perching about the ground on a branch or pole. Most times the chickens stand on one leg. The muscles lock into place so when they are resting, they won’t fall off of the perch.

Like back in the day, chickens still peck and scratch at the ground to fine yummy food for the day. Even though it is many years later, chickens are still the same animal as before.

Build A Chicken Coop In 3 Days

Raising Chickens 101: The Laying of Eggs

For most of a hen’s life, she is laying both fertile and unfertile, eating eggs. Hens usually only lay one egg a day.

Hens like having a nice, tight nesting box to lay her eggs. Nesting boxes are made from wood and usually have hay at the bottom of them.

Hens like laying eggs in dark, warm places rather than light, cooler places. In the wild, they use a hollow on the ground and sometimes find corners of a farmyard.

The shell of eggs when first laid are usually moist but it air dries fairly quickly. When the days become longer, hens lay more eggs. As the days get shorter, the amount of eggs they lay gets lower and lower until winter when they don’t lay any eggs at all. Occasionally, they lay eggs all year round.

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Raising Chickens 101: Chicken Appearance

Chickens come in various colors, shapes, and sizes, but they have the same basic body structure.

First off, they all have a comb on top of their head and a wattle underneath their beak. Roosters usually have larger combs and wattles. All chickens also have two legs and two wings. They are all covered with feathers with a tail sticking up at an angle to the body sometimes with feathers that drop all the way to the ground.

Similar to people, chickens come in many different colors. Some chickens are mostly neutral colors while some have unique color combinations, speckles, or stripes. Besides just white, black, and brown, chickens also come in gold, silver, red, blue, and green.

Chickens usually have a rather small head, with a strong, pointy beak. They have plumb bodies and their breast is keel-shaped like a boat.

Their legs are covered with scales. Some breeds have poofy feathers growing from beneath them, covering their legs. They have nice, sharp claws that help them walk and grip things. Chickens are better at walking than flying but can flutter up to a perch.

Check Out ====> Build A Chicken Coop In 3 Days

Chicken House Plans That Deliver Maximum Results

As you get ready to start choosing which chicken house plans you’re going to use to complete this project, it’s important to start taking some time to ensure that you’re choosing a building plan that is designed to get you the best results for what you’re looking for.

Many people make some critical mistakes in choosing their chicken house plans and that is why they aren’t getting fresh eggs on a daily basis. Instead, look to the following factors that will go a long way towards helping you see optimal results.

Consider Size

The first thing that you must think about is the total size. This is going to have the biggest impact on how comfortable your chickens are while they stay in the coop, therefore you want to make sure you are getting it right.

Find chicken house plans that give you a precise building size calculation method that will allow you to determine exactly how large you need to build the coop in order for it to be a success.

If you don’t follow this step, the chances that you see good results will be much lower.

Think About Your Climate

Next, you should also consider the climate of the area you’re living in. Does it get very cold quite often? Or does the climate stay warm all year round?

This will influence the amount of insulation you’re going to have to have in your coop and how much ventilation may be needed in order for it to stay at an appropriate temperature in the summer months.

Good chicken house plans will provide you with all this information to take the guess work out of it.

Identify Your Building Materials

Third on the list, you should also take the time to identify the building materials that you should be using. There are a variety of different materials that will all work well, so this is something to spend a good amount of time thinking about.

You can really save on costs if you make careful selections with this aspect since it is the number one factor that most people pay money for. If you can find good used building supplies to use, you’ll virtually eliminate this cost altogether.

Determine Potential Predators

Finally, the last thing to take into account is any of the predators you may run into. An attack on your chicken coop can be one of the most devastating things to happen to any chicken farmer therefore it’s really important that you’re taking measures to prevent this.

Ideally the best way to go about doing this will be research the various chicken coop predators that are out there and then pay attention to which ones are most commonly found in your area. All of this information should be readily available so it shouldn’t take too long for it to be quite clear exactly what you need to protect yourself against.

So, do not underestimate the importance of good chicken house plans. They will really make it a much easier process and one that you can certainly have a great deal of success with over the long run.

Check Out ====> How To Build A Chicken Coop

Raising Chickens 101: Mating Chickens

Small farms often have a young rooster also called a cockerel. Its smart to only have one cockerel or else they would get jealous of each other and fight over the hens.

Mating is usually year round but chickens don’t seem to mate as much in winter. A rooster will mate every two or three days, mating with many different hens.

During the day, the cockerel prances around fluffing his feathers, showing off to the hens. When a hen wants to make, she lays down on the ground. The rooster climbs onto her back from behind and spreads his wings out for balance.

Afterwards, the hen has fertilized eggs inside her. Only eggs that have been fertilized by a rooster will eventually grow into chicks. If the eggs are not fertilized, they are safe to eat.

Build A Chicken Coop In 3 Days

Raising Chickens 101: Where Do Chickens Live?

Chickens are domestic birds. Dogs and cats are also domestic. You can usually find chickens on farms. They provide eggs and meat for the farmers.

On many farms, chickens can roam free during the day, and sleep peacefully inside the safety of a chicken coop at night. This keeps them away from foxes and other hunger predators. There are several different shapes and sizes of coops, each having different advantages. Some coops have runs. Runs are fenced in areas connected to the coop which allow chickens to roam in a certain amount of space given. All chicken coops protect chickens from the cold and wet weather outside and have nesting boxes for hens to lay their eggs.

Sometimes, farmers decide to let their chickens live outside. Chickens that are allowed to do this are called free-range. They get plenty of sun and fresh air during the day as well as shelter when they need it. These chickens are fed by farmers but also have the ability to search for food on their own.

Chickens are sometimes even kept in large chicken farms where thousands of chickens are crowded together in factory-like sheds. These chickens live in here their entire life and never get to feel the warmth of the sun or see the wonder of seasons. This is very unnatural.

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Raising Chickens 101: A Chicken's Diet

Chickens that roam free mostly find food for themselves. They use much of their body to do so.

Picking worms from the ground is easy for chickens because of their sharp beak. Grubs and other little insects from the ground can be eaten by chickens. Chickens don’t have teeth so they can only eat smaller pieces of foods. Chickens kept mostly in a coop need to be fed grit to help them digest their food.

Their claws help also help them pick out their food from the ground. Chickens tear out weeds and gently dig for something to eat. Many farmers take advantage of this and make sure they tear out weeds that are in the way of what the farmer needs to get to. Then he/she doesn’t have to.

Chickens that mostly live in a coop or kept inside a run, eat some other foods too. They will eat grain, seeds, fruit, other vegetation, or insects. Chickens aren’t very picky when choosing what to eat so just giving them some leftovers from lunch is a very nice treat.

It’s very important for chickens to get enough calcium. A good amount of calcium for a hen will lead to healthy newborn chicks or yummy eggs, which leads to a happy farmer. The calcium helps for a harder egg shell.

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Raising Chickens 101: Hatching Into Young Chicks

A couple of days before the baby chick hatches, you can here cheeps coming out of the egg. The hen waits, excited to see her new baby.

The day comes for the chick to start hatching. It’s a very hard job for the chick. It first has to peck a line down the center of the egg. Then, the chick has to peck through that line even harder and then actually get out of the egg. It can take up to 14 hours for this process.

The chick comes out wet. After a couple of hours, the fluffy, yellow coat will dry.

Once the baby chick is out of its egg, it waits for its siblings. All the chicks take a really long nap when they are all together. They don’t get too hungry because they still have some food left in them from when they were in the egg.

When the chicks finally wake up, they start exploring and getting some food.

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Raising Chickens 101: Growing Up A Chicken

Only a couple of weeks after the baby chicks are hatched and they are starting to grow their new feathers. For a while, it’s hard to distinguish which chicks are male and which are female. But after sometime, the comb and wattle will grow bigger on the males and the hen will stay smaller.

Young hens are called pullets. Pullets are mostly for egg-laying. They will start to lay eggs at five months but can’t start laying fertile eggs until a year old. Chickens lay most of their eggs their first year. Then a little less their second year. And so on.

If a chicken wasn’t killed for meat and was treated okay, the chicken could live up to 12 years. Think about how many eggs that would be in all.

Build A Chicken Coop In 3 Days