4 Critical Errors to Avoid When Building Chicken Coops Or Hen Houses
When I first started building chicken coops many years ago I made my share of mistakes.
My very first chicken coop was built in an area with poor drainage, making it unacceptably muddy whenever it rained.
Not only were the chickens less healthy, but the eggs were always dirty and needed washing.
It was also about 5 times larger than necessary which made it 5 times as expensive to build.
Nevertheless, through trial and error, it was not long before I was building chicken coops that were cheap and trouble-free to maintain.
I was having so much fun I started raising a lot of unique breeds of chickens, hatching eggs in incubators that my own chickens had laid.
Plus, I started raising other varieties of birds including turkey, guinea, quail, duck, and a number of others.
Constructing well-designed and functional hen houses turned my hobby upside down; it became lots of fun.
If you expect to reap some rewards from your new hobby, do things properly on your initial try and circumvent critical beginner mistakes.
Mistake #1: Not Properly Planning Ahead With a little advanced planning you will boost the odds of ending up with an enjoyable hobby.
At a minimum you must sketch a rough diagram of how your hen house will look.
You will ideally include where the doors, walls, windows, poultry feeders, poultry nests, and water fountains will be positioned.
By developing as meticulous of a diagram as you are capable, including measurements and proportions, you can accurately estimate the amount of wood, wire, and other supplies that will be needed for the job.
Money will be wasted if you buy too many supplies.
When coming to a decision about where to situate specific items in your poultry house, try to position them in areas that will be most handy for you.
For example, building a small hinged door in the right spot will make egg gathering a quick job.
Build the poultry nests on a wall with a tiny outside-accessible door just a bit above the height of the poultry nests.
Building coops in this fashion will permit you to gather fresh eggs from the outside without having to enter.
Try to employ a plan where the chicken shed is two feet above the ground with chicken wire for the flooring.
This will permit the chicken droppings to drop through the wire flooring as a substitute to building up within their home.
It will eliminate the necessity of constant cleaning and keep the poultry away from their droppings.
Mistake #2: Not Building the Chicken Coop in a Good Location One of the most universal mistakes is building chicken coops in inferior backyard places.
Selecting an inferior backyard place can cause diseased and unproductive hens.
The hen house ought to be where there is great drainage.
Lacking adequate drainage you can end up with a concoction of muddy water and droppings.
Ingesting this dirty water or tracking it into the nest and feed area will most likely have the consequence of a smaller number of eggs, health disorders, and even fatalities among the flock.
The chicken housing should be built in the vicinity of an easily accessible water supply.
This will allow you to add simple automatic watering practices and eliminate the need for you to provide fresh water each day.
Mistake #3: Not Providing Enough Light Hens should have at least 14 hours of sunlight per day to lay eggs dependably, so locate your chicken housing facing south for the greatest sun exposure.
Furthermore, it will keep the chicken housing drier which will help it stay cleaner.
If you are planning to gather fresh organic eggs throughout the times of the year where there are fewer than 14 hours of sun per day you will have to provide artificial lighting using low-wattage light bulbs.
Placing your chicken shed near an available electrical supply is helpful in these situations.
Mistake #4: Not Providing Proper Ventilation Without windows or openings there will be inferior ventilation.
Chicken droppings are the source of strong and unpleasant odors that are damaging to their physical health if permitted to build up.
At least one window, but if at all possible two, will be positioned in areas that will permit suitable air circulation.
With better ventilation the chicken shed will stay drier, and therefore cleaner, which will usually help prevent diseases.
My very first chicken coop was built in an area with poor drainage, making it unacceptably muddy whenever it rained.
Not only were the chickens less healthy, but the eggs were always dirty and needed washing.
It was also about 5 times larger than necessary which made it 5 times as expensive to build.
Nevertheless, through trial and error, it was not long before I was building chicken coops that were cheap and trouble-free to maintain.
I was having so much fun I started raising a lot of unique breeds of chickens, hatching eggs in incubators that my own chickens had laid.
Plus, I started raising other varieties of birds including turkey, guinea, quail, duck, and a number of others.
Constructing well-designed and functional hen houses turned my hobby upside down; it became lots of fun.
If you expect to reap some rewards from your new hobby, do things properly on your initial try and circumvent critical beginner mistakes.
Mistake #1: Not Properly Planning Ahead With a little advanced planning you will boost the odds of ending up with an enjoyable hobby.
At a minimum you must sketch a rough diagram of how your hen house will look.
You will ideally include where the doors, walls, windows, poultry feeders, poultry nests, and water fountains will be positioned.
By developing as meticulous of a diagram as you are capable, including measurements and proportions, you can accurately estimate the amount of wood, wire, and other supplies that will be needed for the job.
Money will be wasted if you buy too many supplies.
When coming to a decision about where to situate specific items in your poultry house, try to position them in areas that will be most handy for you.
For example, building a small hinged door in the right spot will make egg gathering a quick job.
Build the poultry nests on a wall with a tiny outside-accessible door just a bit above the height of the poultry nests.
Building coops in this fashion will permit you to gather fresh eggs from the outside without having to enter.
Try to employ a plan where the chicken shed is two feet above the ground with chicken wire for the flooring.
This will permit the chicken droppings to drop through the wire flooring as a substitute to building up within their home.
It will eliminate the necessity of constant cleaning and keep the poultry away from their droppings.
Mistake #2: Not Building the Chicken Coop in a Good Location One of the most universal mistakes is building chicken coops in inferior backyard places.
Selecting an inferior backyard place can cause diseased and unproductive hens.
The hen house ought to be where there is great drainage.
Lacking adequate drainage you can end up with a concoction of muddy water and droppings.
Ingesting this dirty water or tracking it into the nest and feed area will most likely have the consequence of a smaller number of eggs, health disorders, and even fatalities among the flock.
The chicken housing should be built in the vicinity of an easily accessible water supply.
This will allow you to add simple automatic watering practices and eliminate the need for you to provide fresh water each day.
Mistake #3: Not Providing Enough Light Hens should have at least 14 hours of sunlight per day to lay eggs dependably, so locate your chicken housing facing south for the greatest sun exposure.
Furthermore, it will keep the chicken housing drier which will help it stay cleaner.
If you are planning to gather fresh organic eggs throughout the times of the year where there are fewer than 14 hours of sun per day you will have to provide artificial lighting using low-wattage light bulbs.
Placing your chicken shed near an available electrical supply is helpful in these situations.
Mistake #4: Not Providing Proper Ventilation Without windows or openings there will be inferior ventilation.
Chicken droppings are the source of strong and unpleasant odors that are damaging to their physical health if permitted to build up.
At least one window, but if at all possible two, will be positioned in areas that will permit suitable air circulation.
With better ventilation the chicken shed will stay drier, and therefore cleaner, which will usually help prevent diseases.