Pets & Animal Domestic & Farm Animals

Building a Chicken Coop - What You Need to Include When Building Your Backyard Chicken Coop

What makes a good Chicken Coop? There are several parts to building a great chicken coop which you should be familiar with.
Make sure you include all these so that you have happy and productive chickens.
These are:
  • The hen house is the enclosure within the coop where chickens roost at night and lay eggs during the day.
    You must ensure the hen house is fully enclosed to protect the chickens, and is ideally raised off the ground to avoid flooding.
    Typically a flap door will open out to the chicken run.
  • A chicken run is the enclosed outdoor area where chickens can walk around, scratch and flap their wings.
    This area should also provide good protection from predators.
    You may need to provide an alternative to the chicken run in extreme temperatures to ensure chickens can still get exercise.
  • A chicken coop includes both the hen house and the chicken run.
    Make sure the size is sufficient for the number of chickens you wish to keep and the backyard you are planning on building your chicken coop on.
  • The nesting box is where chickens lay their eggs during the day.
    If your chickens roam more freely around your garden, they may find alternative places to lay their eggs.
    Ensure there is good dry bedding which is generally straw and sometimes wood chips underneath.
  • Wooden roosts should be placed a couple of feet above the ground for chickens to sleep on at night.
    They like to perch when sleeping.
  • Poop boards should be placed under roosts to collect as much poop from your coop as possible at night! This will make cleaning a lot easier as the entire poop will be concentrated in one area.
  • Add feeders and stainless steel watering containers and ensure they are safe from being knocked over but accessible to the chickens.
    Suspending these just off the ground will also help keep some of the debris out as chickens do tend to scratch around a lot.
You must include all of these to have a functional coop.
From here you could style your coop with extras.
Why not play them some music or paint their coop? Make it a real chicken home your chickens would be proud of! Find out more about building a chicken coop so that you too can benefit from raising chickens.

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