Chickens are fun to watch and they can provide you eggs and meat. Often times people buy chickens and let them live outside and to find whatever shelter they can provide for themselves. There are two problems with raising chickens in that manner, the first are the many predators that are hunting your chickens, there are numerous stray dogs that will wipe out a flock of chickens not to mention skunks and other animals. The second problem is that they do not lay eggs well when they are raised that way and when they do lay eggs it is difficult to find them. In this article I am going to give you two different ideas about how to make a chicken coop.
Free Organic Eggs! Building a coop is far easier than many people believe. Chickens are low maintenance pets. Building a chicken Coop Supports Sustainable Living. The chickens provide hours and hours of entertainment. Chickens get along with other pets. Chickens do not smell. Your eggs will not be weeks old before you even buy them at the grocery store. You can get the freshest eggs. You prevent your chicken from dying of a disease in a small cage. You do not have to have a big backyard to enjoy chickens and their eggs. Chickens are loyal pets. Eggs may prevent breast cancer. In one study, women who consumed at least 6 eggs per week lowered their of breast cancer by 44%. Chickens are very clean animals. IT IS FUN!
Often times when we ask how to make a chicken coop or anything else for that matter we try to rack our heads to come up with ideas for the perfect plan. If you are good at this type of planning thats great or if you are just a weekend project type of person then you might like my second idea. Rather than pull your hair out coming up with elaborate plans for making your chicken coop, you can go to your local hardware store and buy a set of plans for a small or large wood shed for about $5.00 and even less. The size of the shed depends on how many chickens that you have. It is important to remember that you will have to build a roost and laying boxes if you decide too go this rout. A roost can simply be made out of two 2x4x8s and three or four 2x2x8s. Nail your 2x4s about 7 feet apart at about a 45 degree angle, space the 2x2s crossways and now you have a roost. Your egg boxes can be made our of ply wood and 2x2s, make sure to put dividers in them due to the fact that chickens like a certain amount of privacy when they lay eggs.
No matter which idea you pick make sure that you build a chicken yard off of the coop. it is also a good idea to put chicken wire over the top of the chicken yard or run due to flying predators like hawks and crows.
Once you have your foundations set up, put the flooring in, again, about four feet from the ground. You can corner nail the flooring in if you wish, but it is a better idea to place small 2x4 braces under the flooring where they will connect to the foundations. This will give a little extra support and a good spot to put your nails in.
On a final note, be sure and put a decent amount of hay inside each doorway so that the chickens can use it for nesting. Enjoy your farm fresh eggs, fresh chicken meat, and the cash you make from selling those eggs!
Now, simply measure between the walls and floor for height and from foundation to foundation for the back and side walls. Use good thick plywood for this, at least inch. Do the exact same for the front wall, but cut out several doorways from the plywood so that the chickens can enter and exit. With that, the coop itself is almost finished. Now all you need to do is take some 1x5 boards and run them into the doorways angled to the ground so your chickens can enter and exit easily. A quick wire mesh fence around it all later and you have your completed chicken coop. At the very most, you might have $40.00 invested. Many people even use second-hand lumber to save even more cash.
Be aure to put hay inside the doorways. This is to make sure that your chicken can use it for nesting. And in some days it is time to enjoy your fresh farm eggs... you can even sell your eggs and make some additional money!
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