When I originally began building chicken coops many years ago I made my share of mistakes. My initial chicken coop was manufactured in a location with poor water drainage, making the ground mucky each time there was rain. My birds were less healthy and the eggs were constantly dirty and required cleaning. In addition, it was as much as 5 times larger than it needed to be which made it 5 times as pricey to erect.
Nevertheless, owing to trial and error, it wasn't long before I was building chicken coops that were low-cost and painless to maintain. It was more fun that I had ever imaged it would, so I began keeping many unusual varieties of poultry, growing my own fertile eggs and hatching them an incubator. Additionally, I began keeping other types of poultry including turkey, guinea, quail, duck, and a number of others. Manufacturing well-designed poultry houses turned my hobby into a satisfying and worthwhile one. If you are planning to enjoy your brand new endeavor, do everything right on your initial try and circumvent pricey beginner mistakes.
Mistake #1: Not Planning Ahead
With some planning you will increase your chances of developing a pleasurable hobby. At a minimum you will need to draw a rough diagram of how your chicken house will appear. You will ideally include where the walls, doors, windows, feeders, nest boxes, and waterers will be placed. By developing as detailed of a sketch as you are able, together with measurements and proportions, you will be able to accurately estimate the amount of lumber, wire, and other supplies that will be essential for finishing the task. This can save you some cash from purchasing too many supplies.
When deciding on where to situate specific items in your chicken pen, try to place them in areas that will be most handy for you. As an example, putting a tiny hinged door in the correct spot can make egg gathering a trouble-free task. Construct the nest boxes on a wall with a small-sized outside-available door just above the nest. Putting together coops in this way will permit you to collect eggs from the outside without needing to go inside.
One of the finest approaches is to erect your chicken shed two feet off the ground and employ wire as the flooring. This will let the droppings drop below the wire instead of piling up in their home. It will remove the need for regular cleanup and keep the birds out of their droppings.
Mistake #2: Placing It in a Poor Spot
Building chicken coops in inadequate backyard places is surely a huge error that inexperienced hobbyists often make. Picking a poor backyard spot can be the cause of unhealthy, diseased, and unproductive hens. The chicken housing needs to be in an area with superior water drainage. Without suitable water drainage you will probably end up with a mixture of muddy water and droppings. Ingesting this impure water or tracking it into the feed and nesting area will surely result in a smaller number of eggs, illness, and even fatalities among the flock.
The chicken shed will ideally be built near an easily accessible water supply. This will make it possible for you to establish simple automatic watering practices and remove the need for you to give them fresh water each and every day.
Mistake #3: Not Providing Sufficient Sunlight
Pullets should have a minimum of 14 hours of daylight a day to provide you with eggs dependably, so build your chicken shed facing south for optimum sun exposure. This will also help keep the chicken shed drier which can help it remain cleaner. If you want to collect fresh organic eggs throughout the seasons of the year where there are less than 14 hours of sunshine per day you will need to supply them with synthetic lighting in the form of a low wattage light bulb. Putting your chicken pen near an accessible electrical supply is useful in these situations.
Mistake #4: Providing the Hens with Inadequate Air Circulation
For adequate air circulation you will need to provide a window or two. Bird droppings can be the source of strong and unpleasant odors that can possibly be harmful to their physical condition if permitted to build up. At least one window, but if at all possible two, should be placed in locations that will permit adequate ventilation and air circulation. With enhanced air circulation the chicken pen will stay cleaner and drier which will help prevent diseases.
Joshua has kept poultry for over 25 years and has constructed all of his own chicken coops throughout those years. He is proficient in successfully keeping poultry for meat and egg production. He has a web site full of helpful information with regard to
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About the Author:
Joshua has kept poultry for over 25 years and has constructed all of his own chicken coops throughout those years. He is proficient in successfully keeping poultry for meat and egg production. He has a web site full of helpful information with regard to building chicken coops, successfully raising poultry, and more. |
