Learn to Build a Chicken Coop

Many people are getting back to basics due to the harsh economic crisis.  Many of us are planting vegetables and looking at finding ways to provide food for our families the old fashioned way.  Some have even considered raising chickens as a way to provide eggs and meat much more economically. If you are one of these people, you will need to know how to build a chicken coop.

Chickens need housing too!  Building a chicken coops is not rocket science and you don’t have to be a formally trained carpenter to build suitable housing for your chickens.  Your first consideration should be sizing requirements.

On average each laying hen requires 2 square feet of space inside the chicken coop.  Outside you should allow at least 8 square feet per chicken in your yard.  You will want to decide on how many chickens you want to raise and then use these dimensions to determine if you have the space outside to accommodate the number of chickens you have chosen.

Keep in mind that in addition to the 2 square feet per chicken inside the coop you will also need nest boxes and 6-10 inches of perch space for each chicken

Once you have determined how many chickens and where in the yard to build a chicken coop you should then draw out your plans on paper.  Ideally you want to also include windows facing the south for ventilation in the summer and warmth in the winter months.  Remember to make the door to the coop big enough for you to enter in order to collect the eggs and to clean the coop.

When choosing the site in which to build a chicken coop you want to make sure it is in a high spot in order to avoid accumulating puddles of water during rain storms.

You will need chicken wire not only to cover the windows of the coop (to keep predators out) but also to surround the area in which the chickens will be outside of the coop.  You will also want to bury fencing or chicken wire 12 inches deep outside in order to prevent predators from digging under your perimeter.

Additionally you will want to cover the entire yard area with netting to prevent hawks, owls and other predators from attacking your chickens.

Chickens love to scratch in the dirt and they do tend to evacuate everywhere!  You may want to invest in straw to line the coop in an effort to make clean up easier.

You can use scrap lumber, plywood or even an old shed to build a chicken coop.  It can be done very inexpensively.

You can find how to build a chicken coop books in the library and all kinds of resources on the web.  It is fairly easy and the resulting eggs and meat can go a long way to help ease the food budget!