Plans For Chicken Coops – Important Basics That Save You Money

You’re thinking about keeping backyard fowl? I have to say I think that’s a tremendous notion. But where to start? Number one job on your list – except getting those delightful birds of course – is to search for plans for chickens coops that match your ideas. The vital question is, what exactly are those requirements?

Are you after birds for fun in a small area? Do you want just a few eggs a day for you and your other half? Or enough for a family? Do you think you might want to get a couple of different varieties of birds? Could be you have ideas of selling the surplus? Perhaps you’re thinking to get some chicken coop plans and build ready made coops for sale? Not a bad concept that – plenty of folk have done well with it.

Lots to think about then. You also have to think about the area of your land. Chickens are usually easy to keep and don’t need big demands of space, but there’s a limit to how many you can get in a chosen plot and still keep them comfortable (and laying). There are small, medium, and large plans for the chicken coops, each of which takes a given number of your favorite fowl. Then there are fixed ones and there are the wheeled type.

We can’t really give a square footage for each hen – or how many birds you’ll need to feed several people. Some of that has got to be related to how much you love eggs! Different hen breeds vary in size and the amount of eggs they give. The US Department of Agriculture gives figures that the average chicken lays 260 eggs a year, but I never knew anyone with an average chicken yet. Usually a chicken gives a single egg a day – but will often not lay one day and from time to time for a complete week. That doesn’t mean there’s something wrong and, if you’ve got a group, you’ll never know which isn’t producing. If you’re just a small family, four eggs a day, on and on, takes a lot of eating – so you’ll have plenty to pass around.

Some people get very creative, taking a normal design for a chicken coop and then adding bits and pieces until they get a copy of a Dutch barn, or a mansion house, or a castle… all manner of things. Then there are folk who don’t bother with chicken coop plans at all and just use an old shed, or even an old sedan. Very amusing some of them, and no problem so long as underneath the “glamor” there is what your birds need for good health and security.

The biggest mistake people make is building a chicken coop too small. As far as materials are concerned, there’s not a lot of difference in cost between a small coop and a medium one. If you can afford it, and you have the space, always build bigger than you think you might need. Your hens will be better for it, you’ll get more eggs and you’ll have space to expand because I’ve got to warn you, chicken keeping can get addictive!

They are all important decisions in deciding the dimensions of coop you need. Cash might be a factor, but you are going to be saving quite a bit by building your own chicken coop so there won’t be a great difference unless you design it really big. You can always sell over-production to locals to offset money spent. Make your eggs cheaper than the local store and those around will normally be interested!

Returning to that fixed or moveable question? The fixed one is usually going to be a more durable coop. If you assemble it solidly it will last you longer. Doing that with a portable chicken coop can make it unnecessarily heavy – which defeats the object. The problem with a fixed coop is that the fowl will eventually turn the soil into a bare patch of earth. They will peck and scrape at grass and insects until there’s nothing left. That’s not a concern for the hens, but if you want to keep the wear spread out, a moveable coop is the best option. The other consideration is predators. If you have large predatory animals, etc then a portable coop might be too easy for them to get at. Although, if it’s an urban back yard, with just a handful of fowl, a mobile coop can be a very attractive addition to your garden.

Lots to mull over, isn’t there. The best step now is to take your time because errors made in the options, the look and the building process are going to be costly to alter later. Read through a few websites with designs for chicken coops and pick one that looks like it provides a bit of choice. That way you’re only buying one set of chicken coop plans that can provide you a number of different sizes or looks. You also want to check they’ve got material lists so that you can cost things first (planning should be done to keep costs to a minimum).

Just about anybody can build a chicken coop. It really doesn’t demand a lot of ability, just patience and a few ordinary tools. Choosing well designed, professionally created plans for chicken coops ought to only cost $ 30 or less and you get all the help you need to build a hen house for keeping healthy, satisfied birds – and all the tasty fresh eggs you could want!