Tips for Chicken Coop Designs
Raising chickens is a fun hobby and can lead to a nice, small income for those willing to put the effort into it. Like people, chickens have to have lodging and that lodging can come in all forms. You can buy chicken coop designs for as few or as many chickens as you plan to keep.
Before you choose one design over another there a few points to consider that will affect your decision. Since a chicken coop can come in a range of sizes and weights, you need to figure out if there’s room enough to support the coop. If you rent a home or apartment, you’ll need to purchase or make a coop that can easily move from one location to the next.
Secondly, the layout of the design and how much room it will offer per chicken is important. You can’t crowd several chickens in a coop designed to house two to four chickens. The design will have to provide for a roomy enough nesting area. Over crowding is a recipe for fighting and pecking between the flock.
Even though several chickens will often only use the two or three nesting boxes, sometimes that’s not the case and you’ll want to make sure the chickens have plenty of nests. You can get several nests built either side by side or on top of one another or situated in stacks to save space.
No matter what type of design you have for a chicken coop, make sure you use quality material in building it. It’s okay to use salvaged or recycled items as long as they’re in good shape and can provide the chickens with adequate shelter and warmth.
Choose a design that can withstand variations in weather. Some designs are very attractive and created to have that wow factor but they’re not sturdy enough to last. You don’t want to buy or create a design that will only be around temporarily.
If you’re not an expert in building and drawing up a detailed set of plans is a struggle, then you should look for a pre-made set of designs and pick on that you like. You can find designs in hardback books, eBooks you can download faster (and cheaper) and you can check out seed or hardware stores for designs for sale.
There are some designs that you can buy that will teach you how to build a chicken coop for well under a hundred dollars. There are some designs for coops that can cost close to a thousand dollars. The amount of money spent on the design should be decided by the purpose of the hens - whether they’re for pleasure or business.
Chicken coop designs can make the job of building a coop go a lot smoother than guessing which piece of wood goes where. With all of the choices, you should be able to find one that you like and that suits your needs.
