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My search for some chicken coop plans started out a
little frustrating. First I did a search for "free chicken coop
plans". That turned out to be a complete waste of time and somewhat
irritating. There were plenty of search results titled Free
Chicken Coop Plans but none of the links I clicked actually led to any
free plans. I even checked places like the USDA website - no luck.
I was able to find a few how to build a chicken coop guides for less
than 20 bucks but most of them were for a single design or blueprint,
and looked like they were drafted by a rocket engineer.
I needed something that was a little easier to understand. I also
figured it would take me at least a long weekend to build a good chicken
coop, so I wanted to look at several options before starting the
project.
Myself (and a few others) did finally find three good resources that
are simple enough for anyone to follow and thought we would share a
few comments about them.
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I tried to keep the summaries above as short as possible (only
covering the main differences between the three) because each of the
websites has a clear and lengthy description of what types of chicken
coop plans they offer.
If you are brand new to raising chickens, one of the most important
tips I can give you about building a backyard chicken coop is not to
put it too close to your house. It does not smell like roses on muggy
days.
Before the housing market got so bad, I was able to get some of the
materials needed for a chicken house from scraps on different job
sites, with the builder's permission of course. If you live in a
location where there is still some construction going on, you may want
to check around. You should at least be able to find some of the
smaller pieces of wood needed for the nesting box area.
Are Your Hens Roosting In The Trees?
My hens simply will not stay in their houses in the summer and
prefer to roost in the trees. They begin in the spring, and in the
fall they stay out so late that I have lost a few that I didn't put
in the house.
It is entirely possible that your house is too poorly ventilated and
is therefore extremely warm in the summer, or it may be that it is
infested with mites which drive the hens out. This may sound odd,
but we were in just such a house not long ago and the mites were
enough to discourage any flock of hens. If either of these is the
problem, look around, find the cause, and then do away with it. Make
sure that your henhouse is well ventilated. Get the air to draw
enough to keep it fresh but not to cause a draft. Investigate the
possibilities of mites and use effective control measures for them
if found. Have your roosts and fixtures movable, and spray with
strong kerosene emulsion or crude petroleum very thoroughly, being
sure every crack and cranny is soaked. Painting the perches with
crude oil every few weeks in the summer will control the mites
completely. |
