What Should I Consider When Buying Or Building A Chicken Coop?

When raising chickens one of the most important aspects to consider is their housing. You will need a chicken coop that will withstand the elements, provide safety and provide comfort for your flock. It really does pay to invest your time and money in a coop that is made of quality materials and is suitably laid out for your chickens needs. You can buy ready made coops but we have found that building a chicken coop yourself serves to be the best way as you can make it suit your specific requirements while taking into account the size of your backyard.

In terms of space you don't need a large amount of space providing your chickens have an area to run around outside. If your chickens are going to be reared mostly inside their coop then the coop would need to be much larger. This is because the coop will need to facilitate exercising, nesting, roosting and feeding. However I am assuming you are raising chickens in your backyard giving them ample space to scratch about in during the day. So what size should the chicken coop be? Well each chicken should have around 2 square foot of space inside the coop.

Inside the coop you should have a nesting area one, for every 3 birds. An ideal size is about 1 square foot and it's better to position them in the darkest part of the chicken coop. Straw, hay, paper shreddings or wood shavings all provide excellent bedding. Remember to change it often, at least once a week.

Your chickens will need a perch to roost at night. The perch should be around 10 inches off the ground (you don't want the chickens to hurt their legs when jumping off the perch) and 2 inches thick. Allow about 10 inches roosting space per chicken. Use planed wood with soft edges so as to avoid splinters in your chickens feet.

The chicken run should provide adequate space for your chickens to happily scratch about and exercise in. Chickens don't actually need too much outside space, 3-4 square foot per chicken is enough which makes them terrific family pets for city dwellers. The run does need to be fenced in to keep your chickens in and predators out. Fencing of 6ft 6 inches is advised and should also go down 1 foot into the soil to prevent other animals from burrowing under and stop your chciken from getting out. It's amazing what small spaces they can get through! By covering the top of the run with a nylon net you are again giving added protection from aerial predators and from chickens escaping!

There are also different types of housing to consider. You could choose a portable option if you only have a few birds and you don't want any particular area of your lawn becoming a dirt patch! These are normally A-framed containing a chicken coop and a wired run. They are also usually ground based so make sure the base of the coop is sturdy to withstand movement and keep out damp. More modern portable housing have wheels to allow for easy transport around the yard. You will need to keep moving the house before the chickens have eaten all the grass in that area and believe me that doesn?t take too long, around 2 days, so this can be quite tiring! The advantages are your chickens will be less prone to picking up diseases and you keep your entire lawn looking good! Obviously you would need quite a sizeable garden to be able to keep moving to pastures new. The alternative is a more permanent structure. You might even have an old shed that you can convert. A shed of size 5 X 7 ft would be ample room for 6-12 large hens if there is an adequate run attached. Or you could buy or build a smaller purpose built chicken coop. There are numerous books and websites that provide excellent instructions on how to build a really high quality chicken coop. The things you should consider are: it is well ventilated, it is well insulated in colder countries, provides protection from predators, allows you easy access to clean and collect eggs. In addition by raising your coop off the ground you are increasing ventilation, making it more predator proof and easier for you to clean and collect eggs. You will need to provide a gangplank for the chickens to enter and exit a raised coop or else you again you run the risk of damaging their legs each time they jump out.