November 5th, 2009 by Johnson
In building a chicken coop, there are many things that people don’t take under consideration, and they’re sometimes things that may finish up hurting their chickens in the long term. Agree with it or not, there’s much more to making a coop than just building it and inserting your chickens, so let’s take a look at the potential dangers in your coop.
Low Ceiling
You won’t think about this, but chickens are birds, and just because they do not fly well, doesn’t imply they don’t give it their best shot. Chickens are no doubt to hurt themselves if you have a very low ceiling since they will tend to fly. If it is weirdly low, there is a chance the chicken will manage to wreck its neck.
This essentially isn’t something you want to see when you come out to feed your chickens in the morning, so remember, if you have to duck while fundamentally walking around in your coop, the ceiling is too low, that is something to think about in your chicken coop designs.
Exposed Wires
Chickens need lighting 14 hours every day to lay properly, and for you want a heat lamp in your chicken coop designs. This does not imply you must run an extension twine across your ceiling and let it sag. When you install the heat lamp, make sure that you either wire it into the ceiling, or at least fasten the core soundly to the ceiling so that your chickens don’t start running into the hanging wire. This will also cause difficulty in entering and going out of your coop, so make sure it is correctly done.
Poisons
you can always have some rodents rambling your coop, and while they can get exasperating, you mustn’t set out poisons, and this is for 2 reasons. One reason is that your chickens will eat the poison and you’ll find them dead the following morning. There’s one other reason, and that is even if you’re smart, and put the poison out of the reach of your loved birds, the rodent that eats the poison will not always be that far away. Your chickens will most likely attack announced rodent, and likely absorb the poison that way, ending with the same result.
Not Good Fence Design
If you don’t design your fence properly, your chickens will finish up dead one way or another. Make sure that you build the fence from chicken wire, or run some plastic chicken wire round the base of the fence so that the chickens don’t poke their head thru it and finish up getting hurt when a predator is near.
Poor Lighting
Some people forget that chickens do need light, and tend to leave the poor birds in the dark all day. This meddles with their laying habbits and not just bad for their health.
Make sure that you add in decent lighting when you’re doing your chicken coop designs, or you might meet with disastrous results. Those are a couple of the major failings in chicken coop designs, and hopefully by studying this piece, you have learned to avoid them altogether, and your chickens will live a long and productive life.
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October 12th, 2009 by Johnson
If you are a hobby chicken farmer, then you are looking at chicken coop designs and wondering how the children’s Easter chicks can turn into a backyard investment you hadn’t planned on. The cost of lumber can be quite high in some parts of the country, so chicken coop designs that use very much of it may not be what you had in mind.
A large dog house or a child’s play house can be made into attractive chicken coop designs. This will suffice for a small chicken farming operation, with just 3 or 4 leftover Easter chicks. Sometimes, this is how chicken farmers start the part-time hobby on their backyards.
Simple triangular A-frame structures will suffice in some areas, as long as they are enclosed in a fenced area that is secure from predators, and proper food, water, ventilation, insulation and lighting are available. If you only have a few chickens, the easiest options for chicken coop designs might be to use large doghouses- a grown chicken should have at least 4 square feet and preferably 10 square feet.
A small doghouse or playhouse, with the size of 3 by 3 feet, would be fine for two chickens as long as they can access the run. Some chicken coop designs are mobile and you can install it onto a child’s wagon or a square, wheeled floor dolly for portability. This way you can move your chickens around and they will fertilize different parts of the yard and garden, while keeping grubs and insects under control.
If you have an old garden shed, you can find chicken coop designs to convert it. The same holds true of any existing outdoor buildings you aren’t using, as long as they protect the chickens from the elements, are well-ventilated, and secure from predators. Of course, many people don’t have existing outbuildings and the look at chicken coop designs to build their own.
You can use existing items to make it more affordable to build your own chicken coop. Ingenious chicken farmers have converted bunk beds, old furniture, old cabinetry, bookshelves, entertainment centers and more into chicken coop designs for their children’s Easter chicks that are now laying eggs.
If you convert a child’s playhouse they have outgrown, using chicken coop designs, you might find that the child has a new interest in visiting the chickens and taking care of them. The best thing about converting existing items into chicken coop designs is that it costs very little and usually takes less time than building a chicken coop from scratch, (pardon the pun).
Make sure to find solutions for feeding and watering the chickens, and ventilation is important, as is protection from extreme hot and cold. Of course, you can always buy chicken coop designs if you are good at woodworking, and you can buy kits on the Internet, if you decide to get aggressive with your chicken-raising hobby. Many find that they like the organic, fresh eggs, and are able to get enough to supply their household.
Of course, Easter chicks take a little bit to start producing eggs, so it gives you time to consider chicken coop designs before deciding which route to take.
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