Are you thinking of keeping some chickens in your garden? If you are then there are certain things to take into consideration when it comes to choosing the right chicken coop plans from which yours can then be constructed. As you will find like many others before keeping chickens like having a dog or cat can be very rewarding indeed. Just think about all the lovely fresh eggs your hens will provide you with each day once they have settled in to the wonderful home that you have created for them.
When it comes to finding plans to build your own chicken coop the internet is a great place to look. As you will soon discover there are myriads of sites that have these documents available for you to then use once you find the one you like the most.
But as mentioned above there are certain things that one needs to take into consideration in order to determine which of the chicken coops plans available is right for you. Below we take a look at just what some of these considerations are.
How Many Chickens Do You Intend To Keep?
If you are intending only to keep a small flock say of 4 to 5 chickens then one of the square small based coops should be sufficient to meet your needs. However, you still must make sure that when you look at various plans to build your own you go for the ones that provide each hen with around 3 to 4 square feet of space so that they can move around easily without keeping walking into each other.
What Is The Weather Like Where You Live?
As well as making sure that the plans allow you to provide enough room for each chicken that will be housed in it. You must also make sure that the plans allow you to make yours from materials which provide plenty of protection to the chickens from the elements along with predators. Certainly if you live in an area where the wind is strong then make sure that the coop is constructed from heavy weight materials and include if you can some sort of tarp that can be rolled down to provide further protection from the elements.
How Are You Going To Keep The Chicken Coop Clean?
Although you may find chicken coop plans where the cleaning is done through removing the roof this can cause some upset to your chickens. It is much better if you choose plans that result in a catch basin being situated beneath the floor of the coop and where all waste produced by the chickens inside is caught. You then just need to simply pull away the basin to then clean out the mess that your chickens have created.
How To Protect Your Chickens From Predators?
It isn’t just the much larger predators such as dogs, foxes or cats that you need to concern yourself with. Even the much smaller ones such as rats can cause problems for your chickens when in the coop. So make sure that the chicken coop plans you choose are ones that offer protection not only over the doors, windows and vents but through the floor as well. If you can choose coops which are either placed on to solid foundations or that are raised off the ground.
