Blueprint Plans for Chicken Coops
Article by Dean James
Assuming you have been out shopping for a hen house, you will be aware of how dear a completely assembled model may be. They could be as dear as a thousand bucks and that's before making payment to have it delivered to your home. By investing in plans for chicken coops, you can actually construct a chicken house which will keep your chickens healthful as well as secure from weather and natural predators. Here are 3 things to ask yourself when looking for plans.
Will it keep your flock in good physical shape?
Most professionals agree that it's better to have a lot of room per chicken instead of too little. Chicken overcapacity can lead to feathers being picked, low amounts of eggs being laid, and, in more serious cases, cannibalism amongst your flock. It is obviously unhealthy for your birds and it additionally causes lower egg numbers and overall quality for yourself.
Plans for coops must allow at least four square feet of personal space for each chicken. Now the bare minimum space required for a chicken will vary with breed type, with bigger chickens requiring rather more room. Check out a professional web site or even a book to discover the level of space your breed type requires so you can get coop plans that are sized-up properly.
Aeration is a further important factor if you want fit hens. Devoid of satisfactory aeration, the ammonia from the fecal matter accumulates, creating a burning smell which will bother yourself and the chickens. Be sure that the hen house design delivers an abundance of fresh air for your flock.
Does it keep the your flock of chickens secure?
From wily predators to snakes in the grass, there is certainly a great deal of critters who will envisage your coop construction as a veritable feast. To stop your backyard from becoming a nature documentary, use step-by-step-plans that incorporate safety measures.
As an example, blueprint plans for coops should include a fenced run. It keeps out a bunch of natural predators including raccoons and the nemesis of your chickens: foxes. For most coop runs, traditional wood or metal-wire fences no less than six feet high will put off natural predators. Now if you've got a resolute carnivore, chicken keeping experts suggest embedding wire mesh roughly twelve inches down into the ground beneath the fence.
Believe the conventional-sized metal-wire will keep your animals safe? Re-evaluate. Standard meshing is large enough to allow raccoons to get their paws through to claw at the birds. Poultry keeping experts advise using a half inch square meshing on chicken coop fencing and window covers to prevent raccoons and foxes from harming your chickens.
Plans for chicken houses must also include one more predator-annoying attribute: a entrance which closes by design at nightfall. Installed light sensors permit the door to lift up every sunrise and close again when nightfall descends.
Will it be simple to work with?
Blueprint plans for chicken coops should also include options for making it trouble-free to wash the house and harvest the eggs. Lots of chicken coops contain nesting box doorways that enable you to gather the eggs easily. If you're thinking about a smaller coop, it might sport a hinged roof that gives you full admittance to the interior. Bigger chicken houses typically possess a human-sized entrance that lets you walk straight inside the building for cleaning and maintenance.
Irrespective of the blueprint plans for chicken coops you utilize, keep in mind of the fact that the house must keep your chickens strong and secure and also be simple to use.
About the Author
Discover the way to select the most suitable chicken pen plans for your needs by visiting http://www.diybuildchickencoop.com
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