Build A Chicken Coop Easy

Archive for January, 2010

It is said that some of the first straw bales were utilized in becoming animal shelters.  The insulation provided by the hay was a protective home for chickens.  Utilizing straw is a wonderful idea for anyone who wants to build a chicken coop on a budget.

Do not begin building your chicken coop without first performing research

Before you build anything, you need to perform your research.  Before you begin your construction of a straw bale chicken coop on a budget, you need to understand that your chickens will need lights in order to lay eggs during the winter inside the coop.

How do I begin this project?

Determine the size of your coop and how many nests and perches you will need.  Your chickens should have approximately 4.5 square feet of space.  One nest per three chickens is needed and approximately nine inches of width for the perches.

Apply for a building permit for your straw bale chicken coop

You will need to apply for a building permit. Once your permit is approved, ensure that you gain permission to build the chicken coop.  Your building materials will greatly depend on the type of straw bale coop you want to build.  Purchase the straw bales during the harvest season from farmers; this will prove the most least expensive.  You must keep in mind that the bales will need to be dried even during harvest time.  The bales should be held together with wire and not string.

Provide temporary housing for your chickens while you are building their permanent residence

You can always build a temporary bale barn which is made of straw bales.  This is only for temporary housing of your chickens.  This is a wonderful idea for open-range chickens that are part of livestock.  You will still need to cover the walls with snow fence, chain-link fence or deer fence.  This will keep your chickens from eating the walls of the coop.

Look for workshops to help you with your venture

Plastered straw bale chicken coops are along the lines of traditional methods of straw bale construction.  Some local farms or businesses offer workshops in constructing chicken coops from this method.

Chicken pen fences are more about keeping predators out than they are about keeping the chickens in. Therefor it is not only important to make sure that you use appropriate materials, but you should also pay attention as to how you assemble your pen.

When constructing a chicken pen, you want both durability as well as strength from your chicken pen fencing. There is now point in using materials that might be strong, but that you have to replace every few months. This would be to costly.

The best materials to use would be Chicken wire, GAW (Galvanized After Weave) fencing or a vinyl coated fence. Heavy gauge mesh also works well as does Welded mesh. When using welded mesh, be sure to only use mesh with small openings or predators might get in. Stay away from any plastic or poly meshes as they are neither strong, nor durable. Of all these different types of meshes, Vinyl coated and GAW fencing will last the longest.

For the those who are willing to go the extra mile, and thus also pay a bit more, you can look into electric fencing. Electric fencing for chicken pens might be expensive, but essentially it is easy to install. Once you have bought the right materials (someone at a hardware store wil be able to help you with this), simply run one electric wire on the outside of your fence, about 4 – 5 inches from the fence, and one at the top of your fence. Connect all the bits and there you have an electrified chicken fence that will not hurt your chickens. This however is more of a luxury than a necessity. If your pen has a cover over it, or is at least 5-6 feet high, you will have no need for electric fencing.

There are however simpler and cheaper ways of chicken pen fencing that are just as good at keeping your chickens safe.

One cheaper way to keep your chickens safe is to make sure that when you start constructing your chicken pen, that you dig a trench around your pen. The trench should be 10 to 12 inches deep. Bury the bottom of your fence in the trench. Before filling the trench up you can also place some big rocks on the fencing. This will provide extra protection against burrowing predators.

You can also leave the jagged wire bits at the top of your chicken pen fence (that is if your pen does not have a roof) exposed, thus creating a painful deterrent for any predator who might consider trying to jump into the fence. This might not be pretty, but it is effective.

Finally, it is important to check your chicken pen fence every day. Check for rust, check for any holes that could give predators access to your chickens, check for anything that might compromise the effectiveness of your fence. If you find a weakness, fix it immediately before a predator finds it.

Most chicken breeds are easy to care for. Once you have a coop and pen for them, all you really need to do is provide them with some feed and water as well as cleaning their coop/pen every now and then.

If you are looking into breeds of chickens that are easy to care for, then you should look into a breed that provides you with a sturdy chicken who is also an economical eater.  If the breed also copes well during the winter months, then it’s an added bonus.

The following chicken breeds are the breeds that will most likely require the least amount of work from you as an owner, while at the same time providing you with a fair amount of eggs each year.

The Leghorn Breed

The Leghorn (pronounced Leggern) breed is an ancient but well developed breed. The Leghorn breed is also one of the worlds best known breeds. They are excellent scavengers and very economical eaters, which make them excellent, low maintenance free range chickens. The wonderful thing about the Leghorn breed is not only that they are excellent free range chickens, but that they can also be kept in confined spaces. Chickens within this breed are some of the best egg producers in the world.

Australorp chickens

Australorp are great pets as well as being a breed of chicken that is easy to care for. Not only do they allow themselves to be handled and picked up, something that is essential in a bird when you have kids, but they also lay a fair amount of eggs each year. Because of their mild temperament, they also get along well with other chickens. They are also great free range chickens as they are known for being quite sturdy, great scavengers as well as economical eaters who only need minimal extra support during the winter months when feed tends to be scarce.

Hamburg chickens

Hamburg chickens are very economic eaters which make them perfect for free ranging as well as easy to care for. Hamburg chickens are also known for coping well in the cold. The only complicated thing about these chickens is that they are high fliers, so when keeping Hamburg chickens, it is important to clip their wings on a regular basis in order to prevent them from flying away. Besides for clipping their wings every now and then, Hamburg chickens are truly one of the breeds of chickens that are easy to care for.

Some of the other breeds of chickens that are easy to care for due to their sturdiness, economical eating and ability to survive in any climate, include chickens within the following breeds; Ameraucana, Brahma, Easter Eggers, Jersey Giant, Marans (especially for cold climates), Orpington, Plymouth Rock, Sussex, Sumatra and Silkie.

There are many more breeds of chickens that are easy to care for, all you have to do is to find a reliable breeding chart and then to match your needs with the chicken’s characteristics.

If you need to know how to build a chicken coop then you’ve come to the right place and that is for sure!

I grew up on a farm and building different items was just something we did. If you want to house animals you will need a good quality barn or chicken coop, whatever the case maybe. In this case I’ll be talking about how to build a chicken coop easy.

If you are not a good carpenter already, you will need to get a high quality manual.
There are plenty of them on the internet. The thing is not all of these manuals are high quality, matter of fact some are just plain ole junk.

You will need to build your chicken coop properly or it can kill your chickens
and cause a whole bunch of problems that are all completely avoidable if you know what you’re doing to begin with.

Not just anybody can write a how to build a chicken coop manual because not everybody has the experience building one. Not only did I build several of them but I know the in’s and out’s because when you raise chickens in the pens you have built you learn a lot.

This is what separates me from them. I know what works the best. I know how chickens behave in any kind of conditions.

What you want is the chicken coop to last you for years with little to no maintenance
and that is user friendly as well. What you do not want to do is buy one of those cheap guides written by somebody who does not know what they’re talking about. You will be just looking at a bunch of unnecessary problems down the road.

I found a guide that is absolutely awesome that will work just fine for you. They even offer a moneyback guarantee and a bunch of bonus materials that are very useful.
Head on over and get this while it lasts.
Click here for the best how to build a chicken coop plans and bonuses on the internet.

People do not only raise chickens as a source of eggs or meat, some people also raise chickens for show, or simply keep them because they consider them to be beautiful. The fact of the matter is that some breeds of chickens are simply more beautiful than others.

What follows are some of the most beautiful chickens breeds out there as well as a brief description of why they are considered to be beautiful.

The Barred Plymouth Rock

The Barred Plymouth Rock is considered a beautiful chicken, amongst other reasons, because of it’s barring. The Bar pattern on the Barred Plymouth Rock make it a very distinctive bird to spot. The Barred Plymouth Rock was developed in the 1800’s by cross breeding Dominiques and Black Javas, thus producing their barred appearance. Besides for it’s barred appearance, the Barred Plymouth Rock also gained fame because of the shape of it’s body. It is a plump chicken, with a long, broad and deep body.

The Ameraucana

Ameraucana chickens come in a variety of colors; White, Black, Blue, Blue Wheaton, Wheaton as well as Bluff. The Ameraucana chicken is considered beautiful for it’s full body, as well as it’s full muff and beard. It’s muff and beard give the Ameraucana a particularly fluffy appearance, which appeals to most people. The Ameraucana is also known as the “easter egg” chicken due to the uniqueness of their eggs. They lay eggs that are light blue as well as blue-green in color. The rooster of this breed is also very beautiful as it has a long tail that stands at a perfect 45 degree angle.

The Campine

The Campine breed might not be one of the friendliest chickens out there but their gold and black appearance definetally makes it one of the most beautiful chicken breeds. The Campine’s upright carriage and beautiful plumage makes it a popular show bird. Campine’s have close fitting feathers and large combs, often also sporting zig-zag patterns. This is a breed that is most common in Northern-Europe, while being considered a rare in other parts of the world.

The Buff Orpington

The Buff Orpington is another popular breed amongst people looking for beautiful chickens. They are heavy birds and their feathers are loose fitting, which gives them an almost fluffy appearance. They are clean legged and have a single comb. Besides for it’s build, the Buff Orpington is also popular because of it’s affectionate nature. It loves to be socialized with and is therefor not only a worthy choice for one of the breeds of chickens kept for beauty, but also a great family pet.

These are but a few of the breeds of chickens kept for their beauty. With over 60 breeds of chickens out their all you have to do is to find a reliable breeding chart and to do a little research and you will be certain to find a breed that you will think is beautiful. After all, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.