If you have a backyard chicken operation, you may not want to make a heavy investment in building a chicken coop. Many chicken coop designs on the Internet are made by people just like you that have had success with their designs and the chickens seem productive. If you read most of them, it seems that average construction price for moderate-sized chicken coop designs that hold 10 chickens, runs around $300.Some chicken takers have created a cheap or free chicken housing from recycled materials.
Some chicken coop designs show chicken coops made from everything you can imagine. PVC Pipe, 55 gallon barrels, bunk bed frames, old campers and children’s playhouses are just a few of the chicken coop designs you can find to recycle items you may have laying around the house.
Some chicken coop designs involve scrap lumber, garage sale items such as shelving or leftover shingles, siding, windows and other items to build an affordable chicken coop. (Be sure that any old nails are pulled out of scrap lumber so the chickens won’t get hurt). Most chicken coop designs involve ventilation, insulation, protection from predators, light, bedding, nesting boxes, food and water stations and roosts. You can find different ideas from different chicken coop designs but most of them suggest 4 to 10 square feet of space per chicken.
Old doghouses, storage chests and even chest of drawers have been converted to chicken coops. In fact, there are ingenuous chicken coop designs that stack old dressers for a chicken coop condominium complex. Of course, you need to provide a ramp that is about 8 inches across with steps every six inches, if it is over 3 foot tall. Most chickens like to roost around 4 feet high at night for security, but you want to make sure that you have a fenced chicken yard or run that is also enclosed on top to prevent hawks, eagles and owls from getting to the chickens and eggs.
Some of the best tips are to look at the different chicken coop designs online and get ideas, if you have scrap building supplies on hand. If not, there are affordable chicken coop designs that are sold in kits, and you can find books that offer all of the information you need to know about the specific needs that the chicken coops need to provide.
After you have constructed your chicken coop is not the time to figure out that you left out some crucial elements. A healthy and happy chicken will lay a lot more eggs than one that is crowded and stressed. It is important that they are protected from neighborhood dogs, rodents and raccoons, so you need to consider predators in your area when considering chicken coop designs that use items you have on hand or when you decide to improvise.
For most part, chickens are fairly low labor since a 50 pounds chicken feed can last for three months with ten to thirteen chickens. You can get your own fresh, organic eggs daily, which is a cost efficient considering the price of eggs in the grocery store. Chicken coop designs can be elaborate or simple; they don’t have to be expensive.
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