To serve their drink, pour the contents in a jug, turn it upside down standing on a dish. The leak coming from the inverted jug is sufficient enough to accommodate their need for nourishment.

Chicks are a little particular with their food. They don’t eat anything “old”. They want their food dripping with freshness. Initially, you could give them milled oats. You could include bits of boiled eggs into the milled oats. If you think giving them that is a bit too mushy, you are welcome to go to feed stores for poultry raising. Some who are fond of feeding anything to their chicks have this intuition to feed them bread. Which is totally wrong. Because feeding them bread is a sin. This can kill them.

You could also include lettuce cuts into the diet. Squeamish or not, you have to provide their favorite menu – bugs and grubs. They eat these little wiggly things and gobble them up so fast.

Just don’t make any mistake of giving these to newly hatched chicks.

You have to be very particular of the space that you have provided for the young ones. Cramping must be avoided. This might result to trampling and worse, cannibalism. Chicks grow quickly. That’s why you have to ensure that their room is big enough for their proper accommodation.

Do replace the cardboard or the newspaper placed under their pad every time you notice it’s soiled. Even you wouldn’t like the idea of sleeping in your own faeces.

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Chicks hatched from your own poultry’s eggs basically need 4 things: comfort, warmth, food and water. Comfort can be based from your own personal touch and how you hold the chicks. Warmth is taken from the mother or if you plan to separate the chicks on an early stage, an incubator or what others call as a heat lamp is essential. Usually the incubator is composed of two or three light bulbs depending on the number of chicks that have hatched.

The very first thing to do is fix the place where you will put your hatchlings – the brooder. It must have a temperature that is neither too cold nor too hot. Either of the two extremes will contribute severe negative conditions to the chicks. Your incubator must have a temperature that’s 90-95 degrees. If you have settled with the 95-degree heat, maintain it until the end of the first week. Your temperature must decrease every week by 5 degrees until you reach the 6th week.

The floor of your chick’s pad must be made of cardboard or piles of old newspapers. This can be used as an insulator for keeping the temperature in the room in proper condition.

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Before you rush off and look at your chicken coop construction take some time to think the project through.

How many chickens?

How many chickens are you planning to keep? Will you have the space for them? If you do have plenty of space are you will not want to increase your chicken population in the future?

How Big Do You Need Your Coop To Be?

The run needs to be large enough to let the chickens – well run. The run will take up much more space than the hutch part of your coop. The run needs to have security form predators, both animal and human.

Location, Location, Location

Miserable chickens give you miserable owners and reduced numbers of eggs layed. Much of this can be down to the location of your chicken coop. I recommend that sun for at least the morning is good as it can dry out any night time damp in the run and the hutch. All day sun is fine but you need some shady spots for when the temperatures are really high.

You should consider it being in view of the house so that you can spot predators and other problems early. I set my Coop away from the house so that the smell doesn’t get to strong. (You need to clean the coop often).

Mesh Fencing

This needs to be close woven rather than with big gaps in the mesh. It needs to go below the ground level so that some predators that dig and burrow will not be able to get under the sides. Another option if you have a moveable chicken coop is to mesh the floor. I always worry about damage to the chicken’s feet with this option.

Keeping Your Chicken Coop and Run Clean

The extraordinary amount of waste produced by chickens needs to be held in check on a regular basis. Moving the coop around some set plot can help your ground recover. You can cover the ground with straw to keep damage to a minimum and compost the straw after use for the garden.

A well designed, well built chicken coop and run will mean productive chickens which, after all, is the objective.

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Moveable chicken coops have many advantages in that they can cut down on maintenance, provide easier access when collecting eggs and help you to keep your chickens safer from predators.

It’s important to ensure the coop is sturdy with locks fitted in order to keep chickens in and predators out.

A moveable chicken coop will enable you to give the chickens a varied environment in the fresh air and provide them with access to shaded areas during a hot summer. Chickens love different areas to explore on a daily basis, but they also need to be able to shelter from the weather and have places to hide.

By moving your coop around the chickens will have fresh stimulation which will add to their wellbeing and an increase in the production of eggs.

Another advantage is the fact that whilst the chickens are having fun they are also fertilizing your garden.

For those who are thinking of buying their first chickens this type of coop can be less expensive, can be built to an average size and will provide a safer haven for it’s occupants.

It’s important to think ahead and plan for expansion in your chicken numbers so, make sure the coop you buy or build takes this into account, particularly if you intend to start a breeding program in the future.

Moving your “coop on wheels” is a simple process that will further help in the war against predators and will allow you to make much better use of the space available.

Keeping chickens clean, safe and warm will help keep them healthy and happy. In return they will provide you with fresh eggs daily.

Finally, whilst the maintenance and cleaning of moveable chicken coops is easier, this in turn frees up more time for other chores, or pleasure…and that can’t be bad can it!

]]> http://www.shedsandcoops.com/moveable-chicken-coops-%e2%80%93-some-advantages/feed/ 0 http://www.shedsandcoops.com/home-made-chicken-coop-%e2%80%93-the-best-approach/ http://www.shedsandcoops.com/home-made-chicken-coop-%e2%80%93-the-best-approach/#comments Sat, 07 Nov 2009 19:02:15 +0000 admin http://www.shedsandcoops.com/?p=103

If you have decided on a home made chicken coop you will obviously have to think about how much you are prepared to pay for the materials and how large you want your coop to be.

You can of course use any timber that is in your budget but remember it must be durable as it is going to have to last through good and bad weather conditions.

Before you start, consider also the building of a chicken run as this will help to keep your chickens healthy. A wire mesh fence around the coop can be sufficient provided of course it is secured properly.

Nesting boxes can be cheaply built and don’t have to be terribly strong as they’re not subject to the weather.

The hen house itself will need careful consideration as it has to be well insulated, light and airy, draft proof and of course large enough to house the number of chickens you intend to keep, plus extra space in case later on you decide to increase your flock. If this is a new venture for you, it would be a good idea to seek advice with regard to the size to numbers ratio.

It is a good idea to make the hen house tall enough to make cleaning easier. Remember if you want healthy chickens cleanliness is essential to protect them from disease. It is also worth considering raising the coop above floor level in order to avoid flooding in bad weather.

Perches should be placed above a moveable tray so that once again cleaning the droppings becomes less of a chore.

For a healthy, happy and egg producing flock the essentials are warmth, cleanliness, protection and plenty of room to move around. So bear all of these things in mind when drawing up your plans for a home made chicken coop.

If you are considering having a couple of chickens in the garden some small chicken coop plans will be very helpful in deciding the shape and construction of the building.

There are many coop designs on the market ranging from small and moveable up to the large and extra large, but the first consideration is how well it will fit into the available space, and how will it look in it’s surroundings.

There are square coops, A-framed coops, chicken arks, flat roofs and slanted roofs but whatever the design, the main purpose of the coop is to keep your chickens healthy, happy and safe.

You must decide what size chickens you want to keep as this will affect the shape and design of your proposed chicken coop. Whatever the size, the coop must have sufficient light but not so many windows as to make it too cold during winter.

Air circulation is imperative in order to reduce the moisture and ammonia levels which can have a devastating effect on the health of chickens’.

Bear in mind also they need room to run around but if you only intend to keep a couple of birds you will more than likely be able to make do with a moveable type coop.

Healthy chickens are your priority so building a small chicken coop that is warm, secure and not too exposed to the elements will in turn provide you with a good supply of fresh eggs. Let’s face it, that is one of the prime reasons for keeping chickens in the first place.

Finally don’t forget if your coop is to be placed in a small back garden you can make it aesthetically pleasing by painting it to blend in with the landscape.

An abundance of small chicken coop plans can be found on the internet to help you decide the best construction for you.

If you’re building a poultry house enclosure and are trying to stick with a firm budget, there are a variety of different things that you should keep in mind in order to have maximum success with this project.

Many chicken farmers spend far more money then they really have to trying to build their chicken coop and with a few simple adjustments they could have saved hundreds of dollars at least.

Here are the main points to know about building a poultry house enclosure on a budget.

Choose The Best Land Before Building

The first thing you should be doing before building a poultry house enclosure is taking a good look at the land you have available to build on. In most cases, you would be required to do some landscaping before building.

This is due to the fact that building a poultry house enclosure on ground that wasn’t firm and level would significantly decrease the stabilization, especially as time progressed, and that could in turn make it much more likely that rebuilding needs to take place.

If you choose to hire in help to do this landscaping, expect to pay big dollars because it can get quite pricey.

The second option is to just do it yourself, but even still, this will take time and could still cost you a small amount of money.

Therefore, the best option is to just survey the entire land you have available and locate the place where no landscaping will be necessary.  You may need to look hard for this, but once you find it you’ll be happy you did.

Add Properly Placed Windows That Allow For Ventilation

The second thing you should take into account to help save yourself money is making sure you place the windows properly in the chicken coop.  Windows are going to be the primary light source that the chickens have unless you plan to wire in electrical light – which is very expensive.

Also, windows will serve for ventilation purposes, which is another important aspect for helping your chickens maintain good health.  By making sure the windows are stationed well and also allow for ventilation, you essentially kill two birds with one stone – and save yourself money in the process.

Build A Smaller Sized Poultry House

Finally, the third way to save money while building a poultry enclosure is to choose to build a smaller size.  Obviously the smaller you build, the fewer building materials you will need, which is often where you incur the highest amount of costs.

Unless you’re planning on selling the eggs commercially, often two to three chickens will be plenty to give you more than enough eggs that you need each day, provided you are building the coop well.

There’s no need to build bigger unless you absolutely have to as this will not only increase your building costs from the start, but could also make them higher down the road as well with upkeep.

So be sure you keep these points in mind.  By taking the right measures you can certainly decrease your building costs and still go about building a poultry house enclosure that’s

If you’re only planning on keeping one or two chickens total, you might want to build a chicken hutch rather than building an entire chicken coop, since this will get the job done and be a much cheaper and less time consuming option.  Some people will also consider building a hutch to place in their coop, so that’s something to think about as well.

If you choose to build a chicken hutch you’ll find that it’s much easier to take care of and that you’re able to find a good location in your yard for it very easily.  For those who are also just getting started with raising chickens, this is usually the perfect option to choose.

Here is what you need to know if you want to build a chicken hutch.

Be Sure You Build A Good Sized Door

Since you need to give your chickens easy access inside and out of the hutch, it’s important that you make sure you’re building a good sized door.

Don’t make the mistake of building only a tiny door that the chickens struggle to get in and out.  You’re better off creating a larger door and then attaching a wooden door flap that they can get in and out of.

This will help to keep them protected from predators still but allow for easier access on their part.

Make Sure It’s Raised Off The Ground

Second you also want to ensure that you’re raising the hutch off the ground.  While chicken coops are built right on the ground, if you choose to build a chicken hutch you need to raise it off.

Usually you want it raised somewhere around a foot off the ground, but don’t be overly concerned if it isn’t exactly this measurement.  As long as it’s not placed right on the floor and your chickens can access it with a ramp if it is higher, that shouldn’t be a problem at all.

Be Sure The Lid is Easy Opening For You

Finally, the last thing you must be doing is making sure that you can easily open the lid to give you easy access to the chickens if you need it and also for cleaning purposes.  Since it is a much smaller place where your chickens are going to stay, if you aren’t cleaning it regularly you are going to run into problems with how it looks overall, so taking the time to clean it weekly is a very smart move.

If it’s harder for you to actually access the inside of the hutch though, the chances that you do decide to clean it regularly will be a great deal lower.

So be sure you’re keeping all of these points in mind as you decide to build a chicken hutch.  By taking the correct action steps and having a good plan to follow throughout the building pr

There are a wide variety of hen house plans available right now that you may feel overwhelmed in choosing which one will be most appropriate for you.  This isn’t surprising because of the fact that most people don’t understand the process of building a chicken coop, therefore to them all the hen house plans may even look the same.

They are not the same however and if you’re not choosing the correct hen house plan, the chances that you have success with the building process will be much lower.

Here is what you need to know in order to choose the correct plan for you.

The Number of Chickens You Plan To Keep

The first thing you’ll want to think about is the total number of chickens you plan to keep in your chicken coop.  The hen house plans you’re looking at should differentiate between small, medium, and large sized plans.  Matching the correct size to the total number of chickens you want to keep will help make sure they’re happy in their surroundings are will be laying eggs properly.

If you’re not sure exactly how big you should be building, always go larger than you think you’ll need.

The Type Of Land Available To You

Next, also consider the type of land that you have available to you.  Are you going to have to landscape? If so, you’ll want to make sure you’re looking for hen house plans that give information on proper landscaping techniques so you can do this correctly.

Also think about how firm the ground is. If it’s not very firm at all, you will likely want to consider a more solid base structure on top of the land to prevent the walls from shifting over time.

The Climate You’re Located In

The third factor to think about before you dive right into the building process is the climate you are located in.  If you’re getting a wide variety of weather patterns, you’re going to want to think a great deal harder about the amount and type of insulation you use in your chicken coop.

It’s important that the hen house plans you’re looking at identify methods that you can use to help maintain proper temperature over time because if it’s either too hot or too cold in the house there is a very high chance that you’re going to run into some problems.

Whether You Want Your Chicken Coop To Be Mobile

Finally, consider whether or not you want to build a mobile chicken coop. These are increasingly popular among many people, especially those who also want to keep their chickens as pets as well.

There are many advantages to a mobile chicken coop so it is something you should give some consideration at least.

By taking some time to look through various hen house plans you can take a big step towards making sure you’re choosing one that best matches your own individual needs.

Do you think that it’s going to take weeks to build a chicken house? If so, you may want to think again.  With the right techniques and tips you can easily accomplish this goal in as little as a few short days and have great success while doing so.

Here is what you need to know in order to build a chicken house properly.

Plan The Entire Inside Before Building

The first thing you must do as you build a chicken house is take the time to plan the entire coop before you build.  Many people make the mistake of building too early and then find out they have built too small because of all the additional pieces that have to go inside.

Remember that the measurements that you get in terms of total free space are just that – free space.  If you start adding the feeders, the waterers, the perches, and so on, this will take away from the total amount of free space you have, making your chickens feel more crowded.

To solve this problem, draw a blueprint out first and then proceed to build a chicken house according to that design.

Make Sure You Give Your Chickens Enough Light

Next, you also need to make sure that you’re giving your chickens enough total light.   This is accomplished by being sure you add enough windows throughout the coop which will serve to allow the sun to shin in.

Just be sure with these windows that you are not placing them too low or the sun may shine directly at the chickens, which can make them feel uncomfortable.  Locate the main direction the sun typically hits your chicken coop and be sure to focus your windows on that side of the house.

Never Build Smaller Than You Think You’d Need

Finally, as noted in the first point, size is one of the biggest things you must take into consider as you build a chicken house.  If you aren’t sure how many chickens you plan to keep, it’s a smart move to build slightly larger than you think you’ll need, then if you do decide to add one or two more, you will have enough room.

The worst situation is when a chicken farmer builds the perfect size coop but then finds out he needs more chickens.  Then you have to tare down the coop and rebuild parts of it or else add an extension onto the coop that’s in place.

So be sure you’re following these three tips as you build a chicken house. The process may seem quite intricate but by using a building plan that breaks it down into manageable steps, it really becomes something that you can easily handle over the course of a weekend.