chicken coop designs

Chicken Coop Plans – The Art Of The Chicken Coop

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I don’t do a lot of chicken coop plans book reviews – and I’m not likely too – but this one jumped out at me so I thought I’d have a closer look and share what I found.

It’s the cover that first grabs you – but that’s what covers are supposed to do! I thought it looked like an unusual approach to chicken coop plans and worth looking further.

What I discovered was this guy called Chris Gleason: woodworker, chicken keeper, DIY expert – who has written a number of other books as well – all from practical experience. This is the kind of hands-on guy I like – someone who rolls their sleeves up, perfects their plans themselves, then unleashes them on the chicken-keeping world!

You don’t just get an excellent range of different plans (seven) but also how to save on materials by recycling, how to make sturdy but attractive chicken coops, some interesting bits about chicken keeping from other people and even some egg recipes!

The nitty-gritty of the chicken coop plans is all there in step-by-step detail, making this a recommended book for both the experienced chicken keeper looking for something a bit different and those new to chicken coop design. As I write this, the book is  available from Amazon at around 30% off the normal retail price.

 

Plans For Chicken Coops – What Tools Do You Need?

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So you’ve decided you’re going to buy some plans for chicken coops and build your own hen house – great idea. It will save you lots of money and give you a tremendous sense of satisfaction.

If you’ve got some woodworking or DIY experience and a nice shed full of tools, nothing can stop you!

On the other hand, if you’re new to all this but still want to have a go – and why shouldn’t you – there are a few tools that will make putting your chicken coop plans into action a lot easier.

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Plans For Chicken Coops Extras – Top Tips For Nest Boxes

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Unless you want to be looking around everywhere for your eggs, including nest boxes in your plans for chicken coops is an excellent idea. You’ll find some designs – like small portable chicken tractors – often have them already built in, but others leave the choice up to you, or give various options. Following these tips should help you decide which are best for you.

What you want is a sheltered area that your chicken are comfortable to lay in. By sheltered that means even inside a chicken coop it should be a separate boxed off area, shaded if possible to make it darker and again, if possible, away from roosting perches – you don’t actually want the hens to sleep in there because they’ll likely make a mess. 12 inches square is a good size – so your birds can actually stand up if they want to. Bigger is better if you’ve got the space.

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Plans For Chicken Coops – A Comfy Nest Box Or Not?

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When people are looking for good plans for chicken coops, one of the things that comes up is nest boxes. That’s not somewhere for your chickens to sleep – they’ll be perfectly happy roosting on a perch – it’s somewhere convenient for them to lay their eggs. Chicken will lay eggs just about anywhere though, so do you need nest boxes to be part of your chicken coop design or not?

Let’s look at things from the chicken’s point of view. She’s not laying eggs for you at all –  she’s laying eggs to make more chickens! If you don’t take the eggs away, she’ll sit on them and try to hatch them. She’ll stop laying completely. So from her point of view she wants somewhere where she thinks the eggs will be protected – hidden from predators – and warm.

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Plans For Chicken Coops – Concrete Bases?

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I was looking at a couple of other plans for chicken coops websites the other day – as you do – and noticed a number of chicken coop designs were resting on poured concrete bases or slabs.

Plans for chicken coops with concrete bases can prevent predatorsI wondered whether this was a good idea or not. Mine have always been on the ground – with the roosting area raised so at night my birds are out of harm’s way.

Don’t get me wrong – I can see the obvious benefits in keeping predators out of your hen house – always a good idea – but there are a couple of things I’m maybe not so keen on.

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Plans For Chicken Coops – 4 Top Tips To Make Your Hens (And Your Own) Life Easier.

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Maybe you’re thinking of getting some free plans for chicken coops, maybe you’re going to buy some, maybe you’re going to draw up your own. In either case there are a few simple but important things you can sort out that will make life more pleasant for you – and your hens too!

1. Let’s look at fence design. Whether you’re considering chicken coops with runs, or just the general fencing of the area where you’ll keep your hens, a strong fence or enclosure is vital for their safety. Sadly there are lots of beasts – and a few birds – that will happily make a meal of your chickens or their eggs. Don’t spend ages on the hen house then short cut the fence.

2. When you see chicken coops on sale there are generally two types – big boxy ones and small portable ones (often called chicken tractors). If you’re going to have more than three or four birds you probably want a coop with a nice tall ceiling – because you’re going to have to go in there yourself sometimes. Low ceilings can be a real pain in the back! If you’ve got a dozen birds, walk in chicken coops really are recommended.

3. Think about light. Do the plans for chicken coops you’ve chosen allow for plenty of natural light? If they’re kept in the dark too long, not only will your birds’ health suffer, they won’t lay many eggs. Hens lay less eggs in the winter time mainly because there’s less light. Some people even put electric lighting in their coops. If you’re doing that, make sure you get an expert to do the wiring. If you wouldn’t wire up your house, why would you attempt to do a chicken coop? It’s the same electricity and it’s just as deadly if you get it wrong!

4. Plans should give you lots of useful info about design and construction, but think about finish too and build with care. Some wood treatments are downright poisonous. Also, make sure screws and nails are properly driven home and points don’t come through. Your birds could get a nasty injury and sooner or later you’ll reach in without thinking and tear your hand open. Just because it’s a hen house, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take time to do the job properly. Watch out for sharp wire ends as well. Cut them off or bend them over so they’re not going to hurt you or your chickens.

That’s just a few ideas for chicken coops that should help you in the decision-making process, and in putting things together. Personally I would choose a professional set of plans for chicken coops simply because it’s likely the designer will have spent time and effort ironing our potential problems – so you don’t have to! Any of the folks over on the right are worth checking out – and not just because they advertise here!

Automatic Chicken Coop Doors

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An automatic chicken coop door – now why didn’t I think of that ?!?

Maybe you’ve heard of them, but I didn’t know they even existed until yesterday evening when I was round at a chicken-keeping friend’s house. Now I’ve seen one I suppose the idea is pretty obvious, but honestly, I hadn’t even thought of it!

My pal had got his from Germany – and although it was beautifully made and worked well, it was very expensive – over $300.00. I guess he must really value his beauty sleep!

I though there must be cheaper automatic chicken coop doors on the market so I had a bit of a search around online.

Two types of automatic chicken coop door

What I found was that you can do things a lot cheaper if you are a bit handy with motors, timers and such. Alternatively, you can buy an automatic chicken coop door kit. Not quite as cheap as buying all the separate bits and working it out yourself, but much less fiddling about.

There are a few kits around, and they fall into two basic categories. Automatic chicken coop doors with a light sensor, or those with a timer.

At first, I though the light sensor one was a great idea. Sun comes up, automatic chicken coop door opens. Sun goes down, door closes. Excellent, yes?

But what if your chicken coop is shaded by trees or another building? What if it’s cloudy or stormy? Actually the makers say these things needn’t necessarily make that much difference, and they’re probably right, but I’m not sure…

The other kind has a simple timer. Set it to open when you like and close when you like. Now you might need to re-set it a couple of times a year depending on dawn and dusk where you are, but that’s hardly a problem, is it.

The one I’ve seen that I particularly like the look of is made by Automatic Chicken House Doors. It’s mostly made from thick ply that’s been treated for weather protection and there are kits for either sliding or flap-opening doors. They reckon you could install it in around 15 minutes and there’s even a ten minute video on the site showing you exactly how.

Is An Automatic Chicken Coop Door Worth The Money?

Either of the choices from Automatic Chicken House Doors is way less than my friend’s German version, but it’s still a fair few bucks just so you can lie in bed a bit longer in the morning! If you’re up with the dawn anyway, and home at dusk, it might seem like a waste of money.

But a lot of folks have to go a fair distance to work and are often home late. What about if you’re going out to dinner? What about when you’re away on vacation? Maybe a neighbor can do it, maybe not. Anyway, it’s not really for your convenience, as much as anything it’s for the safety of your chickens. There are plenty of predators that can get into a chicken run, but they won’t get into a properly built chicken coop if the door is shut.

A day ago I had never heard of them. Now I have, an automatic chicken coop door is definitely on my shopping list.

Welcome to Best Plans For Chicken Coops

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Hi there, welcome to Best Plans For Chicken Coops!

So why a blog about plans for chicken coops? Well really to try and help folks decide the best chicken coop for them. There’s a lot of stuff around – mobile chicken coops, chicken tractors, back yard chicken coops, city chicken coops… and more. So maybe it’s all a bit confusing and maybe I can help.

It’s also a bit of a personal thing. I was born on a farm – then moved to “the big city”, now I’m back in the countryside. Older and wiser (older certainly, maybe wiser). I’ve got the chance to keep chickens again and to have fresh eggs every morning – which must be one of life’s most affordable luxuries!

The best plans for chicken coops depend on where you live and how many chickens you want to keep, so we’ll have a look at the alternatives and see how we get on. If you’ve got any advice to share or a comment to make, I’d be glad to hear from you.

I was going to say I’ll write again soon, but apparently you’re supposed to say “post” not “write” – so I’ll post again soon :-).