Chicken Coop And Run Designs

by chicken house plans on Tuesday, March 31st, 2009 | Comments Off

Chicken Coop And Run Designs

Believe it or not, but you can download high quality Chicken Coop Building plans over the internet at a fraction of the cost of "hard copy" plans. What's even better is that you can print out as many copies a you want and print more if any get dirty and/or damaged. This article shows you where to download the best chicken coop building plans on the internet.

Before you think about getting started, it's wise to work out exactly what type of coop you need. There are typically 3 different sizes: small & portable, a mid-sized coop, or a premium-grade coop with a large running area.

Small, Portable Chicken Coops

This type of coop is excellent if you've only got a small backyard, and want to be able to move the chickens around easily. Small coops are also very easy to clean, and are cheap and simple to make. The only real negative aspect to portable coops is that you can only really keep 2 or 3 chickens at a time. This is fine for many people, but keep in mind that less space for the chickens to run means less eggs.

Mid-sized Chicken Coops

These will take a little longer to construct, but are well worth it. You can keep 5 or more chickens inside, and even set up specific area for them to lay. You'll greatly increase your egg output, as the birds will free much less stressed out with room to spread their (useless) wings. You'll need to think more about a permanent position with this kind of coop, as they are generally not-so-portable.

Premium Chicken Coops With Run

If you're idea of raising chickens is to get more than enough eggs every week, and maybe even breed chickens for food, the premium coop is for you. Despite what you may think, this coop will only take a day or 2 to build with some help from your neighbor. It's definitely not movable, but it can make a nice addition to your backyard or farm.

For the highest quality chicken coop building plans available online, check out this Building A Chicken Coop website now.

New Coop Design and Location Problems?

I'm building a new coop in the school holidays for my 6 chickens and a rooster, plus a separate house for the duck. In the future, I plan on buying two more ducks and three more chickens. Here are my questions:

1# How much room would you need for a large/run yard to home more than 12 chickens, without having problems with lack of grass and manure problems?

2# How to build a roost for a handicapped chicken? I have one hen who has a leg infection in her joint that is close to the hip, which we have tried to fix but it doesn't work with penicillin. She walks in a funny way and has trouble jumping onto her roost to sleep next to her sister. Any ideas on how to design one that would be suitable for her and the rest.

3# Any other tips, tricks, warnings and hints would be great!

4# How much room do you need for 13 standard/heavy chickens in a coop, and 3 ducks in another small house.

P.S The 3rd question referred to both chickens and ducks.

1) if you can get 50ft of space, including the surfaces of the new coop should be enough, for exactly 12 chickens...say a pen 25ft by 25 ft? The more room you can give them the better. Once you get into the numbers of 20 plus chickens you won't have to worry as much about space, if you have already fenced in about 75ft of space...thanks to chickens being flock animals they stay within a relatively small area.

2) you could always build ladders to everything, like the roost pole, into the actual coop, the nesting boxes...anywhere the other chickens fly up to.

3) tips: get less chickens than you planned for or see if you need more room for your chickens. Build a brooder box if you can, for mother hens that hatch out their babies. warnings: umm put 6 to 12 inches around the run so nothing digs and cage in the top too if you can or if you can't get a guardian animal to protect the flock, like a dog, llama or goat.

4) heavy guys...they need about 5ft or 6ft of area per chicken...so 13*5=65. Have you considered banty chickens? You can have a lot more of them in a smaller space. Plus they are really cute and tiny. 1 ft of roosting stick per chicken.

4.5) ducks...ducks need enough room to spread their wings out completely...they need enough water area to get their whole body wet, their head feet and bottom. They need enough room to sleep comfortably...a 12in by 12in nesting box and they need enough room to run.

Have Fun and Good Luck!
~Whittni

(did your mom decide to move?)