Easy Chicken House Plans

Chicken Coop Ramp

If you have an old shed in your backyard, you might be wondering what to do with it. Well guess what? You can turn that old building into a chicken shed with a minimal amount of effort! There are a few things that you will need to do before you fully turn it into a chicken shed, so let's go over the basics.

Safety

Because this was originally a regular shed, there are a number of things that it could have been used for. It's impossible to tell exactly what, and that being the case you need to do a thorough cleaning. Check the shelves, and if there are any rotten or damaged shelves, you need to remove them. If there are any chemicals present, make sure they are cleaned as well because if a chicken becomes exposed to dangerous chemicals it will usually die overnight.

Check for nails that might be sticking out of the walls or any beams. These nails which might not have been a huge danger to you will certainly be a danger to your chickens in the days to come. Remember that they have no common sense, and will run headlong into the nail if you let them.

Outfitting your Chicken Shed

When you are ready to start outfitting the chicken shed, there are a few things that you absolutely need to have. The first of course is a watering area. If you are going to go all out, you could make a custom watering area where it is built into the side of the building. Make sure that you have a removable water bottle that you can clean out on a daily basis. There are other options, such as a manufactured watering device, and these are normally made from galvanized metal.

Also make sure that you can feed your chickens easily. You want this to be an automated process, so try to devise some sort of automatic feeder unless you want to feed them from a trough. The only problem with a trough is that it will undoubtedly accumulate a large amount of chicken feces that you will need to clean on a regular basis.

Remember that your chickens will also need roosts to sleep in. If you are designing your coop in the interest of collecting eggs, make sure there is a back way into the roost to collect those eggs. On that note though, make sure the roosts are protected against the elements if you do have an exterior door. You want the chickens to be as comfortable as possible, and that means you need to do everything in your power to make sure they are warm, fed, and happy. Happy chickens mean more eggs!

Creating a Yard

Every chicken shed needs a yard, which means you will need to pick a side to add a trapdoor on. This will involve cutting a hold in the side of the shed and adding a ramp so that the chickens can exit and enter in relative safety. You will need to set an area to fence in so that your chickens do not wander off, and we'll warn you right now that you don't want to get too attached to the grass in that area. The chickens will destroy it, and if you really want to, you can add two sections of chicken yard so that you can rotate the chickens and re-grow the grass periodically.

There is plenty of information out there that can help you build the perfect chicken coop. All you need to do is find it!. Once you do, you will have a world of information at your fingertips, and you will be able to build an amazing chicken coop. Just do a simple search, or even visit sites like http://www.buildchickencoopsite.info for a wealth of chicken coop data. Remember, the only limit is your imagination.

Chicken nesting box question? 10 points to best!?

In my coop I have 6 nesting boxes (12 pullets right now) and the lowest boxes are 1 foot off thebottom of the coop. Will they be able to reach the boxes on top of th bottom ones? Or should I have a ramp that goes up
to the bottom nestng boxes, and then just a pole in front of the top nesting boxes
so that they can get in easier?

They should be fine, getting up their. While they are young flying may post a problem, and you may have to put them on their roosts at night. But, by the time they are old enough to lay eggs they will be able to get up their, at least to the 1 ft boxes. And then if the next box isn't to far up, they can give a little jump from the post on the first layer of nesting boxes. (if that is the type of nesting box you are using)

But, typically considering hens in the first place, and how many you have, they will pick 1-2 favorite nesting boxes and use only those.

However, there are some breeds that have lots of troubles with flying, Silkies, and heavier breeds are amongst them. A Silkie would rather sleep on the floor of the coop, then roost. But, even my Silkie hen gets in and out of her 1ft nest everyday, but it all could really depend on the bird.

If you ever have a hen have chicks, a ramp could become necessary. However, you will most likely want to separate her from the coop anyway, until the chicks are older.

Personally, I wouldn't add a ramp, unless they appear to need it. It is just going to give them another surface to poop all over.

Hope this helps, and feel free to contact me via email if you have any questions,
Jamie/Rhode Runner

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