Don't Rush Into Choosing Plans For Chicken Coops

If you are taking a DIY approach to becoming a poultry keeper, you need to make sure that when you are choosing plans for chicken coops you get a set that incorporates all the design features your chickens will need to keep them safe, warm and content. In this article I have outlined 3 important features that you will want to see in a really good set of chicken coop plans.

Provide Plenty Of Space

In order for your birds to be happy as well as productive, you need to allow plenty of space for them inside the chicken coop and you should follow the suggested guidelines as closely as you can. Poultry associations recommend that you allow for 1 square foot per chicken, so this is your starting point. Work out how much outside space you have available to you and then decide what size of coop you can fit into this space, bearing in mind that ideally you should provide some kind of run as well. You can then make this calculation and work out how much square footage you have available to you and therefore how many birds you can accommodate. It is definitely better to take this approach than to decide how many chickens you want to keep and then try and cram them into the space available. Most blueprints for chicken coops will tell you how many birds their design is made to take, but it is still worth checking this out for yourself.

Make Sure There Is Enough Light

A lot of the pictures you see of chicken houses are taken from the front and they look closed in. This is great for keeping your birds safe from predators and from a security viewpoint. However, what many new breeders are not aware of is that a lot of chicken coop designs locate a window at the edge of the roofline (this does not always show on pictures and photographs) and this is an important feature. In order to lay eggs efficiently, chickens need a lot of light, preferably up to 14 hours a day. In order for this to happen artificial lighting may need to be provided in the early morning hours, so that the hens can still take part in twilight at their roosting time. So study the chicken house plans you want to use to ensure that your birds will have a lot of light.

Ventilation is Very Important

When chickens live together in a coop they generate an awful lot of moisture which causes condensation and can lead to harmful bacteria developing. So it is essential that there is sufficient ventilation to prevent this. Chicken droppings can also be a problem if a coop is not properly ventilated because their waste creates high levels of ammonia which is not good for either humans or chickens. Therefore it is important to check that your choice of plans for chicken coops incorporates an opening window or vents that are fitted into the space between the roof and the walls. But please bear in mind that whilst chickens can tolerate some degree of cold, they are very susceptible to drafts, so the ventilation solution needs to take this into consideration.


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