A backyard chicken coop is a great idea for any household to have. Free eggs with save you a heap of cash, and if you're up to it you can even breed chickens for meat. The most common chicken coop is the a-frame. This article gives you some pre-construction tips, and shows you the next step to simple, effective a-frame chicken coop plans.
Flock And Coop Sizing
Obviously it's very important to give your chickens enough space to graze. A-frame coops will generally hold about 5 birds. If you're not prepared to build this style of coop large enough to give at least 3 square feet per chicken, you might consider a bigger design.
Other simple coop options include:
- The box shaped coop with separate nesting area.
- The "chicken ark", which is essentially a 2-storey a-frame coop.
Most of the higher quality, internet-based chicken coop plans will provide you with multiple coop schematics within the one package.
Preparing Your Yard For On-Site Construction
It's usually easiest to build your a-frame chicken coop on-site, even though most coops are portable. It just saves time, your back, and lets you see how things are shaping up as you build. If something doesn't look right you can adjust it right there and then.
Before you start building, ensure that you do the following:
- Consider how much light is available in your yard. Chickens have very delicate sleep cycles, and the sun is the best way to get them into a good rhythm. Position the coop so that there is plenty of sunshine in the morning.
- What kind of predators live in your geographic location? You're going to need to either predator-proof the coop, or secure your entire yard. Foxes, snakes, and dogs are generally the most common pests. Most chicken coop plans will show you how to build the necessary precautions.
- Think about the proximity to resources. For most people this will mean the water supply, though you might want to be close to electricity if you want to breed chicks. Installing a warming lamp will help a lot with this.
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