Chicken Coop Designs

- Easy Tips For A Successful Chicken Coop.

As I am sure you have noticed there are plenty Chicken Coop Designs found on the internet. With all these designs floating around how do you know what to look for and what to steer clear of? After doing a couple of Google searches the other day I came across ten or more chicken coop designs that not only where ineffective at best but could actually be harmful to your chickens and many of them had not taken into consideration crucial things like ventilation and cleaning.

Ok, they may seem cheap and easy to build but in the long run they will most likely cost you a lot more money in extra supply and maintenance cost. In worst case scenario they may even cost you your hens or chicken...

As a result of the designs I found that were put up on the internet, by people clearly without a clue or care for the welfare of their chicken, I have written down these 4 points as a guideline when choosing which design you want to go for when you build your chicken coop:

#1 - Build A Chicken Coop With Good Lighting
When designing a chicken coop, good light source is always a plus. This could be electric or fluorescent light-bulbs. One benefit is that a chicken coop with proper light can supply heat when the temperature is getting colder during winter nights or seasons.
#2 - Design Your Chicken Coop With Proper Ventilation
A good design for your coop will always allow for adequate ventilation. Poor ventilated chicken coops equals disaster and death for your chickens and your entire project. If the coop has windows, be sure they can be easily opened. Also make sure that the windows are not positioned in a way that would lead to extreme heat from the sun during hot summer months. Also make sure you create a good door. No matter whether it is made out of plexiglass or a wire-mesh door it should be easy and quick to open when needed.
#3 - Make Sure Cleaning The Chicken Coop Is Easy.
Will the chicken coop design you are planning to realize make it easy to clean?
This is where I see a lot of chicken coop blueprints fail. A good design should allow easy maintenance and make cleaning as easy and quick as possible. I recommend you look for things like downward sloped floors and look for proper drainage and run-off. Also be sure that the main door opens inward.
#4 - Quality Above Cost; Sturdy Construction Materials Is A Must
When planning your chicken coop be sure you plan to build the coop using only quality wood and materials. This includes getting thick enough wire mesh if you plan to build your windows or doors out of mesh and use material and paint that is constructed to stand there for years ahead... It's no fun to build something cheap now and find out that whole thing is rotten in a couple of years. Building cheap is not always the cheapest solution. Make sure pesky predators can't get through the mesh or gnaw their way in as well.
These are just of the few rules I follow religiously and I hope you will too when you design- and later build your backyard chicken coop. Obviously there are many more things to consider when you are looking at chicken coop designs but these are four of the core principles one should follow.

I've been building chicken coops for people in my area for almost 16 years now and I've learned a lot along the way. Recently my great friend Bill put together an eBook ( a downloadable book) that takes into consideration all the points I've mentioned above and it also covers close to everything you need to design, plan, build and maintain your chicken coop. It comes with many different plans that you can easily print out whenever you need them and there are tips on how to choose the right material, what tools to use (nothing fancy needed - I guess you have them all already :) ) and he even speaks about how to increase egg production etc.

I've read it many times already and even started implementing a few of his methods in my daily work as a chicken coop builder.

Plus, did I mention building your own Chicken Coop will probably save you around 50 percent of the cost compared to buy a pre-built one?
To Learn More Go To: Chicken Coop Designs Blueprint