Mankind has been raising chickens for some ten thousand years. However, For most the reason for the domesticatioin of chickens if obvious: food by either meat or even the eggs. However, even in ancient times there was extra attention given to keeping the flock clean. To make this easy for you, make sure your chicken house plans include features for easy cleaning.

Nowadays, a typical family will treat their chickens like household pets, using them as a source for eggs. With the right breed of hen, you can get as many as 300 eggs a year – that’s a lot of eggs! Certainly egg production drops as the years pass, but that’s why it is so important to kee your chicken house clean and your chickens healthy.

Keeping the hen’s nesting area free from dirt and pests is an absolute must. Start by collecting your eggs on a frequent or regular basis. Frequent collection will prevent some of the issues in this area, and some folks who raise hens will carefully place some fake plastic eggs, rocks or even golf balls to entice their hens to lay eggs in one particular area.

Occasionally, the hens won’t want to leave the house to allow you to clean it. If this is the case, you can try to use something to shoo the hen out, but be careful she does not trample on any of the young chickens. The other thing you can do is wait until the hen leaves to deficate or eat; then close off the nesting area while you clean it.

As mentioned earlier, a clean hen house is necessary to keep away pests. If you raise chickens, you need to clean regulary to prevent mite infestation or Red Mites. You will know if your chickens are infested with red mites because egg production will drop and the chickens will peck at each other in an attempt to get the mites. Watch your flock for unusual pecking, or examine your chickens for bloody or bald patches.

The chicken mites can live as few as 5 days, but some can live up to 2 weeks This short cycle allows for fast growth and heavy infestations. They can live in the chicken house just as well as on the chickens themselves.

Keeping your chicken house and chickens clean is the best treatment, which is preventing the mites in the first place. If you do get an infestation, there are a number of insecticides available to minimize and eliminate external parasites. One very effective pest controls is “permethrin.” Permethrin does have a long residual time in which it is effective, and that makes it a primary insecticide for treating your chicken house, surrounding areas like the chicken run and even your equipment. You can even treat the hens and roosters directly with a diluted version of permethrin..

Some other cures you may use to treat mites or even lice would be the use of wood ashes and diatomaceous earth (or DE). This is considered a non-chemical treatment that smothers the mites. There are newer products, such as Poultry Protector, which are a natural enzyme treatment.

This may sound corny, but cleaning the chicken coop can be a fun time, especially when involving the whole family. Kids love to chase the chickens out of the way for cleaning, and if you have good chicken house plans, your cleaning is built right into your chicken house designs. Cleanlieness may be next to Godliness, but we’ll be content with healthy, happy chickens and fresh eggs.

When building a chicken coop, it is suggested that you follow the guidelines below for a successful endeavor.

Element #1. – Appearance and Design:

Sketch out your design on a sheet of paper before you do anything else. Think of the colors you will paint the roof and chicken coop walls. Always keep in mind that if your chicken coop is clearly visible to your neighbors, (unless you live in a farm it will most likely be visible to your entire neighborhood,) it shouldn’t ever serve as a distraction or defacement of its utmost surroundings. So make sure to design an aesthetically looking chicken coop so that your neighbors do not complain of its detracting appearance. Once finished, always remember to remove and dispose of any types of garbage or weeds from around your chicken coop. Try to maintain an appealing landscape around it to enhance its overall appearance.

Element #2. – Using Sound Judgment:

When designing your chicken coop structure, you must use sound judgment in almost every aspect of the way.

For instance, you want to use building materials in which the cleaning and disinfecting procedures will be quick and easy. The doors you install should open inwards, not outwards. You don’t want your chickens roosting on your windows, so it is best to install sliding windows.

A question many people ask is how to build a chicken coop who’s floors are easy to hose and spray down without much puddling? Well the secret to that is to slightly slope the flooring toward the door. This way, when you spray out the chicken coop, the water will flow out, hence solving your puddling problem.

Element # 3. – Protection from Hazardous Elements:

So you want to learn how to build a chicken coop with maximum protection?

Then listen up.

As you may know, a well built chicken coop will protect your chickens from hazardous elements such as bad weather (heavy rain, wind, hale, snow, cold climates, etc,) but they will also protect them from hungry predators, theft and injury.

So how do we accomplish that?

Easy. You want to build a draft free chicken house with windows and doors that can be opened and closed as needed. Make sure the windows and doors both have proper screening systems installed in them such as a heavy gage mesh wire. Building the chicken coop on a high yet well drained area with ensure the least amount of dampness of the coop. Be sure to build your chicken coop in an area that faces the sun which will help warm and dry the soil and coop itself after it rains.

To protect your chickens from predators, the best thing to do is to bury your outside runs with chicken wire all around the coop about 1 foot deep. This will prevent some very hungry predators such as raccoons, cats and even dogs from digging underneath it.

Strategy # 4. – Coop Ventilation:

You may be wondering how to build a chicken coop that will not only keep your chickens locked up and protected from bad weather and predators yet receive the proper ventilation it requires. If so, then you already understand the importance of draft free air movement from within the coop. Chickens, much like humans, need fresh air and oxygen. The same goes for the removal of unwanted excessive moisture and carbon dioxide. A chicken coop with ample air movement and proper ventilation will help remove the ammonia build up and dampness that may grow inside its walls.

Speaking of walls, the chicken coop walls should have proper insulation installed which will help keep the chickens dry. As long as chickens are dry, they can handle cold climates very well, but humidity plus cold weather will cause health issues for your poultry. Therefore, insulated walls are a must!

Strategy # 5. – Light Source:

If you want a good source of light and warmth for your chickens during the cold months of the year and a solid source of ventilation during the hot months, then be sure to install the chicken coop windows facing the southside where they will receive direct sunlight throughout the day.

On another note, if your goal is to raise chickens that will produce great eggs all year round, then you should look into an electrical source of light. You should be able to easily install an electrical light at the height of the chicken coop’s ceiling which will help keep your chickens warm and help them lay better chicken eggs throughout the year. One ceiling light should be enough for a small scale chicken coop, for larger chicken coops though, try to install one electrical ceiling light per every 30 – 40 feet.

Strategy # 6. – Conveniently placed Wateres and Chicken Feeders:

Chicken feeders and waterers should be placed where your flock will have easy access to them. However, you have to becareful where you place them because chickens like to make a mess of everything they eat due to their chicken scratching instincts. I’m sure you don’t want to see your chicken feed mix all over the coop floors so, to avoid this, place the chicken feeders at the height of the chicken’s back. This way they will have to stretch their necks up to eat but won’t reach the feeders with their feet. Same goes for the waterers. Just make sure to keep the waterers full of fresh clean water throughout the day.

There you have it folks. 6 quick and easy strategies that will show you how to build a chicken coop fast and efficiently. Whether you’re building a large scale chicken coop or a small one, these tips should get you moving in the right direction.

Folks, did you know that the average american spends about $300 to build a chicken coop? Some even invest over 2 months of work trying to assemble the darn structure and in the end aren’t even fully contempt with their product. Not very enticing is it? A great chicken coop plan can cut your time and efforts in half while saving you a vast amount money on building materials.

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