Building Your Backyard Chicken Coop
Before you begin building your backyard chicken coop, the very first thing to do is survey the area where you plan to put the chicken coop. Decide whether what you plan to build will be portable (movable), semi-permanent or fixed.
Regardless of the type of backyard chicken coop you will build for your chickens, you have to make sure that you provide them with the best available comfort, cleanliness and security since this is where your flock will sleep and lay their eggs.
This is where your chickens will eat and sleep. Your coop will also need to keep them safe from potential predators. It is possible to buy a pre-made chicken coop and that is a good option for you if you have the money and don’t have the time to build one on your own.
Chicken Coop Nesting Box Drawer
You also want to make it the easiest for YOU! You have to consider how you will feed them and provide water in the easiest way and also pick up their eggs without much trouble. The other major things you will be doing is cleaning the coop. Depending on where you live and the closeness of quarters you may have to do it every week. That will be a pain if it isn’t planned out carefully.
Pre-Planning and Site Selection Basics
- 1. Choose the Right Plan and Design: Based on the family discussion as to how many chickens you plan to have, you already have an idea as to how big the chicken coop should be and what type you would build.
- 2. Other Factors to Consider: When you have decided on the right plan and design, you also have to consider the following factors in order to make the building phase a lot easier for you.
- a. Allocate 4 heads of chicken per feeder and waterer.
- b. Build the nest boxes at the same time you build the chicken coop to save time.
- 3. Position the Coop Strategically In choosing the right place for semi-permanent or fixed chicken coop, make sure that the area will have the right amount of sunlight and is not directly in the direction of the wind with predator threats kept to a minimum.
You want to also consider how you will get the eggs out easily. Some people put drawers or other doors that open easily into the nesting boxes where they can just take out the eggs. You can also set up a way to easily clean your coop and have a pull out tray under the coop that collects the droppings for the most part like this coop on the Seattle City Chickens Tour does.
See also: Chicken Coop Plans
