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Excited about the chicken coop you’re going to build? Can’t wait to get started? Already dreaming about the French egg breakfast?

Before you embark on the most-awesome-chicken-coop-ever-made journey, read on & discover the 7 crucial errors you must never make when building a homemade chicken coop.

1. Floor Planning– First off, you must zero in on a perfect spot for your coop. If it’s a backyard chicken coop your planning, think of the coop floor you have in mind and whether landscaping is required or not.

Tip 1- You might build one on an already landscaped part of your backyard to cut costs.

Tip 2- Make a sloped floor for easy cleaning.

2. Get the right size for your coop- You want a chicken coop that offers maximum comfort for your hens. So getting the right size is significant. Every hen must have at least 4 square feet to roam about. So do the math and get the coop size correct ‘coz space is crucial for your chickens to lay eggs properly.

Tip – If building your first coop, try for a small or medium sized coop as large ones can get tricky and be a bomb on the pocket.

3. Windows are a Must– Chickens MUST have adequate light for robust health. Since they require 14 hours of light per day for top-drawer egg laying we suggest properly located windows that provide plenty of warm sun during the day to keep your hens content.

Tip – Build in sliding windows to prevent your hens from roosting on them.

4. Ventilation –If they require light then they certainly require lots of fresh air too. So when building a homemade chicken coop, give due consideration to proper ventilation to keep ammonia & moisture levels to a minimum low.

5. Feeder Placement– This one is obvious but still commonly ignored. You want all your hens including the chicks to access their food & water easily. You don’t want the feeders placed too low and have a huge mess on your hands daily; neither do you want it too high and starve the young chicks.

Tip – 10-15 cm above the ground normally does the job.

6. Proper Fencing & Wiring– Gaps left carelessly while fencing and wiring causes a astounding number of poultry deaths every year. Chickens frighten easily and a scared hen often puts their head into a wire gap to escape but ends up being torn apart. To avoid such unfortunate incidents, DO NOT allow even a single gap opening!!!

7. Keep the predators OUT–You want your chickens to live healthily and lay eggs; not have a chicken massacre in the morning when you get up. So you must think of and research all possible ways to ward off clever predators like a weasel or a raccoon or aerial ones like hawks or owls.

Tip 1– For a chicken run; dig the wire about 4 feet into the ground to debar wild animals.

Tip 2– Cover properly from the top like a wire grille to stave off aerial predators.

  how to build a chicken coop