A chicken pen is essential for raising chickens in your backyard. It gives them shelter and a safe place to eat, sleep and of course lay their eggs. There are pre-fab options or you can build your own.
Who wants to invest in a pre-fab chicken coop?
-Inflated cost.
-Delivery hassle.
-No flexibility in layout or design.
-Limited choices of color and materials.
Follow these simple steps to get your own chicken pen made easy, have fun and save some money.
Step 1: Plan Ahead
If you want to easily build your own chicken pen, you must plan ahead of time. Some things to think about before beginning construction are:
-How many chickens will you have?
-What size are the chickens will you have?
-How many nest boxes will you need?
-How many feeders and waterers will you need?
-What about windows? Do you need them?
There are many things to consider before you build something that you don't like - or worse yet it's useless.
Step 2: Choose Your Site
Next you need to choose a site. It is very important that you choose a site that:
-Is wide enough for your coop to fit with plenty of space around it for a chicken run.
-Provides access to the entire perimeter.
-Receives direct sunlight
-Is far from heavy bushes or weeds where snakes, rodents, and other predators may hang out.
-Is not too steep.
Step 3: Put it on Paper
Building a backyard chicken coop by going at it with a concept in your head could be a disaster. Make sure you at least sketch out your coop on paper. Even if you're not an artist, this will be very helpful. If you don't like it or want changes, it's a lot easier to change the sketch than an actual coop.
Try to sketch every angle: Front, back, sides and a top view of the roof. Don't forget to sketch the inside.
Step 4: Get Materials
You should try to make a comprehensive list of materials from your sketch before you head to the lumber yard. You don't want to make multiple trips. Those unexpected trips to and from the hardware store in the middle of a project really kill the momentum and chew up a lot of time. Try to make a complete list of the framing lumber, any plywood, siding, roofing, nails screws, fencing, etc. Remember, a complete materials list makes building your coop easy and eliminates oodles of frustration.
Step 5: Get -R- Done
If you did your homework on steps 1 through 4 building your backyard chicken coop should be easy. You planned ahead, chose a good site, sketched out your chicken coop design on paper and you gathered all your materials. Now all you have to do is put it together.
The planning and preparation can take more time and effort than actually building a backyard chicken pen.
Do you like the planning part? Then that's not so bad.
Do you want to skip the planning part? Then you should consider purchasing some quality chicken pen plans [http://www.chickenpenplans.com] to truly make it easy.
Good plans will have:
-Different floor plans and features to choose from.
-Scale drawings and maybe video.
-Complete materials list.
-A fair price.
Who wants to invest in a pre-fab chicken coop?
-Inflated cost.
-Delivery hassle.
-No flexibility in layout or design.
-Limited choices of color and materials.
Follow these simple steps to get your own chicken pen made easy, have fun and save some money.
Step 1: Plan Ahead
If you want to easily build your own chicken pen, you must plan ahead of time. Some things to think about before beginning construction are:
-How many chickens will you have?
-What size are the chickens will you have?
-How many nest boxes will you need?
-How many feeders and waterers will you need?
-What about windows? Do you need them?
There are many things to consider before you build something that you don't like - or worse yet it's useless.
Step 2: Choose Your Site
Next you need to choose a site. It is very important that you choose a site that:
-Is wide enough for your coop to fit with plenty of space around it for a chicken run.
-Provides access to the entire perimeter.
-Receives direct sunlight
-Is far from heavy bushes or weeds where snakes, rodents, and other predators may hang out.
-Is not too steep.
Step 3: Put it on Paper
Building a backyard chicken coop by going at it with a concept in your head could be a disaster. Make sure you at least sketch out your coop on paper. Even if you're not an artist, this will be very helpful. If you don't like it or want changes, it's a lot easier to change the sketch than an actual coop.
Try to sketch every angle: Front, back, sides and a top view of the roof. Don't forget to sketch the inside.
Step 4: Get Materials
You should try to make a comprehensive list of materials from your sketch before you head to the lumber yard. You don't want to make multiple trips. Those unexpected trips to and from the hardware store in the middle of a project really kill the momentum and chew up a lot of time. Try to make a complete list of the framing lumber, any plywood, siding, roofing, nails screws, fencing, etc. Remember, a complete materials list makes building your coop easy and eliminates oodles of frustration.
Step 5: Get -R- Done
If you did your homework on steps 1 through 4 building your backyard chicken coop should be easy. You planned ahead, chose a good site, sketched out your chicken coop design on paper and you gathered all your materials. Now all you have to do is put it together.
The planning and preparation can take more time and effort than actually building a backyard chicken pen.
Do you like the planning part? Then that's not so bad.
Do you want to skip the planning part? Then you should consider purchasing some quality chicken pen plans [http://www.chickenpenplans.com] to truly make it easy.
Good plans will have:
-Different floor plans and features to choose from.
-Scale drawings and maybe video.
-Complete materials list.
-A fair price.