How to Build a Backyard Chicken Coop
If you don’t live on a farm but still want to raise chickens, don’t let that simple fact stop you from following your goal. You can build a backyard chicken coop quite easily that will enable you to raise at least a few chickens, helping you get started. When you build a backyard chicken coop you have the ease of accessing it so close to your back door, making looking after your chickens that much easier.
Here are the steps you should take to build a backyard chicken coop.
1. Look For Good Landscaping
First things first, you want to look for a good landscape. There is no use building a backyard chicken coop on land that is not very level or has a lot of divots in it since this will be very hard to build on.
Ideally you want an open space of land that will allow for easy construction and won’t encourage water to lay on the ground funny, which could then increase the moisture of the coop and cause it to start smelling.
You should also look for a spot on the yard where you can really trim down the grass and keep things neat and tidy. Shorter grass will also discourage bugs from growing near the ground, which is important for your chickens to stay healthy.
2. Think About The Specifics
After you’ve determined which area of the ground you’re going to build a backyard chicken coop on, then you need to think about the specifics.
This will include information such as the size of the coop, the insulation of the coop, the overall design of the coop, and the watering system you will use. All of these factors are going to play critical roles in how your chickens feel in the coop.
Pay particular attention to how many chickens you plan to keep in your backyard chicken coop as that will dictate how large you should make it. Since it is in your backyard, you want to error on the smaller side to begin with, so it may be a good idea to limit yourself to 3-5 chickens or so, depending on how many you feel you can handle. This is also good if you’re just getting started with raising chickens, since it shouldn’t become too much for you to handle.
3. Gather Materials
The final step after you’ve laid out the plans for your backyard chicken coop is to gather the materials you will need to build it. There are many different types of building supplies that you can use, so be sure you investigate this thoroughly.
The type of supplies you choose to use will impact the total price of the coop, so it’s vital that you’re making this decision carefully with regards to how much you’re willing to spend.
Climate will also be another factor that partially determines what types of building supplies you should lean towards, so keep that in mind also.
After you go through all three of these steps, you should have a pretty good plan in place to build a backyard chicken coop. Then you just need to put the steps into action and soon you’ll be raising your own chickens.
How To Build A Backyard Chicken Coop
A guide on building your own chicken coop.
By Bob Keene
Published: 3/20/2009
