The popularity and knowledge to build chicken coops is growing from day to day. The whole process of keeping and raising chickens seems very romantic and organic and I can understand it's attraction. You may go out to the local store and purchase yourself a chicken coop but are you willing to find a spare five hundred dollars ( or three hundred pounds ) to pay for a ready made coop. This is way out of many people's means so the logical choice to turn to is to build your own chicken coop.

First things first - do you know exactly how many chickens you are going to want to raise and look after? If not, answer this question now. You will need a number in your head before you choose the chicken coop design plans. Rule of thumb is that each chicken needs four square feet of space to live in. If chickens do not get this space their health will suffer drastically and the egg yield will deteriorate. Try to find plans that suit the amount of chickens you wish to house and if this is not possible get one that is slightly bigger - you can always expand in the future if you wish.

Draw out your plans and write everything down - a pen and paper is highly under rated these days. Also try to plan out your garden or your yard area to find out what part of the garden gains the most natural sunlight. Chickens, like humans, need to sleep at night then get up in the daytime. Without this cycle chickens can suffer from poor health so make sure you address it. If it is not possible to find a well lit spot for the chicken coop then you can fit some lights inside the coop which will work and also give off some heat for the chickens. Make sure the lights are fixed up high so the chickens can not get at them and damage themselves or the lights.

Ventilation is paramount when it comes to looking after your chickens and you do not want to get moisture inside the chicken coop. Try to pick a chicken coop plan that includes windows in it's make up because these supply an adequate amount of ventilation ( the front door to the coop will also act as a ventilator ). Building a chicken coop does not have to be a complicated task and can be done by anyone. Get yourself some reliable chicken coop plans, take your time and plan out your task - good luck.