In order to successfully engage in breeding chickens, it is necessary to provide the right conditions for them. There are no trifles in this business. It is extremely important to choose the right place for the construction of the chicken coop. Inside, it is necessary to maintain the required level of lighting and temperature. Correct chicken coop is the key to good egg production even in winter.
You can do it yourself. In this case, no large material investments are required. You only need enough free time. How to build a chicken coop with your own hands will be considered in the article.
Basic requirements for the chicken coop
To make a chicken coop yourself (photos of the options are presented below), you need to consider the basic requirements for such a building. From the correctness of its design depends on whether the hens will lay eggs, whether they will hurt, etc.
At the cottage or garden, you can arrange a summer or winter chicken coop. It all depends on the needs of the owners of the mini-farm. A good chicken coop should be spacious enough. Otherwise, its residents will often get sick. In this case, there can be no talk of high rates of egg laying.
It is important to pay attention to the location of the chicken coop on the site, to provide for the presence of a fence. Inside such a bird house, the necessary conditions should be created. This is especially important in the winter. Inside the seats should be located correctly. It will be necessary to ensure proper ventilation, lighting and heating in the cold season.
Fencing and site selection
To build a chicken coop with your own hands for 10, 20 or more birds, you will need to carefully approach the planning process. You need to start by choosing the right place. It is better that this building is away from home. Otherwise, residents will hear a noise, smell a specific smell. This will cause some discomfort.
Having chosen a remote site, it will be necessary to provide appropriate protection for the inhabitants of the building from gusty wind and scorching sunlight. It is welcome if trees or tall bushes grow near the chicken coop.
Chickens will need to provide space for walking. This territory must be fenced. He will not allow chickens to wander around the site. It should be noted that even with clipped wings, this bird can fly up to a height of 2 m. Also, the fence should protect the inhabitants of the building from different predators. These are rats, hedgehogs, foxes, as well as domestic cats and dogs.
Area and orientation of the chicken coop in space
In order to harmoniously fit the building on the site, it is necessary to calculate its dimensions. This parameter is determined by the number of birds that will live here. Each chicken requires at least 0.5 m² of floor space. If it is planned to build an insulated object, it should also include a vestibule.
So, for example, if you plan to create a do-it- yourself summer coop for 20 chickens, its total area should be at least 10 m². For 10 chickens, a 5 m² house is enough. However, increasing the space inside the building is not prohibited. The 20-chicken winter coop should be even larger. Its area may not be less than 11 m². For 10 chickens, the winter version of the building should have dimensions of 6 m².
Usually a chicken coop has a rectangular shape. Most often it is located on a site in length from east to west. It is advisable that the windows face south and the door east. This will ensure that a sufficient amount of sunlight is inside the house. If the weather is hot, arid, the windows should be covered with curtains. If there is not enough light, the chickens are poorly carried.
Microclimate
Do-it-yourself chicken coop (photo of the structures, see the review) is easy. However, normal living conditions for its inhabitants should be ensured. This task is more difficult to cope with. The optimum temperature for breeding chickens is in the range of 15-28 º. If it gets hotter or colder, the chickens no longer actively rush.
In summer, when the temperature rises, it is necessary to create good ventilation and shading the chicken coop. In winter, you will need to apply additional heating. To minimize energy costs, the chicken coop will need to be insulated. Its walls should not be thinner than 20 cm. Also, the floor, ceiling, and roof are covered with a layer of thermal insulation. Slots must be carefully repaired. At the same time, one should not forget about high-quality ventilation. For this, ventilation ducts are created, a window is arranged.
It is forbidden to create heating of hen houses with the help of furnaces and potbelly stoves. They often cause fires. The best option to create the right microclimate in winter is the use of infrared heaters. They can be UV lamps or a special film. The second option is preferable. Infrared film requires less energy, provides uniform heating of the room.
Inner space
Creating a summer or winter chicken coop with your own hands for 20 chickens or fewer birds, you need to think about the correct layout of the space inside. There must necessarily be perches, drinking bowls and feeders. Chickens that carry eggs need nests. Layers and chickens with a brood should be kept in a specialized place, protected from fuss.
It is necessary to comply with all the rules for planning the interior of the chicken coop. All perches should be on the side opposite the entrance. Their sizes should correspond to the sizes of hens of a certain breed, as well as their quantity.
Nests are installed in a darkened place, protected from wind and other adverse effects. Their sizes are also determined by the characteristics of the poultry breed. A separate nest must be installed for each layer. The security of this zone should be maximum. Otherwise, the chickens will not be carried.
Other elements of the chicken coop interior
A summer or winter chicken coop for 20, 10 or a different number of birds should have a drinking bowl and feeders inside. They must be installed so that the passage is not cluttered or obstructed. Also, feeders and drinking bowls should not interfere with cleaning inside the building.
For different types of feed, certain containers must be used. They need to be located in different areas of the chicken coop. Moreover, the approach to them should be open from all sides. To create the right feeders, you need several containers. They differ in material and scope.
Wooden oblong containers will be required for dry feed. They must be long enough so that the bird can get free access to the contents from any direction. For wet food, plastic containers are needed. Fresh grass should be poured into a mesh of metal wire.
In the chicken coop, an additional hole should be equipped for the hens to go out. In winter, this facility will need additional insulation.
Lighting, ventilation
Do-it-yourself chicken coop for 10 chickens or more needs to be built in accordance with all requirements. For the bird to lay eggs, it needs about 10 hours of light day. If this figure is increased by another 2 hours, productivity will increase by another 30%. However, longer lighting times are not required. Otherwise, the chickens will weaken, they will hurt.
The summer coop does not need additional lighting. For winter construction, additional lamps are used. Suitable fluorescent devices with a capacity of not more than 40 V, as well as incandescent lamps up to 60 V. The best option is energy-saving illuminators. Their spectrum is as close as possible to daylight.
Ventilation is necessarily created in any chicken coop. It could be a pipe system. Also, in the construction, a window is necessarily made. It is insulated for the winter. In the summer, it will become a source of light in the room. This is an important building element.
Tools and materials
To create a chicken coop with your own hands for 20 chickens or another number of birds, you will need to prepare the appropriate material and all the necessary tools. Boards and bars will be needed. They will create a roof, floor, walls.
Brick and cement mortar must be prepared to create the foundation. In addition, insulation materials will be required. This can be mineral wool, ruberoid, etc. To create an aviary for bird walks on the site, a metal mesh is used. Cells should be small.
In addition to materials, appropriate tools will be required. It is necessary to prepare a saw, a hammer, a screwdriver, self-tapping screws and nails, a ruler and a building level. You will also need a shovel, a container for mixing cement. After that, it will be possible to begin construction work.
Foundation
To build a winter chicken house with your own hands, you will need to create a foundation. For summer buildings with large dimensions, this is also a must. For such structures, the foundation should be of the supporting column type. It consists of blocks. This method is highly reliable. In this case, it will be possible to create additional ventilation.
It is necessary to carry out marking in accordance with the developed construction plan. In this area, the topsoil is removed. Next, mark the location of the recesses. In these places they make indentations. Their length and width is 40 cm. The depth should be 60 cm. Between each support should be a distance of 1.5-2 m. They should be in a row.
At the bottom you need to pour crushed stone, and then sand. This pillow should be 20 cm high. The surface is tamped. A small amount of cement mortar is poured into the bottom. 2 bricks are laid on it. They are covered with a layer of cement. Then 2 more bricks are laid across the first layer. The height of the stands should be 20-25 cm. They should dry well. Next, the columns are treated with bitumen.
Walls
Considering the technology of how to build a chicken coop with your own hands, you should delve into the process of erecting walls. First, the floor is laid out of a thick beam. Their ends need to be connected in half. For the log of the floor, a beam laid on the edge is used. Its cross section should be 100x150 mm. A distance of 50 cm is made between the lags. The resulting gaps must be sealed with scraps of timber.
Walls must be at least 1.8 m high. To create them, the timber is placed in series, connecting the corners using groove-type locks. Using the same technology, the corners of the beam are connected in subsequent rows. Fiber based on jute and flax is used as a sealant.
For a bar of a natural level of humidity, pins are used. This will prevent deformation during the drying process of the material. Holes are made under them at a distance of 1 m. Their depth should be 2.5 timber. Such holes are made in a checkerboard pattern. Nagels are driven into the wood by 7 cm.
Floor
Creating a chicken coop with your own hands, you need to build a floor. Under the installed lags stretch insulation, which will protect the premises from the wind. It is attached using boards measuring 25x100 mm. Next, you need to use insulation. It is best to use mineral wool. It fills the space between the lags.
Across the lag you need to sew boards. This is done at a distance of 10 cm. Boards with a cross section of 50x150 mm are used. A layer of waterproof plywood is laid on top.
Roof
When building a chicken coop with your own hands, the next step is to equip the roof. It can be single or gable. The first option is suitable for beginner builders. The gable roof is more difficult to erect, but it better protects the interior from temperature extremes, thereby reducing energy costs in the winter.
To create a gable roof, you need to fix the ceiling beams. Next, a rafter system is installed on horizontally located logs. It should have an angle of 35-50º. The crate is mounted on the rafter system. On top you need to lay a layer of waterproofing. Next, the insulation is mounted.
The roof is covered with a special material on top. It can be tiles, slate, etc. The ceiling needs to be sheathed with chipboard sheets on both sides. Between the lags also lay a layer of mineral wool.
Ventilation
Ventilation is often equipped when creating windows. In winter types of buildings, it will be necessary to create a system of channels through which air exchange will occur. To do this, plastic or galvanized pipes with a diameter of 140 mm are suitable. They should be in different sides of the building.
The end of one pipe should be 20 cm from the floor, and the second at a height of 10 cm from the ceiling. The street part of the pipe should be high. The exhaust channel should be away from perches, nests. After that, the arrangement of the internal space is carried out.
Having considered how to create a chicken coop with your own hands, you can build it yourself. At the same time, optimal conditions will be created for its inhabitants.