Building a Chicken House - 4 Common Errors
If you're looking to build a chicken house to start raising some chickens, it's important for you to take time to gain the knowledge necessary to build a proper house.
If you don't, you're going to find that down the road you are not completely satisfied with the chicken house you have built and you'll likely want to make some changes.
At that point though, the changes you will need to make to your chicken house are going to be a lot more time and cost intensive then if you would have just avoided the critical errors in the first place.
Here are the major errors to be aware of as you go about building your chicken house.
Chicken House Error #1: Not Having A Paper Drawing First, it is absolutely essential that you have a paper drawing to go by as you build your chicken house.
This is going to give you a much better idea of the specifics involved with creating your house so you can be sure you're on track with the overall goal.
If you don't have a paper plan and make one small measurement mistake, the entire chicken house may not turn out properly.
Take some time to get those drawings down as they will be your working guide.
Chicken House Error #2: Forgetting Insulation Unless you live in an area that has incredibly stable weather on a daily basis all year round, it is important to put some insulation in the chicken house.
Just as people do not like to be housed in cold climates, chickens don't either.
If they are not comfortable in the chicken house, they are not going to lay their eggs properly, so your results will suffer.
If your chickens are exposed to cold, this could also cause them to become sick, further causing you issues down the road.
Chicken House Error #3: Not Putting the Water and Feeders In The Correct Place Another thing that many people overlook is where they should be putting the water and feeders in their chicken house.
While if you have a smaller chicken house this may not be as much of an issue, if you are building a larger one you want to put the water and feeders at a more central location, where they will have easy access.
If you are housing many chickens, it might even be a smart move to include more than one feeder so they are not feeling crowded out at any time.
Also, be sure that you position the feeders at a good height for the chicken so they don't feel constrained to try and get at their food or it isn't low enough that they start making a mess with their feet in the feeder.
Typically a good height is right around their back level.
Chicken House Error #4: Forgetting a Light Source Finally, make sure that you incorporate a light source into the house somehow so the chickens feel comfortable and can easily see.
You can do this through man-made light, or even better is allowing for some windows in the chicken house to let the natural sunlight show through.
This may also help increase the ventilation as well, which is also very beneficial.
So, keep these errors in mind and make sure you are not making any of them.
Failure to consider them could come at a high price to you later on.
If you don't, you're going to find that down the road you are not completely satisfied with the chicken house you have built and you'll likely want to make some changes.
At that point though, the changes you will need to make to your chicken house are going to be a lot more time and cost intensive then if you would have just avoided the critical errors in the first place.
Here are the major errors to be aware of as you go about building your chicken house.
Chicken House Error #1: Not Having A Paper Drawing First, it is absolutely essential that you have a paper drawing to go by as you build your chicken house.
This is going to give you a much better idea of the specifics involved with creating your house so you can be sure you're on track with the overall goal.
If you don't have a paper plan and make one small measurement mistake, the entire chicken house may not turn out properly.
Take some time to get those drawings down as they will be your working guide.
Chicken House Error #2: Forgetting Insulation Unless you live in an area that has incredibly stable weather on a daily basis all year round, it is important to put some insulation in the chicken house.
Just as people do not like to be housed in cold climates, chickens don't either.
If they are not comfortable in the chicken house, they are not going to lay their eggs properly, so your results will suffer.
If your chickens are exposed to cold, this could also cause them to become sick, further causing you issues down the road.
Chicken House Error #3: Not Putting the Water and Feeders In The Correct Place Another thing that many people overlook is where they should be putting the water and feeders in their chicken house.
While if you have a smaller chicken house this may not be as much of an issue, if you are building a larger one you want to put the water and feeders at a more central location, where they will have easy access.
If you are housing many chickens, it might even be a smart move to include more than one feeder so they are not feeling crowded out at any time.
Also, be sure that you position the feeders at a good height for the chicken so they don't feel constrained to try and get at their food or it isn't low enough that they start making a mess with their feet in the feeder.
Typically a good height is right around their back level.
Chicken House Error #4: Forgetting a Light Source Finally, make sure that you incorporate a light source into the house somehow so the chickens feel comfortable and can easily see.
You can do this through man-made light, or even better is allowing for some windows in the chicken house to let the natural sunlight show through.
This may also help increase the ventilation as well, which is also very beneficial.
So, keep these errors in mind and make sure you are not making any of them.
Failure to consider them could come at a high price to you later on.