Raising chickens is fun for the whole family. Kids especially love collecting fresh eggs.
When it comes to designing a chicken coop (regardless of the style) there are a few essential things you need to make sure the design contains for the safety and health of your chickens.
Proper Ventilation: Any chicken coop designs you are considering need to incorporate ventilation. Chicken poop may accumulate quickly, you will be quite impressed with the amount of poop your chickens will produce. Make sure they have proper ventilation for good health and happier chickens.
Chicken Spacing: Your hens will need space to get away from each other. Hens at times can be down right mean to each other and pecking sometimes can be excessive. This is where the term “hen pecked” comes from. There are always more dominant chickens and the passive chickens will need space so they can run away.
Chicken House Location: Chicken coops should be located in places that are not prone to flooding. You don’t want your hens standing in water/mud for days on end. They will be miserable. Try to locate your hens in a higher location so they will be out of standing water.
Water Supply: You should pipe in water or at least have a hose leading to an automatic waterer for your chickens. Another option would be to bring water in to your hens. This will get old after time so it’s best to have water at or near your chicken house. If you live in a colder climate where it freezes, you’ll need to insulate the pipes.
There are many other chicken coop design elements to consider such as laying boxes, feeders, roosts, etc. No mater what chicken coop design you end up going with, making your sure chickens have what they need to be happy, healthy and safe will make your chickens happier.