Posts Tagged ‘Nails’
We all love eggs. They’re wonderful to eat, nutritious and make a great omelette. And we all love pets. So why not satisfy your roots for pets and for eggs by keeping chickens, and eat omelette every day?
As all kids love pets they will also love chickens. I have chickens and I have kids and the kids are delighted with their chickens. They feed them and pat them and give them names. Chickens are cheap to feed, and if you let them out in the garden during the day they’ll eat those pesky bugs that are feasting on your flowers. They are also relatively easy to keep and don’t make lots of noise as long as you don’t get a rooster.
But before you decide that keeping chickens is a great idea and jump in the car to go by some you need to think a little bit about a goodchicken coop , because you will need a chicken coop to house your chickens.
Of course you need to decide how many chickens you are going to have in your chicken coop. 3 or 4 hens is really quite sufficient to the average household, and if you are keeping this number than a simple portable chicken house that can move around the garden is quite sufficient.
There is also another thing that you need to consider before keeping chickens, and that is whether there are any regulations governing the keeping of chickens at your home, or about thechicken house that you are allowed to have.
The fastest and possibly the cheapest way to get a chicken coop is to build it, provided you’re familiar with the right end of a hammer and you’ve got a few nails. It’s not that difficult, you need some treated timber, some chicken wire and a few bits and pieces and you can have a chicken coop built in an afternoon.
Although not essential it helps to provide an enclosed area for the hens to nest. This is where the eggs will be laid.
At night chickens like to perch to sleep and therefore you need some perching bars off the floor of the coop.
There is a simple A-frame design that is easy to build and quite adequate for 3 or 4 chickens. Run rods from one side of the chicken coop to the other for the chickens to roost on at night and put some cover over this area so they are not roosting in the rain.
If you put handles on one end and wheels on the other it is then easy to move around the garden, and you move it every few days to fertilise different areas of the lawn.
During the day you can open the door of the henhouse to allow your chickens to free range around the garden eating the bugs that eat your flowers. But make sure all chickens are returned to the coop at night, with the door closed, or foxes will get your chickens.
Kids just love having chickens, as well as the eggs. But before you get started on your new hobby of keeping chickens decide how many you wish to have, and buy or build a a good quality chicken coop to house them in and you’re well on your way to a fridge full of eggs.
All you have to do is get stuck into a simple handyman job building your chicken coop or buy a good one and then you can be comfortable knowing that you always have a fridge full of eggs.
So you want to build a chicken coop? The first thing you have to do before getting chicken coop building plans is determining on how many chicken you actually want to keep. The overall size of the chicken house will depend on this calculation but keep in mind that every chicken should be given at least 5 sq.ft. of space.
I am sure you already had a look at some chicken coop plans and this is why by now you are probably aware of the tools you will need: planks, chicken wire, plywood, and lots of nails. Keep in mind that you shouldn’t paint the interior of the coop because the chemicals can be very harmful for poultry. In addition to that, make sure that you buy the materials from a well-known store in order to ensure superiority as far as quality is concerned. In case you are on low budget it will be wise to approach a furniture store and ask them for plywood and nails. If you are lucky you will get it for free.
The next step is making sure that the birds get enough fresh air through the day.
The hen house plans will recommend the inclusion of 4 windows, no matter how big or small it is. It is vital that you make sure that the design of the coop is such that it is easy for you to clean it regularly. Coop owners suggest using trays for the droppings because otherwise, it will become too dirty and you will spend half your life cleaning the coop. In addition the floor should be inclined. Why? Because this will make it a lot easier to remove water once you are done mopping and spraying
Lastly, don’t try to finish off the job quickly or ignore certain warnings because one mistake in the hen coop building plans will haunt you for the rest of your life. What do I mean by that? An example: the doors should always be pushed open and the windows have to be placed high enough so your chicken cannot jump out easily
