7 Mistakes You MUST Avoid For A Long-Lasting Homemade Chicken Coop

Excited about the chicken coop you’re going to build? Can’t wait to get started? Already dreaming about the French egg breakfast?

Before you embark on the most-awesome-chicken-coop-ever-made journey, read on & discover the 7 crucial errors you must never make when building a homemade chicken coop.

1. Floor Planning– First off, you must zero in on a perfect spot for your coop. If it’s a backyard chicken coop your planning, think of the coop floor you have in mind and whether landscaping is required or not.

Tip 1- You might build one on an already landscaped part of your backyard to cut costs.

Tip 2- Make a sloped floor for easy cleaning.

2. Get the right size for your coop- You want a chicken coop that offers maximum comfort for your hens. So getting the right size is significant. Every hen must have at least 4 square feet to roam about. So do the math and get the coop size correct ‘coz space is crucial for your chickens to lay eggs properly.

Tip – If building your first coop, try for a small or medium sized coop as large ones can get tricky and be a bomb on the pocket.

3. Windows are a Must– Chickens MUST have adequate light for robust health. Since they require 14 hours of light per day for top-drawer egg laying we suggest properly located windows that provide plenty of warm sun during the day to keep your hens content.

Tip – Build in sliding windows to prevent your hens from roosting on them.

4. Ventilation –If they require light then they certainly require lots of fresh air too. So when building a homemade chicken coop, give due consideration to proper ventilation to keep ammonia & moisture levels to a minimum low.

5. Feeder Placement– This one is obvious but still commonly ignored. You want all your hens including the chicks to access their food & water easily. You don’t want the feeders placed too low and have a huge mess on your hands daily; neither do you want it too high and starve the young chicks.

Tip – 10-15 cm above the ground normally does the job.

6. Proper Fencing & Wiring– Gaps left carelessly while fencing and wiring causes a astounding number of poultry deaths every year. Chickens frighten easily and a scared hen often puts their head into a wire gap to escape but ends up being torn apart. To avoid such unfortunate incidents, DO NOT allow even a single gap opening!!!

7. Keep the predators OUT–You want your chickens to live healthily and lay eggs; not have a chicken massacre in the morning when you get up. So you must think of and research all possible ways to ward off clever predators like a weasel or a raccoon or aerial ones like hawks or owls.

Tip 1– For a chicken run; dig the wire about 4 feet into the ground to debar wild animals.

Tip 2– Cover properly from the top like a wire grille to stave off aerial predators.