3 Most Important Parts Hen House Plans Should Have
03/08/2010
Before you decide for any hen house plans you must know what to look for. Chickens are animals and they need special conditions to survive.
1. Safety. Any hen house plans should be built in a way that will make the coop safe for hens. Hens are often a meal of many predators, from land and air. You have to know what kind of predators are around, domestic car or wild from the near forest. Always fence the area around. Make it safe for all weather conditions. They have to be protected from water when raining, from cold in the winter and from heat in the summer. Build it as high as possible and on a sunny area so that the water will dry fast. Also plan for some windows which you will open in the summer for ventilation.
2. Build an easy maintenance coop. Good hen house plans will make it very easy to clean or to repair if needed. Build big enough door so you won’t have problems getting the eggs and cleaning. Make it big enough for the number of hens you plan to have. Diseases are common and can damage your hens badly, make sure you clean them regularly. Use materials that are easy to use, wood is most often used in hen house plans because it is easy to work with and it also gives very good cold/heat isolation and is resistant to water if painted properly. If made out of wood it is also very easy to repair which is a big plus when something breaks.
3. Keep your chicken coop warm in winter and cool in summer. Wood is good isolator, but if you have really hot summers or really hot winters, you should take extra care of it. There is a lot of different isolator material available, just choose the one you think is good enough. All hen house plans should also take care of the lighting. If you have a chance of a big window on a sunny side, build it. But if not, many hen house plans have a very good solution for that. You can build very cheap and low maintenance electricity lighting. You want to take a good care of your chickens, if you are planning on taking eggs for a longer time.
