How to build a do-it-yourself chicken coop for 10 chickens

Tags:House extensions, With your own hands

Keeping chickens at home is not only fashionable, but also beneficial. Chicken eggs are a healthy and tasty dietary product, and meat is much easier on the stomach than pork or beef. So that the chickens do not get sick, grow quickly and rush well, it is necessary to build a chicken coop that will provide the bird with comfortable conditions. To build a do-it-yourself chicken coop for 10 chickens, you need not only diagrams and materials, but also an understanding of the needs of the bird and the optimal conditions for keeping it.

do-it-yourself chicken coop for 10 chickens

Homemade chicken coop

The content of the article

1 What is a chicken coop for?
2 Video: chicken coops for 10 chickens
3 Preparing for the construction of a chicken coop
4 Building a chicken coop
5 Video: do-it-yourself chicken coop

What is a chicken coop for?

To figure out what a chicken coop should be, you need to understand what it is for. In the chicken coop, the bird sleeps and lays eggs, so it must protect from rain, cold, dampness, rodents and predators. Chickens do not know how to clean up after themselves, so the hen house must be high enough for you to clear it of droppings. In addition, nesting and resting places should be provided.

Living conditions of chickens

No less important characteristics of the chicken coop are lighting and ventilation. Lack of lighting will lead to reduced fertility, and poor ventilation will weaken the health of the birds and they will start to get sick.

Artificial heating of the chicken coop

Video: chicken coops for 10 chickens

Preparing for the construction of a chicken coop

During preparation, you need to determine the place for installing the chicken coop, think over its internal architecture and appearance, and also decide on the material for the roof, walls and insulation. To build a good chicken coop for 10 chickens with your own hands, drawings must be developed taking into account the characteristics of the site and your growth.

An example of the right chicken coop

Using ready-made blueprints will simplify construction, but complicate the care of the bird.

it is undesirable to make the area of the chicken coop less than 4 square meters. m .;
the coop should have 2–4 nests;

Laying hen nests

feeders must be placed along the wall opposite the perch;
the feeding system must have a door for cleaning and loading from the outside;
feeders and drinkers should rise 5–10 cm above the floor;

Loading feed outside

the floor should be smooth but non-slip;
the perch is set at a height of 40-60 cm;

Types of perches

the total area of windows should not be less than 10% of the floor area (optimally 20-30%);
a fenced area (aviary) for walking at the rate of 1-2 square meters should be adjacent to the chicken coop. m for one bird;
a ladder should be installed between the chicken coop and the walking area.

Aviary with a gangway in the chicken coop

Choosing a place for a chicken coop

For building a chicken coop a small elevation, closed from the winds, is suitable, preferably on the south side of the house, in this case the birds will get more sunlight and will not see through in the chicken dwelling. Never build a chicken coop in the lowlands. When it rains, the water will wash away the chicken droppings and spread them throughout your property. This can lead to various intestinal diseases in humans, as well as colds in birds. Distance from the chicken coop or aviary to fence (the boundaries of your site) should not be less than 4 meters. If you take water from a well or a well, then the distance from them to the chicken coop should be at least 40 meters.

Choosing the right place for a chicken coop

Drawing up drawings

A do-it-yourself chicken coop for 10 chickens, drawings of which can be found on the Internet, does not take into account the features of your site, so you can draw up your own drawing on its basis. To draw up drawings, a few sheets from a squared notebook, a pencil and a ruler are enough. In a drawing, you need:

draw the contours of the chicken coop and indicate its dimensions;
draw the location of the internal elements;
specify the height of the walls.

An example of a drawing for a chicken coop

This will help you in determining the amount of building materials and preparing the foundation. When drawing up the drawing, think over what material you will be building the walls and how to attach them to the foundation. Numerous forums of poultry lovers and novice farmers will help you with this.

Homemade chicken coop drawing

Material selection

The optimal material for building a chicken coop are boards and oriented strand board (OSB)... They are inexpensive and easy to work with.

Construction of a chicken coop from OSB

If you have a surplus bricks, then you can fold the walls from it, or pick up some other material. The only material that is not suitable for building a chicken coop is sheet metal. As insulation Mineral wool is best, as it won't block moisture from escaping if something happens to the ventilation. Mineral wool has only one drawback - it is afraid of water. You can use regular straw instead.

Chicken coop walls made of boards with straw

Building a chicken coop

Having purchased the necessary building materials and having decided on the shape, size and architecture, you can start building. To build a chicken coop with your own hands 10 chickens, invite an assistant. Many work is much more convenient to do together.

Building a chicken coop

Foundation

Any type of foundation is suitable for a chicken coop, but the easiest way to make a tape is. Dig a hole 30 cm deep, the length and width of which is 20-30 cm longer than the chicken coop. Compact the earth and fill in a crushed stone pillow 10–15 cm thick. Install the formwork on it around the perimeter of the chicken coop, laying down waterproofing - pieces of roofing material. The width of the formwork is equal to the width of the wall, and the height should raise the floor above ground level by 15–30 cm. Two weeks after pouring the foundation, wooden walls can be erected. If you decide to build walls from bricks, then you must wait 4 weeks.

Strip foundation

Walls and roof

These jobs do not require any special qualifications. If you want your structure to be no worse than do-it-yourself chicken coops for 10 chickens whose photos are posted on the Internet, invite a professional carpenter or bricklayer, however, the chickens will not appreciate this anyway. If you make a roof from transparent polycarbonate, then you will seriously improve chicken coop lighting, which will positively affect the egg production of birds and their general condition.

Polycarbonate roof

Internal architecture

To create a perch, use square bars or straight branches from trees 4–7 cm thick. Do not use round or polished bars for them - it is difficult for birds to hold on to them, which will make them sleep poorly. This will negatively affect their general condition and egg production. For the manufacture of nests, you can use any wooden boxes measuring 30x30x40 cm (width, height, depth).

Recommended sizes

After construction is complete, lay clean straw on the floor of the coop. Ventilate with plastic pipes 50 mm in diameter. The pipe should rise at least two meters above the ground, then go through the wall and go down to the floor of the chicken coop. A small opening window for ventilation must be provided on the opposite wall.