Do-it-yourself chicken coop: ideas for making (80 photos)

Among poultry, chickens are perhaps the most common and unpretentious species. They feel great in the temperate climate of the middle zone, are unpretentious in nutrition, and grow rapidly. It is possible to keep birds in an ordinary barn or fencing from a netting netting, but for maximum comfort the layers will still need a separate structure. Even an inexperienced craftsman will be able to build a chicken house with his own hands, and the examples and recommendations collected below will be a good help in this fascinating case.

Before the construction of an aviary for hens, you should decide on several basic issues - the planned number of birds, the method and purpose of their maintenance. Setting up a full-fledged home farm will require significant material costs, and the layout of a large building will be very different from a small cage for 5-10 birds. A small number of birds is enough to equip a mini-building with a covered ‘house’ at the rate of 0.3 square meters. m per individual and a walking area of ​​0.5 sq. m per individual.

According to the type of construction, it is possible to distinguish covered sheds, street barriers with a canopy, combined buildings, as well as chicken coops-greenhouses.

The advantage of sheds is their reliability, durability and complete protection from weather events, which is especially important in winter. However, the construction of such utility buildings is a complex and expensive process that does not always pay off. In this regard, more lightweight options are popular.

Compact, often portable structures, consisting of a lattice fence attached to a wooden or metal frame, and a sloping roof. Gender is often absent, so birds can graze on the grass. This type of chicken coop is suitable for summer, but in the cold season birds will have to be relocated to a more enclosed area.

The best choice for a small farm. They consist of a “house” where birds can hide at night or lay eggs, and a courtyard fenced in with bars. Such a design looks very aesthetically pleasing and will become a colorful decoration of the estate, especially if you keep decorative chickens there.

They retain heat well and let in sunlight, which positively affects the health and productivity of laying hens. Under them, you can adapt the existing structures after harvesting the main crop, having built there flooring, feeders, drinking bowls and nests. Greenhouses are an economical and practical type of fence for chickens, both for the summer period and for the winter.

Each master determines the sequence of actions in the construction of "housing" for poultry individually, based on the characteristics of the site, selected materials, type of construction and other factors. But nevertheless, there is a general list of steps that must be completed for a successful result. As a rule, here you can not do without planning or design, a drawing with approximate dimensions, choosing a place for installing a chicken coop, purchasing materials and the construction process itself. The complexity of each stage depends on the type of house chosen, but if you have the time and desire, it’s quite possible to realize even the most resource-intensive project.

It includes the determination of the number of birds and the construction option. Based on these data, calculations are made of the length, width, and height of the future structure. So, the minimum indoor area for 20 individuals should be at least 5-6 square meters, walking - at least 10 square meters.

With an amount of 50 pcs.sizes increase, respectively, to 15 and 20 sq.m. Along the long wall in several tiers should be nests, for each of which you need to leave about 0.35 square meters of space. It is worth noting that chickens prefer to rush in secluded quiet corners, where it is always dry and there is no access to rodents. To freely remove eggs above the nests, you can make an opening lid, as well as arrange a slight slope along which the products will gently slide into a separate container (egg collector).

The choice of a place for a chicken coop will greatly affect whether a bird feels comfortable in the new environment. The site must be dry, protected from the wind, warm and well-lit.

The entrance is best orientated to the east or south - the hens wake up immediately after sunrise and need to stay under the rays of the daylight before twilight. In the sun, vitamin D is produced in the body of birds, without which they stop laying eggs and can begin to hurt.

At lunchtime, when the temperature rises to + 30C or more, laying hens prefer to hide in the shade. To do this, they need to provide a canopy, resistant to heating, or plant on the south side some fast-growing vines (grapes, hops, ivy).

The choice of materials depends on the type of future design. So, for a full-fledged shed, a brick, foam concrete blocks, stone, wood will fit. Less durable buildings can be built from OSB-boards, corrugated board, slate, plastic panels, mesh. A very environmentally friendly and inexpensive option - pressed bales of straw, which are laid inside the wooden frame, and are covered with clay plaster on top.

You can also build a chicken coop with your own hands from ordinary logs, fastening them together with a concrete or clay mortar like bricks. As a base and supports, a metal profile, steel pipes, and wooden bars are often used.

Polycarbonate is ideally suited for greenhouse options - this translucent material transmits light, providing the birds with the sun they need in a warm, enclosed area.

Construction of the chicken coop usually begins with laying the foundation, which can be tape or pile. The first, as a rule, is formed under monolithic buildings of brick, concrete or stone. For light wood, metal or plastic structures, the columns on which the house frame will be supported are quite enough.

They do not always do the floor - on the walking area, it is practically not needed, although indoors it can serve as additional protection from the cold. The use of boards, plywood or chipboards for flooring is impractical - because of the litter, the wood begins to rot quickly, and it will have to be changed after a few years.

In stationary chicken coops, it is better to lay the floor with large ceramic plates, arranging a “warm floor” system under them - this will solve the problem of heating birds in the winter. For convenience, a ten-centimeter layer of litter is poured over the plates - sawdust, chopped straw, dry leaves, hay. As it gets dirty, all this can be removed with compost and replaced with new material.

The earthen floor in the house is laid as follows: first, slaked lime is poured for disinfection at the rate of 1 kg / sq. M, and then - 8-10 cm of insulation (sawdust, moss peat, cross-section, etc.).

It is advisable to make it continuous so that rodents do not penetrate through them and keep heat better. It is preferable to choose a material that is environmentally friendly, “breathable” - this will ensure a healthy microclimate in the chicken coop. For this reason, plastic and metal cladding, as well as external insulation with foam, are not recommended. If the walls do not allow moisture to pass through well, dampness, mold and fungus will appear inside, which is extremely bad for the health of the layers.

For ventilation in the upper part of the chicken coop, you should definitely make a window or put a ventilation grill. The walking part of the enclosure, as a rule, is fenced with a grid. If there is no canopy on top, its height should be more than 150 cm so that the chickens do not fly over the barrier.

It is arranged for protection against bad weather, wind and predators. It is usually made pitched, the angle of inclination depends on the amount of precipitation in a particular region. The base can be made of wooden or metal sleepers. Almost any roofing material is used as a topcoat. If the chicken coop is set in the sun, you should refrain from overheating metal sheets in favor of ceramic or flexible tiles, ondulin, slate.

Despite the high adaptability of chickens to cold climates, these birds are preferred to be carried only in comfortable conditions. To do this, they need a temperature of +12 to + 25C heat, air humidity at the level of 60–75%, good nutrition and at least ten hours of light day.

Experienced poultry farmers know that in the autumn-winter period, the room where the hens are located must be additionally highlighted. This means that you need to either bring electricity to the enclosed area of ​​the house, or (more safely) install the flashlight on the battery. Energy-saving LEDs or fluorescent lamps consume kilowatts very economically, so the backlight will not be a blow to the budget. Electricity can also be used for heating - on a compact area, a warm floor, a ceramic infrared lamp or a convector located behind the grid will be enough.

If the chicken coop was originally planned for keeping birds in winter, a higher flooring is made in it, and the walls are insulated according to all the rules with mineral wool, polystyrene foam, polyurethane foam, covering this material from the layers side with plywood or heat-reflecting foil.

Poultry care consists of regular ventilation, drying and cleaning of the premises. It is better if ventilation will be carried out around the clock, with the exception, perhaps, of too frosty periods. In the hot season, it is advisable to temporarily free the chicken house from the birds, open the doors, windows, possibly remove part of the roof and arrange drying. This procedure is especially important to do after the winter, when a lot of moisture accumulates in the room. Replacing flooring, wooden poles, ladders and other structures is carried out as they become contaminated with droppings. Biological waste can be composted and then used as fertilizer in the beds.

If you want to build a chicken coop with your own hands, we suggest you look at interesting options for designs in the gallery on this page. Below are numerous photos with ready-made houses, among which you can always find a suitable idea. Any of the presented types of buildings is suitable for the convenient keeping of birds in a private household. Choose the example you like, and let the hens in the new house actively rush year-round!