Chicken House Plans

When you are ready to build your chicken house make sure you have appropriate chicken house plans to contain and protect your flock. There are many websites, books, videos and articles that can demonstrate step-by-step procedures for building chicken houses. Many of these chicken houses are similar in design and construction but there are a few unique designs on the market that may meet your needs better than another. So make sure you do your research on chicken house plans before you select one to build yourself.

The following describes a general guideline for a basic chicken house plan. But again, find a chicken house plan that best fits your individual needs.

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• Your chicken house plan should be large enough to house nests, hens, roosters, baby chicks, water and feeders. An average space requirement for each chicken is between three and four square feet, but most chicken farmers recommend less space to help reduce disease. The floor of your chicken coop should be covered with wood shavings to at least three to four inches thick.

• In your chicken house plan it should include a design for perches, nesting boxes and roosts. The perches should be at least nine inches for each chicken. There needs to be one nesting box for each laying hen and a roosting area for each chicken to sleep.  Make sure all your nesting boxes contain hay or wood shaving.

• A well designed chicken house will be sturdy and protect your flock from all types of weather and predators. Make sure your chicken house plan includes protection against theft, or human predators as well as the animal predators.

• Chickens need good ventilation, drainage and light.  The coop itself should be draft free but have a mechanism for good air flow.

• Your chicken house plan should include a chicken run as well as the chicken coop. The coop is the indoor living situation for your flock whereas the chicken run is your flock’s outdoor facilities. This is where you will place your chickens food and water. The food and water should be fresh and available throughout the day and there should be a light placed over the watering and feeding area.

• Protection is vital so your chicken house plan should contain a shade area within the chicken run so your chickens do not get over heated, and it should be surrounded by wire or fencing buried at least six inches deep to keep the chickens in and the predators out. The chicken coop should be raised off the ground to avoid ground predators like snakes, rats or bugs. 

• Add a window and door that open inwardly and provide a ramp for providing your chickens an easy way to move back and forth between the chicken coop and the chicken run.  Include a roof over the chicken coop, and preferably over the chicken run to guard against various weather conditions.

• Your chicken house plan should take ease of access and cleaning to all areas in the chicken coop and chicken run since cleaning is a daily routine for the chicken farmer.

These are general suggestions on things to consider and include in your chicken house plan. Once you research all the possible options and find a chicken house plan that meets your specific needs you will find variations of these suggestions.

Want to find the best chicken house plans? Not sure where to start?

If your answer to the above questions is yes, then I strongly recommend that you check out Build A Chicken Coop In 3 Days.

This regularly updated, essential guide includes step by step plans, detailed instructions and more. Click here to go check it out now!