Many owners of suburban areas are thinking about running a personal subsidiary farm (LPH). Someone plants vegetables and herbs in greenhouses, someone wants to organize a mini-farm and grow some kind of animal. For example, rabbits or chickens. This is believed to be both beneficial and beneficial. There will always be dietary meat and eggs on the table, and the surplus can be sold. As a rule, the majority, in order to test their strength, starts with chicken breeding and builds chicken coops with their own hands. To simplify our task, we offer our readers three options for chicken coops for every taste and budget.
Choosing a place for a chicken coop and some features of its placement
Before trying to build a chicken coop with your own hands, you need to choose a place for it. Traditionally, chicken coops are built in a well-lit and dry place. It is desirable that the place for the future hen house be on a small hill, this will allow rainwater to drain quickly from the hen house territory.
It is important to orient the hen house itself, the long walls of the room should be extended from east to west, the door to the hen house should be in the eastern wall, and the windows, if they are provided for by the structure on the southern wall of the structure.
It is also advisable to build an aviary for chickens on the south side of the chicken coop. Since chickens love long daylight hours, and with a long daylight hours they rush much better.
It is advisable not to erect any outbuildings, playgrounds, etc. next to the chicken coop. Since the bird is shy and with any fright, the chickens may stop rushing and generally begin to feel bad.
In order for chickens and hens to be comfortable in the hen house, it is necessary for a person raising chickens to take into account the area for living and walking one chicken.
In most cases, one chicken needs a walking area of 1 square meter, and on the perch directly in the chicken coop, space is needed for one chicken in winter - 20 cm.
Additional terms
Heating
Chicks need extra warmth. It can be achieved with the help of special equipment installed outside the walls of the cage.
Or with the help of ordinary light bulbs, which take on the additional function of maintaining the air temperature. Usually they are attached to the roof or top of the wall, from the inside. it common and comfortable heating option.
You can heat the air using an oven or an electronic convector. But for raising chicks, such heaters are rarely used.
In continuation of the topic, we recommend that you read the information from the article "Lamps and other devices for heating chickens."
Interior decoration
There must be feeders with a drinker in the cage. They can be attached from the outside. Or installed inside. However, the second option makes cleaning difficult. In addition, the chickens have to be disturbed once again. They can flip containers, pour themselves on and catch a cold.
What else the chicks will need is described in the article: "On raising chickens at home: from daily allowance to a month."
Colleagues, poultry farmers, please tell us in the comments what conditions the chickens live in on your farm. Do you use cells?
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Building a chicken coop
It is quite possible to build a chicken coop in the country with your own hands, especially if the number of individuals does not exceed 20 chickens. And if the number of poultry is much larger and it is planned to keep them all year round, then in this case it is worth considering the construction of a poultry house in which you can keep birds not only in summer, but also in winter.
Before building a room for chickens, it is necessary to make a foundation, first a small pit 30 - 35 cm deep is dug, which is covered with sand and gravel, this layer must be tamped, then formwork is made, and the whole structure is filled with concrete.
If a solid chicken coop is being made, then you need to make a mesh frame from reinforcement. After the concrete has hardened, you can proceed directly to the construction of the chicken coop itself.
If it is planned to keep and breed chickens only in the warm season, then it is not necessary to build such a solid foundation. In this case, you can use brick posts, on which the entire main structure will be placed.
But with such a foundation, it is imperative to make a fence over the entire area of the chicken coop made of iron or slate. In this case, it is advisable to bury the sheets of this material a little into the ground.
This will prevent wild animals from entering the coop, which like to eat eggs and chicken meat.
Usually, a burs with dimensions of 100x150 mm is chosen as a building material for walls for a small chicken coop, such a burs is easy to process and even a person who does not have special construction skills can handle it.
A frame is made from a bar for the base of the walls. Boards are sewn onto the frame, on one side and on the other, and insulation, sawdust, small shavings or any artificial materials are laid between them.
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After the walls have been erected, rafters from the same bar are installed, a crate of boards is made on the bar and the chicken coop is closed on top with a roof made of roofing material, metal or slate.
It is advisable (and obligatory to insulate the roof if the house is operated in winter) to insulate the roof and ceiling of the house.
On the south side of the chicken coop, it is imperative to make a walking area for chickens, a walking area. Its base is again made up of a beam, on which a metal mesh such as a chain-link is stretched.
In case of difficulty in the construction of this room for chickens, you can always see how people build chicken coops of different types. To do this, there are numerous do-it-yourself chicken coop videos on various Internet resources.
Battery variation
Description
The battery cage will help out in the presence of a large livestock and a small area for its maintenance. It is performed in several tiers. And holds over 500 chickens.
Such designs are most often used for growing broiler chickens. Since they are less active than representatives of the egg varieties. And they are unpretentious to environmental conditions.
The battery construction is heavy. This is a stationary version of a cage for small chickens. It is difficult to move it outside, and then bring it back into the room.
But broiler chicks do not need to be walked like chickens of other breeds and trends. Therefore, the conditions for keeping broilers in battery cages are the best solution.
Tools and materials
For the construction of this structure, you will definitely need a drawing, which will indicate the number of floors, the parameters of the cell itself.
Also, you should purchase plastic pallets, beams, OSB-plates, fasteners and a mesh with small mesh sizes. You can make as many cage houses as you like. But it is recommended to adhere to the parameters: 50 to 50 centimeters for one "battery room".
Phased assembly
First, a wooden frame is assembled. For this, columns of the same size are cut out. They are connected with each other using wooden beams. All beams are fastened with nails or self-tapping screws.
The side and back walls will be blank. They are cut from the OSB board. The roof is also made of this material. But it is attached to the frame on hinges so that it can be folded up.
A plastic pallet is installed under the mesh floor. It makes it easier and faster to care for chicks without disturbing them.
The design is adjusted at any time. It can always be completed. Or reduce the number of sections.
Internal arrangement of the chicken coop
Regardless of which chicken coop is built on the site, a winter coop with your own hands or a summer coop inside it, it is necessary to create optimal conditions for the chickens.
It is imperative to install perches inside the hen house, perches are made of a thin bar, in which the corners are rounded with a planer. Perches are installed inside the chicken coop so that each chicken has 25 - 30 cm.
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You should also install a feeder inside the hen house, which should be equipped with partitions so that birds do not scatter feed throughout the house.
Drinking bowls are also installed, while it is advisable to install them so that it is dry inside the chicken coop. For this, special nipple structures are used to prevent water splashing.
Lighting should also be provided inside the chicken coop, especially in the autumn-winter period. For this, a closed-type lamp is installed inside the birdhouse.
It is imperative to provide for the arrangement of ventilation, it can be made of PVC pipes, one end of the supply pipe should be located almost at the very floor (not reaching 15-20 cm.) And the lower edge of the exhaust pipe should be located almost under the ceiling.
In case of difficulty in building a house for birds on your own, you can always find a photo of a chicken coop built with your own hands on numerous resources and in books.
All over the world there is a huge number of all kinds of designs of summer chicken coops built with their own hands, as well as winter ones.
Each novice poultry house builds this structure based on the advice of acquaintances, friends, relatives. And only then, if necessary, he turns to the help of professionals.
Metal product
Advantages and disadvantages
The metal product is more reliable than the previous options. Little susceptible to mechanical stress, mobile.
But there are also downsides. One of them is lower air permeability. The metal structure hinders the movement of chicks more than cages made of other materials.
Also, such a cage is suitable for small livestock. No more than 12 chicks.
To complete it, you should purchase metal sheets, in the amount of 3 pieces. One can also be purchased. And then cut it according to the dimensions indicated in the drawing. You also need to have a small amount of foam rubber, screws, mesh, hinges.
Algorithm of actions
Metal walls, ceiling and floor are cut out if necessary. The wall of metal should be 3. 4 is made of mesh.
Further, the structure is assembled using screws or construction glue.
The corners inside the cage, about which the chick can be injured, are insulated with foam rubber.
One of the walls is a mesh that is attached to wooden or metal frames. Hinges are attached to it to make a door.
Do-it-yourself photo of chicken coops
Finishing
In order for the chicken coop to blend with the landscape and serve as an adornment of the personal plot, it is painted or trimmed with decorative elements. Use paint with additional properties: protection against wood insects and protection against moisture.
Do not forget about the safety of decorative elements, they are free of splinters, with smooth edges so that the chickens do not get hurt by them. Do not use materials that are too bright, let your chicken coop have soothing color tones.
The mobile chicken coop is suitable for keeping birds at any time of the year. Convenience lies in the fact that the room can be moved from place to place, the chickens will always have access to the grass. Used on small farms, summer cottages.
In winter, the chickens are transferred to the second level of the chicken coop, heat sources are supplemented, and self-heating is used in warm regions. Some people use such houses in urban environments, if access to the yard allows it.
Basic rules for growing chickens in cages
When keeping chickens, 3 factors are very important:
- temperature regime;
- good supply of fresh air;
- purity.
Did you know? The smallest hen's egg was laid by a hen in China. Its weight was 2.5 g.
Starting from the 6th day of life, chickens require a temperature regime of + 22 ... + 23 ° С, and under the lamp, the temperature should reach + 30 ... + 32 ° С. From the 2nd week of life, it can be reduced to + 21 ... + 21 ° С and + 25 ... + 29 ° С, respectively. From the 3rd - up to + 20 ... + 21 ° С and + 22 ... + 25 ° С. At 1–1.5 months of age, birds can be at + 18… + 19 ° С. They no longer need lamp heating.
Chick cages should be placed in a well ventilated area. The lack of fresh air is the main reason why young individuals start to get sick. When keeping birds in cages, it is very important to correctly formulate their diet, especially if the cages are stationary and cannot be taken outside.
Chicks should receive all the necessary minerals and vitamins in their feed for normal growth and development. Chicks need to be fed with special compound feed, cereals, fermented milk products, boiled eggs, herbs. Starting from a week of age, you can add boiled vegetables, mineral supplements.
Did you know? To communicate with each other, chickens are capable of making about 30 sounds. Chicken "tongue" contains separate sounds warning about danger, about the proximity of food, about a laid egg, etc.
It is also important to remember that broiler breeds and egg breeds should be kept separately, since their feeding regime and diet differ from the first weeks of life. Meat breeds are most often fed with compound feed, and the menu for egg chickens is made from natural products. It is better to keep laying hens in portable structures, since walking is very important for them.
The cage should be cleaned and disinfected regularly. Feeders and drinkers should be washed daily. If the floor is not slatted, but solid, then a bed of straw or sawdust should be laid on it. It will need to be regularly replaced with a new one.
Types of poultry houses
Portable structures can be divided into several categories according to the following criteria:
- transfer method;
- the size;
- type of construction.
According to the transfer method, they are divided into structures on wheels and poultry houses that can be carried by hand. In the presented photos you can see such products.
The fence allows you not to watch the birds while walking. Thanks to this, there is no need to further equip the area in which the chicken coop is located.
By size, the designs described can be divided into houses that are used for several birds and products designed for more than 20 individuals. The first option is more convenient, but not suitable for everyone.
Getting ready for winter
Those who built a frame poultry house using the described technology, all walls, floor and ceiling of the chicken coop are reliably insulated. If you doubt that chickens will be able to maintain a temperature of 12-14 ° C in a room only due to the heat of their bodies, you should help them.
Fermentation winter bedding can be enhanced with a special bacterial preparation
To begin with, create a warm bedding at the end of autumn, covering the floor with slaked lime, and then with a layer of a mixture of sawdust, straw and peat 7 cm thick. Gradually mixing with manure, it will begin to compost and release heat. In cold weather, the litter will need to be agitated and a new mixture added, so it should be prepared in advance. In spring, litter is an excellent fertilizer for your garden beds.
For the winter period, it is also worth covering the ventilation holes and airing the chicken coop yourself. If the windows in the building are not plastic, their joints must be covered with masking tape or a transparent film must be fixed on the window. The manhole for layers is insulated in the same way.
Type and characteristics of an infrared lamp for heating a chicken coop
Additionally, in frosty weather, instead of lighting lamps, infrared lamps are screwed into sockets. It is advisable to lengthen the wire so that it can be lowered 1–1.2 m above floor level. Such lamps give less light than usual, but for chickens such lighting will be pleasant and comfortable.
If everything is done correctly, you will not need additional measures for warming and heating the house.
Video: tips for preparing a chicken coop for winter
Now you can definitely equip a comfortable chicken coop for 100 heads without unnecessary costs and construction mistakes. It remains only to collect materials and get to work.
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