How to make a chicken coop at your dacha with your own hands? How to build a chicken coop at the dacha with your own hands for the summer from scrap materials? Summer shelter for chickens in the country

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Determining the location

The location for the chicken coop should be chosen carefully. It is best to use an elevated place for location. This will protect your farm from water and flooding during the heavy rainy season. It is also important to correctly calculate the area required for the construction of the building. If in the future you want to increase the number of chickens, then take care of a sufficient size right away.

The location relative to the lighting is also an important point. Place the windows on the south side. As a result, the duration of light exposure will increase, which has a beneficial effect on egg production. But it is better to place the door on the west or east side. Thanks to this, you will retain more heat, and the cold wind from the north will not get inside.

Chickens in a chicken coop

It is worth avoiding nearby sources of noise, as most breeds of birds (especially laying hens) are quite restless. If there are a lot of extraneous sounds nearby, their performance will decrease. The best option would be a hedge, which will protect the chickens from constant stress.

Selection of materials and equipment

The main materials for building a chicken coop for the summer are wooden boards and beams. They serve as the basis for future construction of walls, roofs and floors.

But to create a foundation you cannot do without bricks and cement mortar. You need to initially decide whether a foundation is needed at all. After all, for a small poultry house it is not necessary. It is also necessary to deepen metal plates around the perimeter to protect the farm from various predators.


Video: building a chicken coop

You need to purchase insulation materials that will help create a warm version of the chicken coop. These include: wood sawdust and others.

To build an enclosure where chickens will roam, you will need a sufficient amount of metal mesh.

And, of course, no construction can be completed without a basic set of tools that any owner will have:

  • hammer;
  • saw;
  • shovel;
  • ruler or tape measure;
  • building level;
  • nails and screws.

After making sure that everything is available, you need to select the necessary drawing according to which you will build the chicken coop with your own hands.

Chicken coop drawing

Below are step-by-step instructions for building your own chicken coop. Making a cozy home for chickens is not difficult. Before the process itself, it wouldn’t hurt to look at photos of construction to get a better understanding of the matter.

DIY chicken coop with aviary

You need to start by building a foundation. It is required if the construction itself is thorough. The best option is a foundation made of columns. It's not difficult to build. The advantage is that you do not need to buy expensive materials for it.

If you follow the construction rules, the foundation will not only serve as a support for the chicken coop, but will also provide ventilation to the entire floor. And predators will not be able to get inside.

And now, step by step, how to make a chicken coop.

  • Following the drawing, you need to hammer metal rods into the corners of the future chicken coop.
  • Using a rope, you need to connect all the rods, making a loop of the structure. At this stage, you need to use a building level to prevent distortions.
  • Next, you should remove the top ball of soil to a depth of about 20 cm. This soil can be transferred to the garden, if its fertility is good.
  • It is necessary to build special pedestals along the perimeter. They will become the basis and support for the chicken coop. When constructing, keep in mind that they must be at a distance of at least one meter from each other. Before installing each cabinet, a hole 60 cm deep is dug. They should be 20 - 30 cm higher above ground level. Again, use a level for reference measurements. The foundation is ready.

Ready foundation for the chicken coop

  • Leave construction for a while. This is necessary for compacting the foundation. On average it takes about five days.
  • If you plan to keep poultry in both summer and winter, then you should pay more attention when constructing the floor. It should not only be durable, but also retain heat inside. The ideal option is to build a double floor. In this case, a subfloor is installed on the foundation. It can be built from available materials.
  • Beams are installed on the subfloor and an insulating ball is laid.
  • The main flooring is created on top of this. It is better to make it from smooth boards that are not damaged or cracked.
  • Next, you should build the frame and walls. They should keep warm well. Therefore, it is better to create the frame from wooden blocks.
  • When building walls, be sure to make openings for windows. They will not only allow light to enter inside, but will also ensure proper ventilation.
  • The frame is covered with boards on both sides. Thermal insulation material (e.g. mineral wool, sawdust) should be placed in the voids. The height of the walls should be at least 1.8 m. A smaller height will restrict birds.
  • The installation of windows should include a removable design or the ability to open when it is hot.
  • You can create a special roof structure (gable), where you can hide all the necessary equipment and food for the household. Also, thanks to the sloping sides, snow and rain will not accumulate on the roof. As a result, dampness will not destroy the roof.
  • The first step is to make the flooring. Then fasten the ceiling beams at an angle. Flooring requires good insulation. Expanded clay or slag are perfect.
  • Attach roofing felt to the beams. Slate or any other roofing material is laid on top.
  • If you want to create an enclosure for walking chickens, then keep in mind that its size should be increased by 1.5 - 2 times compared to the chicken coop itself. It should be placed on an area with green grass. This will allow the chickens to freely eat healthy food while walking. It is quite enough to make sections out of beams, which are then covered with mesh.
  • Install hinges on one section so that you can build a gate.
  • The final stage. You can paint the walls to protect the wood from damage. Plus, it looks quite nice.

Ready chicken coop

Don't forget about the interior. You need to think carefully about the placement of canopies and nests to provide the laying hens with maximum peace and comfort.

DIY perches in the chicken coop

Perches need to be mounted at a height of about 70–80 cm. But you should not install them in a ladder one above the other. To make cleaning easy, place special trays under the perches. For nests, you can use wooden boxes in which you need to put sawdust or straw.

Now you know how to build a chicken coop at your dacha with your own hands for the summer to support your farm. For more information on setting up a chicken coop at your dacha, watch the video.


Video: DIY chicken coop

For those who live in the country from early spring to late autumn, it makes sense to have laying hens and feast on homemade eggs. In dacha conditions, it is quite possible to make a simple but comfortable chicken coop.

Design Features

You can order a chicken coop from a carpenter, buy it ready-made, or make it yourself. There are many types of structures, from a small portable version to a large-scale structure. When designing a chicken coop, you should choose a warm but cool place. The house with nests and perches should be raised above the ground, this will help protect the birds from the night cold and dampness.

Mini-chicken coops, for several birds, can be easily moved to another place. They can be made in the form of a stretcher, put on wheels, or simply moved in parts. Large plots of land can afford large chicken coops with spacious walking areas. Sometimes bird houses are built on several floors.

Free-range chickens lay eggs more happily. But anyone who dares to release them into the garden will be left without a harvest. The poultry owners found a way for the birds to get some exercise and preserve their vegetables. They build long corridors from the mesh into which birds can leave the coop and enter it from the other side.

With the summer option at your summer cottage, you can not complicate your life at all, make the simplest chicken coop, in the form of a triangle from several sheets of slate, and a small paddock covered with netting. Those who like complexity can build a beautiful poultry house with a string of houses, windows and flower beds. Or a mini-house for broilers, similar to a real rural hut.

How to build it yourself

Before you start building a chicken coop, you need to know how many birds will live in it; the size of the future building depends on this. It’s quite possible to make a poultry house in the country with your own hands, you just need to follow the step-by-step instructions.

Preparatory work

In any construction, time is needed for preparatory work. This includes: selection of location, project, materials, preparation of drawings and calculations.

Selecting a location

The bird's health and egg quality will depend on the bird's comfortable condition. A correctly chosen location can further affect the egg production of chickens. On a hot summer day, laying hens will feel uncomfortable in the sun. It is better to place them under a shady tree. In the morning, the slanting rays of the sun should warm and dry the chicken coop, which has cooled down overnight, and for this it should be placed on the southeast side of the trees.

It is better to choose a place for poultry away from the garden to eliminate the risk of chemicals entering the room when processing garden crops. Sewage, cesspool and compost pits should also not be located near the chicken coop and run to avoid infection. If you attach a chicken coop to a summer house building, it is easier to heat and it is easier to look after the birds. Construction cannot be carried out in lowlands, as precipitation from the land will flow to the chicken coop.

It is better to plant a hedge around the birds' walk to protect them from wind and drafts. The bird can equally suffer from heat, cold and wind, so all these factors should be excluded. To make it easier to control the birds and close them at night in time, the chicken coop should be visible from the most inhabited places in the country. When the chickens come to rest, you just need to close the door behind them.

Project

Construction should begin with the preparation of drawings and calculations. At this point, the construction site must be determined, a sketch of the chicken coop must be drawn up in relation to the terrain and cardinal directions. It is necessary to indicate nearby buildings and trees, consider the level of shading, wind rose, and eliminate the presence of drafts. You can draw up a building drawing yourself, taking into account the characteristics of your site, or borrow it from the Internet.

The construction plan should include space for perches, drinking bowls, feeders and bird walking. Ventilation and lighting are thought out and designated. If you are planning a winter chicken coop, you should consider the heating system. The dimensions of the building are determined at the rate of two chickens per square meter plus 30% of the additional area for nesting. But in practice, birds are housed in larger numbers than required by regulations.

Construction process

During the construction process, all work is carried out in stages, focusing on drawings and calculations. At the initial stage, the terrain is marked and the foundation is laid.

Foundation

For several laying hens, you can build a small portable chicken coop; it does not need a foundation. A larger project will require a foundation.

They come in three types.

  1. Columnar. It involves the installation of pillars and the construction of a building using frame technology.
  2. Pile. Piles are used as pillars, which are driven in on unstable soils or on sloping terrain.
  3. Tape. The most reliable foundation, it is poured with concrete around the perimeter of the entire building.

Simple country options most often use a columnar base; it is cheaper and easier to implement.

Holes should be dug along the contour of the future chicken coop to the freezing depth. Make the recesses at a step frequency of two meters. The volume of the support will be about 20 cm and rise 40 cm above the ground surface. The formwork can be constructed from a rough board, 60-80 cm high. Next, reinforce it with reinforcement, insert supports and fill it with concrete. You can start work from any corner of the future building. Cover the poured foundation with polyethylene and leave for a week until dry.

Floor

When the foundation is strengthened, the base part is tied. To do this, four 20 cm thick beams are laid on the roofing felt, creating a box. Using metal corners, the beams are fastened together.

Boards placed on edge (joists) are attached to the frame using nails. The areas between them are filled with expanded clay. Then, in order to protect the bird from rodents, the surface is covered with a fine-mesh mesh with a half-meter overlap, which will subsequently rise to the walls. A rough board is laid on top.

When constructing the floor, it is better to make a slight slope towards the door to make it easier to maintain the chicken coop in the future. When working with wood, you should remember that all wooden elements must be treated with antifungal and fireproofing agents. They insulate the floor when there are already walls.

Walling

The construction of walls should begin with the installation of side posts. In order to make a pitched roof in the future, the difference between the front and rear pillars should be about half a meter. It is important to remember that the roof slope should not be in the direction of bird walking.

Then the top trim is made using boards, they are attached to the racks with nails. Before installing the sheathing, you should find out the dimensions of the insulation. Thermal insulation layers are laid in the gap between the supports.

In the area of ​​the door, window, opening for birds to exit, transverse guides are installed. When the frame is ready, the floor and ceiling are covered with edged boards.

Roof

To cover the roof, you need to prepare rafters. To calculate their size, measure the distance between the front and rear posts and add another thirty centimeters to the roof overhang.

The rafters, set on edge, are mounted to the top frame of the building. The distances between the rafters are equal to the width of the thermal insulation. The rafters are covered with polyethylene, lathing is made and the roofing is installed.

To insulate the roof, thermal insulation slabs are laid between the rafters. In northern regions, several layers of insulation can be used. A few centimeters of space should be left between the lining material and the thermal insulation for free air circulation.

Wall cladding

The walls are sheathed after roofing work. To the outside of the frame, bars are mounted to which boards, plywood, OSB sheets are attached, or whatever it was planned to use to cover the chicken coop. Insulation is laid between the racks.

The chicken coop is then lined from the inside. The area of ​​the ventilation holes should be left without covering.

Construction and finishing of a chicken coop

The floor should be made of warm materials, and cement, ceramic tiles, and brick are not suitable for it. Chickens are prone to rheumatism; if the floor is cold and damp, they sit on their feet and stop walking. Wood is the most suitable material for a chicken coop. In order not to spoil the wood flooring with chicken manure, the floor is covered with a thick layer of sand and sawdust.

The roof should not be built from materials that become very hot in the sun or make noise from rain and wind. Chickens lay eggs equally poorly both from fright and from overheating.

Ventilation

For solid chicken coops, you can install a ventilation duct under the roof. Small bird houses can get by with two openings with dampers on opposite walls.

The best option would be a hood equipped with a fan. To install such a system, two square holes should be made on opposite walls. One of them should be forty centimeters lower than the other. A special fan is inserted into the hole.

Lighting

Chickens cannot see well in the dark; if they are cold, or get scared, they begin to huddle in a corner and crush each other. In such conditions, it is convenient to have adjustable lighting with smooth switching off.

Perches and nests

It is more convenient to make perches removable, so they are easier to care for, and placed at different heights. A wooden ladder should be brought to the perch; it consists of a wide board with cross bars.

It is better to cover the nests with straw and change it periodically. Hay is less suitable because it rots quickly. Nests should be darkened; chickens do not like to lay eggs in bright light.

In the chicken coop you need to install several wooden perches at a distance of 30-50 cm from each other.

Many owners of country houses, after arranging the main building, setting up a vegetable garden and orchard, are thinking about breeding feathered animals. In this case, knowledgeable people advise getting chickens - and fresh eggs will appear on your table every day.

General structure of the chicken coop and its types

To breed birds in a backyard, it is necessary to build a special structure - a chicken coop. The place to place the chicken coop should be dry and located on a hill. Drainage is installed around it - a small hole or ditch to drain rainwater. If there is no hill on the territory, it is created artificially (from clay and sand).

The size of the building should allow birds to move normally. The area of ​​the house with perches is calculated based on sanitary standards: 2–3 chickens per 1 m2 of free space, but the minimum area value is 3 m2.

The entrance to the chicken coop and the run are built on the south side, which is protected from the winds. The enclosure is hidden under a roof or covered with a canopy: from the hot sun and rain.

There are two types of poultry house: summer or winter, depending on the temperature living conditions and the amount of free space on the site. Summer construction in warm climates is made light and mobile - it can be moved from one place to another, if such an opportunity exists in an open area. And in mid-latitudes, a solid structure is installed immediately: on a foundation. The winter poultry house is built with additional insulation so that during the cold season the temperature inside does not drop below zero.

The chicken coop includes:

  • house for chickens to spend the night;
  • walk-aviary;
  • perches;
  • nests;
  • a tray for collecting litter under the house.

While moving, hens develop better and lay eggs more, so the design of a poultry house requires the presence of a run - an enclosure, closed on all sides with a net.

A run is attached to the chicken coop so that the chickens can walk on fresh grass and breathe air without scattering all over the countryside.

Perches must be placed in the chicken coop: the birds use them as a place to sleep. The perches are made smooth and rounded so that the chickens can hold on comfortably and their paws are not hurt by splinters.

Perches are long perches attached to the walls of the chicken coop or installed on the floor on stable supports.

Additionally, nests are built in the poultry house: chickens will begin to lay eggs in them.

The nests are lined with a layer of soft straw or grass: the hens choose their favorite place, and sometimes it happens that everyone lays eggs in the same nest - taking turns

Drawing of a chicken coop, arrangement of perches and nests

For 6–8 chickens, the dimensions of the house on the foundation will be 2x2 m, and the aviary for walking is approximately 2x7 m. The minimum height of the room is 1.8 m so that the owner can freely enter it.

To build comfortable housing for chickens, you will need to make the correct calculations for the chicken coop and draw up a drawing

The perch can be made from timber, even knots, thick branches or other available materials. But it is important to follow the rules:

  1. Comfort: for an adult bird - 25 cm of perch.
  2. Strength: the perches should not sag under the weight of the birds.
  3. Safety: sharp corners are smoothed with a plane.

Perches are made with a thickness of no more than 4–6 cm in diameter, and the cut pole should not be round, but closer to an oval shape

Perches are installed in the darkest and warmest place in the room: away from windows and doors. It is recommended to install the perch on:

  • 50–80 cm from the floor;
  • 25–40 cm from the nearest wall.

Nests are made from wooden boards or made from plastic boxes with a lattice bottom.

  • size of one nest: 30x30x40 cm;
  • install nests at a distance of 30–40 cm from the floor;
  • place them against the far wall, in the dark;
  • lay soft and dry straw;
  • for 10 chickens you will need about 4 nests.

A separate corner is prepared for raising chickens. It is recommended to separate adult birds and young birds.

On the drawing you need to indicate the location of all the necessary elements of the chicken coop so that it is convenient to build the structure using this marking

After drawing up a detailed drawing, we move on to the selection of materials.

Selection of materials and tools

  • To fill the base - concrete mortar. Materials should be selected based on the type of foundation.
  • For the frame - beams. For wall cladding - boards.
  • For the inner lining and nests - plywood sheets.
  • For the roof - roofing felt, slate or tin. 2 layers of roofing felt are also laid on the foundation (protection from rotting).
  • For the enclosure - mesh and iron clamps.
  • Screws and nails.

To make a chicken coop, you do not need to prepare any special tools - you only need standard tools that are often used in the countryside

The set of tools may vary depending on the dimensions of the structure being manufactured, but a basic set is required:

  • trowel;
  • plane;
  • roulette;
  • building level;
  • axe;
  • mallet.

After complete preparation, we move on to construction.

Step-by-step instructions for making a summer chicken coop

Making the foundation

The ideal option for a 2x2 m chicken coop with a height of 1.8 m is a columnar base, which can be made from old bricks or stones. First of all, you will need to perform marking work:


After the marking work has been completed, you can begin making the foundation:

  1. We remove a layer of fertile soil 17–20 cm thick.
  2. We dig 8 holes in the corners and perimeter, 50 cm wide and 60 cm deep (there will be pillars in them).
  3. We fill the bottom of each hole with sand and gravel (10 cm).
  4. Then we lay 2 bricks and cover them with cement mixture on top.
  5. Next - 2 more bricks. The cabinet is laid out to the level of the rope. The cement mixture will help level the height of the cabinet.
  6. Treat finished pillars with bitumen or protective mastic. And fill the cavity between the pillars with soil, leveling it with the surface of the earth.
  7. The construction mixture hardens for about a week, then the timber grillage is installed.

For a chicken coop, the foundation is built smaller: with three pillars on each side; install a timber grillage on top

The finished foundation is left for a month. After which you can begin building the walls of the chicken coop.

Installation of walls and roof

It is recommended to use a frame wall construction. A panel frame is constructed and filled with a mixture of clay and straw in layers. Before installing the walls, you need to waterproof the floor. An excellent basis for frame walls and floors is a support frame made of beams.

For walls and floors you need to make a support frame from beams

You will need to prepare material for racks, lintels and struts, which will increase the rigidity of the structure. Long support bars can be used not only as supporting parts for the walls of the poultry house, but also for the lower part of the run. The frame structure of the platform can be made from an iron corner. All that remains is to fix the mesh netting on it and cover the structure with polycarbonate.

The frame, covered with boards, is insulated with ecowool or mineral wool.

Chicken Coop Wall Installation Guide:

  1. You can build the walls directly on the wooden floor of the chicken coop. But you can also assemble each wall separately, and then install them ready-made.

    Each wall must be assembled separately using wooden beams

  2. Openings are made in the walls for windows, a door and a box from which eggs can be taken.

    You need to make openings in the walls: fold the blanks, align them according to the markings

  3. After this, all the walls must be knocked together, excluding distortions.

    After preparation, they need to be knocked together into a single structure, taking into account the verticality of the racks level to the floor

  4. After the frame is assembled, you can proceed to making the roof.

In order for the structure to retain heat better, it is recommended to make a roof with two slopes. The frame consists of rafter legs and sheathing.

The roof can be covered with slate, metal tiles and other materials

The gaps between wall elements should be insulated. A vapor barrier film is laid on top of the insulating material. After this, the building is sheathed with plywood sheets.

The exterior of the structure is sheathed with OSB boards and plywood.

The outer part of the OSB board will need to be covered with glassine, and then covered with clapboard.

The outside of the structure must be covered with glassine and sheathed with clapboard

To prevent rotting of wooden parts, they should be treated with an antiseptic. It is important to periodically coat the walls of a wooden structure with lime to protect against pests.

Floor base

For the floor, take boards 50 mm thick, they are laid in 2 layers, laying insulation. The bars are taken 10x10 cm, the bottom bar should have a thickness of 26 mm. The surface is made smooth and cleaned with a plane.

A rectangular recess is cut into the floor base, through which the chickens will enter and exit along an inclined ramp. The floor is covered with a protective mixture for wood or lime and a dense bedding is laid. Layer thickness 5 cm (a mixture of crushed peat, straw, sawdust).

Ventilation and lighting of the chicken coop

Natural light and ventilation occur through windows and doors. But they are not always kept open (drafts are dangerous), so you will need to install automatic ventilation.

Ventilation through draft

An exhaust pipe extending beyond the roof is placed high above the perches. The supply pipe is placed in another corner of the chicken coop 20–30 cm from the floor. The draft occurs naturally, reducing the humidity inside the coop.

Chickens do not tolerate drafts, so it is necessary to provide supply and exhaust ventilation.

It is recommended to place the bird hole on the south side of the bird house. The minimum width is 30 cm and height is 40 cm. The hole can be combined with an entrance door. In this case, you will need to cut through the element at the bottom of the canvas.

Lighting

Egg production is affected by the length of daylight hours. In order for chickens to lay eggs in winter, they should be well fed and given the effect of 14 hours of daylight. During mass molting, the optimal duration of daylight hours is 9 hours.

  1. Install lamps with a power of 50–60 W. They are placed above the feeders. Sockets are placed in a closed panel.
  2. It is recommended to use red and fluorescent light bulbs. For every m 2 - 5 W of lighting.

Red light bulbs will not dry out the air around you and will only be able to heat those places where the rays hit

Installation of feeders and drinkers

Devices for feeding birds can be made independently or purchased ready-made.

Hopper feeder: it is made from a pipe with holes made along the entire length

They use a bunker version of feeders or homemade devices for serving food, fixed at a height of 15–20 cm from the floor: chickens will not dig into the grain and scatter it. If the feeder is placed on the floor, the area under it may begin to become damp.

Structures for feeding feed can be constructed from wooden planks or plastic containers. Summer residents recommend using tanks with sides of at least 2 cm. You can also build a tank under sand or shell rock (chickens peck at the mixture for better digestion of food).

How to make a small chicken coop

A mini-chicken coop can look like a cage. The dimensions of the cage for several chickens are 1x2 m. It does not need a foundation; it is placed on the grass.

A mini chicken coop for 5 chickens can be made in the form of a cage

Tools and materials for manufacturing:

  • timber 50x50 mm;
  • nails and screws;
  • chain-link mesh;
  • wooden slats 20x30 mm;
  • iron pipes;
  • door hinges;
  • plywood sheets;
  • tiles or slate;
  • insulation material;
  • hammer;
  • saw;
  • electric drill or screwdriver.

First you need to make a drawing. It is important to determine which side the windows and entrance will be located on. This will allow you to choose a place for perches and nests (in the far corner).

The drawing must indicate the location of all devices, as well as the dimensions of the poultry house.

Sequence of work:


Photo gallery: ideas for decorating a chicken coop

With a flower bed on the roof: make high-quality waterproofing and plant cacti Chicken coop without a run: you can build a chicken coop with a detachable run A greenhouse-shaped walkway with a rounded arch: the design looks unusual Made in the form of a mansion, where the gable roof extends over the entire paddock Chicken coop with a square high run in the form of a summer gazebo Two-story poultry house: the chicken house is located on the roof of the paddock Teremok, in which one roof slope covers a square paddock Made with a flat roof, in a minimalist style

Features of winter design

The winter chicken coop is made more insulated, with windows facing south and with good ventilation. If the structure is designed for more than 20 chickens, then additional electric fans are built into the walls.

The temperature inside the poultry house should be above +12°C. Windows must be glazed and close tightly. In cool weather, chickens huddle together, warming each other.

The walls of an all-season chicken coop should be constructed of wood. The room with perches is separated from the entrance by constructing a vestibule.

It is best to make the walls of a winter chicken coop from wood and build a vestibule

The use of oil and infrared heaters is allowed. You can also use panels in the form of plates coated with film. They will emit heat using infrared radiation. The structures are mounted on the ceiling.

It is advisable to use such devices if the walls are made of concrete or brick. When the temperature reaches the required level, the structure will automatically turn off.

Large chicken coops can cause significant problems. It is quite difficult to heat a large building, and the costs of thermal insulation will also be considerable. If you plan to keep birds all year round, then it is important to consider some features:

  1. The roof should be made of two layers.
  2. Cover the walls with thermal insulation material.
  3. If you plan to build a chicken coop from logs, then it must be thoroughly caulked. The floor is covered with deep bedding.
  4. In cold weather, additional frames should be installed on the windows.
  5. If the poultry house has an attic, then the floor should be covered with sawdust or straw.
  6. High-power lamps or a heater are often used for heating.

Video: making your own chicken coop

Making a chicken coop with your own hands is not a complicated process. The design can be made even from improvised means, it is only important to correctly draw up the drawing.

Laying hens can lay eggs in winter just as well as in summer. But for this it is necessary to provide them with optimal conditions, which range from -2°C to +20°C. In addition, there should be a lot of light and a balanced diet. The number of eggs may be the same as in summer. In addition, optimal conditions ensure the trouble-free existence of chickens, providing them with comfortable conditions even in winter. Therefore, when building a chicken coop, you should immediately make sure that it stays warm. If a finished room is being converted, then all measures are taken to ensure that heat loss is kept to a minimum.


A warm barn for chickens and lighting are important for their normal well-being

The size of the chicken coop cannot be arbitrary, since there are certain standards for placing poultry indoors. For example, when keeping from 2 to 5 birds, 1 square meter of area is sufficient. If there are problems with the premises, then the bird can be compacted. In such cases, nests and perches are distributed into 2 floors, or even three. This is not a problem for laying hens and they thrive in multi-tiered housing. For them, the higher, the better: a bird always feels safe at a height.

The bird needs a place for winter walking. They feel great outside in winter down to -15 degrees. It is advisable that the place be protected from wind and drafts.

As for the height of nests and perches, everything is purely individual. Chickens can easily live at a height of 2 meters, but maintaining the premises will be very difficult, and the concentration of birds will be too large.

A room like a chicken coop should be cheap, which means that it can be built from any available materials. In other words, a chicken coop is a budget option and can be easily implemented. The cheapest option is a semi-dugout, when the walls rise above ground level to a height of 0.5-1 meter. At the same time, the depth of the dugout can be 1 meter or a little deeper, so that you can be in the chicken coop at full height. That part of the chicken coop that rises above the ground can be mounted partly from glass located on the south side, and the rest from any building material. In addition, to make the chicken coop warmer, all sides except the south are covered with earth. If you take into account that a layer of snow will be added in winter, the room will turn out to be quite warm.


Those who are seriously planning to raise poultry should think about building a chicken coop from foam concrete: it is light and warm

As an option, a room for a chicken coop based on a wooden frame, sheathed on all sides with plywood or chipboard. After this, insulation is laid and the inside is again sewn up with the same material. How thick a layer of insulation is planned to be laid depends on the region.

If you build a chicken coop from logs or from thick timber, then in the middle zone you can do without additional insulation.

For such a room, the simplest type of foundation is suitable. This may be a pile option or a shallow foundation option. If you plan to build a permanent chicken coop from brick, foam block, cinder block, etc., then a conventional strip (not reinforced) foundation is suitable. For buildings made of wood, it is enough to organize a basic foundation from blocks, which you can make yourself.

When using a columnar foundation, it is enough to install the posts every 2-3 meters, as well as at the corners of the building.

What and how to insulate?

A chicken coop that is not properly insulated will require heating in severe frosts if you want to constantly have homemade chicken eggs. But this option can lead to a significant increase in the price of homemade products. Therefore, it is better to immediately build an insulated room, so that later, in winter, you don’t have to think about how to make it warm.

To insulate a room for chickens, any thermal insulation materials are suitable. The cheapest option is polystyrene foam, but mice love it. As an option, mineral wool is suitable. Some experts argue that membranes are needed on both sides and this increases the cost of the entire process. On the other hand, this is not a residential building and it will be enough to simply sew up mineral wool on both sides. After all, it is not necessary to raise the temperature to +20 degrees.


Insulating a chicken coop with mineral wool

It is possible to use polystyrene, since rodents do not like it so much, but it is much more expensive than regular foam. On the other hand, if you line it with polystyrene, then the room does not have to be improved.

It is not necessary to use expensive modern materials, since you can get by with folk, simple and affordable means. For example, clay is taken, mixed with sawdust, and the space in the frame is filled with this mixture. It is even possible to use sawdust itself, which can be compacted in the process of filling the space. You can get good results by filling the space with slag. Although, in terms of characteristics, such insulation will be inferior to modern materials, it will cost much less. Naturally, for warm regions and the middle zone, this is quite enough, but for colder regions this may not be enough.

This is what walls are about. The ceiling and floor must be treated in a similar way, otherwise the whole idea will not give any positive results. As you know, all the heat rises upward and, if you do not insulate the ceiling, it will all end up outside. In such a chicken coop it will always be cold and uncomfortable for poultry.

Typically, hay is stored in the attics of outbuildings for the winter, which significantly insulates them. The same can be done with a chicken coop by hemming the ceiling underneath with wooden boards, chipboard, plywood or OSB. As a last resort, you can sprinkle sawdust on the ceiling or insulate it with reeds, and then apply a layer of clay on top. In this case, there is a huge field for experimentation, depending on the availability of certain materials of natural origin. As a rule, economic people will always find a way out of the situation.

It is equally important to insulate the floor in the chicken coop. As an option, an adobe floor mixed with straw, similar to adobe technology, is suitable. Of course, it’s not bad when the floor is durable, for example, concrete, made from a cement-sand mixture. A simple floor will turn out to be quite cold, but if you add, for example, sawdust to the solution, it will turn out to be much warmer. The floor will be warm even when ordinary bottles are embedded in the floor.


Option for floor insulation in a chicken coop

The presence of even a small vestibule always makes the room warmer, since heat is retained more efficiently. This approach to building a chicken coop can significantly reduce heat loss and eliminate heating in the winter.

Do you need heating?

Naturally, the best option is to have a heated chicken coop. In such cases, laying hens lay eggs especially actively in winter. Again, it all comes down to economics. If it is not a large room, then there is no point in heating it, and there is simply nowhere to install heating devices. If this is a mini-farm, then giving up heating is simply not reasonable.

Having electricity in a chicken coop can solve many problems, including heating. In this case, it is possible to use fan heaters and IR emitters.

Fan heaters must have built-in automation, which can be used to adjust the heating temperature. This is a fairly effective and popular heating method. Another automation system is also applicable, which involves cyclically turning on and off the heaters, without reference to the heating temperature.

IR emitters are also very popular. They are somewhat more effective because they do not heat the air and heat those objects that fall within the range of IR rays. When installing them, this factor must be taken into account. This means that each lamp is installed above each socket. Although another approach is possible: the lamp is installed in one place where there is enough area to fit all the chickens. If they get cold, they can gather in one place and bask under the infrared rays.

Their only drawback is that they quickly fail due to frequent switching on and off. The best option is long-term operation without turning off: the lamp will last longer and the place will be constantly warmed up.

Oil radiators are not so efficient, therefore, they are rarely used.

Homemade heaters and various designs do not have full protection and are therefore considered a fire hazard, so it is better to protect yourself from such a risk.

This is a very interesting option, although it has a number of disadvantages. Firstly, the presence of an open fire inside, especially a wooden room, which can lead to a fire. Secondly, given the small size of the chicken coop, it simply does not make sense to deal with such a problem. As for large premises designed for a large number of chickens, this option is the most acceptable if the pipe is run through the entire chicken coop. In this case, maximum heat will remain in the chicken coop. If the chicken coop is well insulated, then it is enough to heat it once and the heat will last for several days.

Heating the room using natural methods

There is another, alternative way to maintain optimal temperature in the chicken coop.


Chickens with sawdust feel great even in the cold

This is a natural method that is based on obtaining heat from decomposing sawdust. At the same time, it is desirable that the chicken coop be well insulated. To do this, sawdust is poured onto the floor in a layer of 10-15 cm, which should settle for one and a half months. Hay is not recommended because it does not control the humidity in the coop, which can make poultry sick. In addition, chickens love to rummage in sawdust and are constantly busy with this, which does not lead to their obesity even with intensive nutrition.

After a month and a half, sawdust is added in a layer of 10 cm. After a certain time, a layer of fresh sawdust is added again. By the end of winter, this layer should be about 50 cm. A layer of sawdust of this thickness can keep the temperature in the chicken coop at 0 degrees, which is quite enough for laying hens. If you penetrate deep into the sawdust, the temperature there can reach +20 degrees, which is what the chickens do, constantly burying themselves in the sawdust. In any case, they can warm up at any time.

Ventilation

To maintain the microclimate in the chicken coop, ventilation is required. Ventilation can be organized by using a plastic plumbing pipe, which is led through the ceiling and raised above the roof to a height of one meter. In this case, natural draft will be sufficient for effective ventilation of the room.

Alternatively, you can install an exhaust fan, but it runs on electricity, and natural draft does not require any additional costs. If the room is constructed with high quality, without cracks, then additional ventilation holes located in the lower part of the room are needed for air circulation. They must be adjustable.

A very important point is maintaining optimal humidity in the chicken coop, about 60-70%. It’s very easy to increase humidity, but lowering it poses difficulties. Excess moisture needs to be evaporated, which means heating is needed. Therefore, installing at least one IR lamp will not hurt.

There must be a lot of light in the chicken coop, especially in winter, otherwise the chickens will not lay eggs. The daylight hours of the chicken coop should last 11-12 hours, therefore, windows alone will not be enough, especially on cloudy days. In this case, artificial lighting with a timer that controls the operation of the lamps will not hurt, then there will be no need to go around turning the lights on and off.

The presence of a regulator will allow you to shift the daylight hours in one direction or another. Alternatively, you can turn on the lights early and turn them off at dusk. As a rule, hens wake up early, along with roosters.

Building a chicken coop: video

The video contains information about the construction of a chicken coop by a man who decided to leave the city and move to the village. The photographs he posted on the video show all the stages and processes of construction. The information can be very useful for those who take the conditions of village life seriously.

Conclusion

With the onset of winter, the problem of insulation becomes quite acute. Almost everyone needs warmth: people, animals, and birds. The warmer the conditions for pets and poultry, the more effective you can expect them to be. As a rule, with the onset of winter, with the first cold snap, laying hens stop actively laying eggs until they adapt to the new conditions. But you don’t have to wait until they start laying eggs again, although not in such large numbers, but make sure that the poultry feels comfortable even in severe frosts. This will not only reduce the rate of egg hatching, but will also protect the bird from hypothermia, which can lead to diseases.

Therefore, only a responsible owner will take the difficult, and also costly, path. Despite this, there are a lot of techniques that do not require additional costs, but require desire. The simplest option for insulation is the use of cut and then dried grass, as well as tops of various garden crops, with the help of which you can simply and easily insulate such premises for the winter. It is enough to build a small frame around the chicken coop and then simply fill the gap with dry grass, dry tops and dry stems. With the arrival of spring, all such insulation can be burned, obtaining valuable fertilizer for the garden.

Increasingly, people are choosing country houses for permanent or at least seasonal residence. Therefore, the desire to provide yourself not only with harvest from the garden beds, but also with fresh chicken eggs is not only understandable, but also quite feasible. And if not everyone has the opportunity to build a monumental structure for a chicken coop, then almost everyone can arrange comfortable housing for several laying hens.

Moreover, there are many interesting options for country chicken coops that will allow you not only to create a functional outbuilding, but also to turn it into a decorative element that sets the style of the entire personal plot.

To provide your family with environmentally friendly products and hassle-free keeping chickens in your dacha, it is enough to have a chicken coop for the birds. However, no matter the number of laying hens, building a comfortable chicken coop is a real science, because this house should not only be durable and beautiful, the chickens should be comfortable and safe in it.

Location of the chicken coop in the country

For high-quality supervision of pets, it is better for a novice poultry farmer to build a chicken coop in the country near their home, while not forgetting the need to provide the chickens with proper living conditions:

  • The soil under the chicken coop must be dry, or even better if it is sandy.
  • If the soil is clayey, swampy, or is often excessively wet, then measures should be taken to drain it by draining moisture, installing channels, holes, or filling the site with sand. Moreover, the collected moisture can be redirected to a place reserved for chickens to bathe.
  • It is good if the area under the chicken coop slopes to the southeast, which provides the best illumination.
  • The chicken coop in the country should be protected from drafts and piercing winds, for which you can use green fences or building structures.
  • It is necessary to provide comfortable lawns for poultry walking with mandatory shelter from the sun or bad weather.
  • A shallow pond for swimming is also desirable.

If you do not follow these recommendations for keeping chickens in the country, the birds may become lethargic, laying hens will produce fewer eggs, and diseases of the chickens are possible. Moreover, overheating without sufficient shading from the sun, as well as increased humidity, crowding and cold, have an equally negative effect on the bird.

Building a chicken coop with your own hands

When planning to build a chicken coop at your dacha, you should take into account all these features and try to provide future residents with all the conditions for comfort.

The floor in the chicken coop should be warm and reliable, but at the same time breathable, so that there is no excessive humidity leading to the development of mold and mildew.

Therefore, brick, asphalt or stone flooring is unsuitable for a poultry house. On a cold floor, chickens will suffer from rheumatism and other leg diseases.

So for the conditions of the middle zone, the best option is a two-layer wood floor.

Setting up a chicken coop at the dacha

Comfort for laying hens living in a chicken coop is:

  • If there is enough space, it is recommended to provide at least 50 square meters per bird. cm area.
  • Feeders and drinkers available;
  • In perches located at different heights.
  • In equipped nests where laying hens will be located in the country.
  • In good lighting and ventilation.

In feeding areas and in nests, straw bedding is made, which must be cleaned and updated regularly.

Bird walking

The more birds congregate in a limited area, the greater the risk of infections and other diseases in chickens. Therefore, it is important to provide chickens with sufficient space for walking, which will increase the egg production of laying hens and the fatness of meat breeds.

For this purpose, chickens, especially in the spring, are divided into 10-12 birds, allocating them separate areas for walking.

Perches for laying hens in the country

Having made a chicken coop at the dacha with his own hands, the summer resident should pay attention to arranging nests where it will be convenient for chickens to lay eggs.

For a dozen chickens, at least two or three nests are arranged, and in the summer it is recommended to arrange roosts in the air, where the birds walk.

The distance between perches should be at least half a meter, while nests located at least half a meter from the floor should not sag. The installation of visors over them allows you to keep the nests clean. And to fill the nests, regularly cleaned and replaced straw is used.

You should not use hay, as it quickly begins to rot and causes the development of infections and pests.

The nests need to be slightly darkened, because laying hens in the country do not like to lay eggs in bright light. It’s good if the perches are removable, then they can be removed and cleaned twice a year.

The modest size of many household plots has made a variety of chicken coop designs popular, including unusual, but very practical structures.

This also applies to portable mini-structures. You can make a chicken coop at your dacha with your own hands in such a way that it will allow you to easily move the structure, while the chickens will always be in sight and will never spoil the cultivated plantings, which often happens with free range.

The design of such a miniature chicken coop, like any other, should include three main areas:

  • space for shelters;
  • place for poultry walking;
  • nests for laying hens in the country

What is the best material to build a chicken coop from at the dacha?

The following materials are most often used to build a country chicken coop:

  • A wooden block is used for the frame of the chicken coop;
  • Wall cladding is often made of wooden lining;
  • Be sure to provide a retractable tray under the perch so that cleaning can be done faster and more efficiently. For this pallet, take a galvanized sheet;
  • To fence the walking area, use a metal mesh with a fine mesh.
  • If you are planning a chicken coop with a green roof, where decorative or green crops will be planted, then waterproofing the roof is mandatory. Any waterproofing material in rolls is ideal for such insulation.

A green roof not only creates an original appearance for the chicken coop, but also reliably protects the birds from overheating inside the house on hot days.

Well, if there are not enough building materials, then you can make a chicken coop at your dacha with your own hands using available materials, for example, you can find arched chicken coops made from plastic pipes, pallets, or completely original solutions.

Having built a chicken coop at the dacha, it is important to cover all wooden elements of the structure, regardless of its size and design, with a special compound that protects the wood from damage by pests and from atmospheric influences.

Design options for country chicken coops

Stationary houses for chickens of different capacities, designed for summer or all-season residence of poultry.

For a novice poultry farmer, we can recommend a simple design of a chicken coop, which can, if desired, be moved to a new location using two boards that act as portable handles. At the same time, the chicken coop is similar to a one-story cottage with an attic.

A one-story portable chicken coop in the country is even more compact than the previous one.

Portable chicken coop with arched design.

Many summer residents today pay attention to mobile structures, and they make such a mobile chicken coop with their own hands.

Mobile chicken coop in the form of a wheelbarrow.
Such devices are installed on a single-axle frame with wheels. This scheme is good for complete chicken coops, which makes it easy to move the bird across the lawn or fenced pasture.

Mobile chicken coop trailer.
This is a two-axle trailer for constructing a chicken coop of significant size and capacity, which has a lot of weight, which allows you to transport poultry to remote pastures.

Mobile country chicken coops on casters.
Mini chicken coops on small casters can be placed on a level base and can be moved within small areas.