Check Out The Video For Ideas

The first thing you want to do is make sure that your chicken coop is rain proof. There are materials you can use that will pull this off nicely that won’t cost you an arm and a leg. Contrary to what you might believe, chickens do NOT like the rain and the last thing that they want is for their home to be all damp and wet. If you do NOTHING else, this one tip is a must or you’re going to have some very unhappy chickens on your hand.

Next thing you want to do is make sure you build this thing for the long haul. What am I talking about? You might only have one or two chickens now and feel that you don’t need anything that’s too big. But then what happens when you’re suddenly surrounded by a dozen of these fine feathered friends? What then? You don’t want them to be all cramped in their home. So build for the future and not just for what’s staring you in the face this very moment.

Finally, and this may be the most important thing of all now that I’m thinking of it, you want to build this thing bullet proof. Okay, not literally but you know what I mean. You want to keep your chickens safe from evil predators, right? Well, if that’s the case, the last thing you want to do is build something that the big bad wolf can blow down with a puff. Look what happened to poor little Elmer. Okay, build this thing strong and build it to last. Some barbed wire might be a good idea as well.

Your chickens are important to you, right? So they deserve a home that they can feel safe, dry and comfortable in. The above tips will make it so that they’ll do just that.

For some great info on building chicken coops, check my signature below.

Okay, let me just get to the best part of this book because it is so critical. Inside, you will find cross sectional diagrams of the whole process. In other words, you don’t just get one of those horrible instructional kits with your typical “insert post A into slot C” mumbo jumbo. This book is so well illustrated, that even somebody who has NEVER picked up a hammer and saw in their lives can put one of these things together. These diagrams alone are worth the price of the book. But there’s more, lot’s more.

The tips inside will allow you to build a chicken coop for pennies on the dollar for what it would cost to buy one ready made. And you won’t be scrimping on materials. The author shows you what to get so that you’ll be building the absolute best chicken coop for your needs and it still won’t cost you an arm and a leg.

But the book is more than just about building a chicken coop. There are some incredible tips inside such as the 9 daily, monthly and yearly chores that you must do in order to keep your chickens healthy, happy and laying eggs all year round.

There are also a ton of great bonus books that come with this, such as one on how to build nesting boxes for free. Yes, free. There’s another book on how to best position your chicken coop and how to get the best materials.

Look, I can go on talking about this really useful (about time too) book on this subject. But why not just go to the man’s site (his name is Bill Keene) and see for yourself.

Here is the link to the site

Im back. I can now post again on my blog now it is fixed so get ready for some new stuff. Im going to write more about raising chickens so hope you enjoy the latest Travis

Chicks that are hatched inside an incubator must stay inside the incubator for a couple of days. Don’t get too excited to take them out. Give them some time to realize that they are already hatchlings and have to cope with their environment. Birds like quails, pheasants and chickens can survive for three days without any source of water or food.

One very good thing about chickens is that when they are still inside the egg, days before they come out, the yolk is drawn to the navel and travels off through the stomach of the young one. The yolk will serve as nourishment for transition of the baby chick from the moment it hatches, to the time it gains sufficient strength till it fluffs out and becomes active to search the world for food. Physically, no gain weight will occur but there will be gain in activity, stature and faculty use.

Upon noticing that chicks get interested with water drops or his companion’s toes, don’t mistook this as being hungry but part of the transition phase where they learn to adapt and familiarize themselves with their environment. It is the point of experimentation of the chicks. When evidences of experimentation are seen in such interest, a baby’s learning and exploration comes in.

You can take the hatchlings out after a day or 24 hours from the time that they hatched. If you have forgotten that you have babies left in the incubator and 48 hours has already passed, that would be fine.

There are three important things to do upon hatching of the baby chicks – brooder, feeding and prevent them from drowning.

Brooder

This is like a baby chick’s second pit stop after life inside an incubator. A brooder is sort of an incubator but is bigger. It can be made or bought. The thing about brooders is that you have to provide your own heat lamp and make sure that the temperature is adjustable.

Before putting the chicks inside the brooder, you should have it set at an environment that the temperature is not less than 90 degrees. A 95-degree heat can be a start. You maintain the heat lamp until the 6th week. From a 90-95 degree heat, you can decrease the heat by 5 degrees every week until it reaches about 60-65 degrees by the 6th week.

Feeding

Once you put them out of the incubator, you have to make sure that there is already available food and water inside the brooder. Never let these two essentials run out. They should always have something to put their beaks into.

Babies must be fed with dry mash. Pheasant and chicken babies love baby chick mash. Solid food like grains is unsuitable. Grits aren’t necessary when you choose to use mash feed. You can buy all these in a feed store.

Drowning Prevention

Receptacles can be life threatening to baby chicks especially during the first week of inhabitation inside the brooder. If they are so active, they can drown themselves inside those receptacles. There is an explanation why chicks love to flounder on water. It is said that as baby chicks that came out of an egg filled with fluid, they have this urge to throw themselves in the water thinking that it is still their sac. This is true with younger birds. But don’t worry, they’ll snap out of this once they get older.

To do away with drowning use a water cup that is shallow instead of the one that is deep.

Till next time love those chickens TRAVIS

I decided to do a book review of what I believe is the best book around on how to build a chicken coop and chicken coop plans.

Given the fact I build chicken coops and have done so now for almost 20 years and given the fact I have been keeping and breeding chickens for the same amount of time I guess I do know a thing or two about chicken coops.

I have purchased almost all downloadable books on chicken coops on the internet and I have found no book yet that comes close to “Building A Chicken Coop”. It is by far the most comprehensive book on chicken coops and also covers chicken keeping and housing as well.

OVERALL

The book was authored by Bill Keene and provides step by step instructions on how to build your coop, how to maintain and care for chickens. Bill also knows a thing or two about chickens as he is an experienced poultry farmer.

Bill shares all his knowledge on how to build an affordable coop that is attractive, safe, feasible which provides all the essentials for raising healthy, happy chickens. Bill gives you all the tips you will need to make sure you don’t run into any of the usual problems people encounter when building a chicken coop.

Let me tell you most people I speak to who come up with the idea that they would love to raise chickens and then set out to build themselves a chicken coop without any knowledge, plan or information end up with problems on their hands.

I have heard horrid stories and I mean ones that would make you cry all because their was no planning stage and very little research before the chicken coop was build and the chickens came along.

What you will learn in Bills book will give you all the knowledge you need so you can avoid all the pitfalls there is when you set about getting a coop and chickens.

I have been building coops for people now for years and all of them are built following Bills guide. That is why people come to me to build their coops.

Building a chicken coop is a step by step guide for young, old or even complete novices. Bill gives you lots of tips that will save you time and money. And I want forget to add Bill also includes lots of bonuses which you are bound to love.

If you follow everything in the book you will end up with an attractive, affordable, chicken coop that is well designed, provides a safe haven for your chickens, will last many years to come and provides all the essentials needed to keep you chickens healthy and happy.

Click Here to visit Bills Website called -  Building A Chicken Coop

DETAILS OF BUILDING A CHICKEN COOP

One of the main areas covered is region, environment, climate and chicken breeds. This is the starting point as this is the main area you need to look at when you decide to raise chickens. Bill takes you through all these areas and discusses each one so you have a foundation to start from.

Bill covers the various types of chicken coops and provides guidance on picking a chicken coop plan that’s right for you and your chickens. This is also an important area to look as well as there are many factors which can affect the chicken coop plan you choose for your chickens to meet their needs.

You will find Bill has provided detailed plans in his book which looks at the various size and types of coops from, portable chicken coops, mid size coops and even the almighty double decker coop.

These plans are cross sectional diagrams which are simple to follow and as Bill says “Even if you have never nailed a nail or screwed a screw, you CAN put one of these things together on your own.”

Bill also walks you through some of the major issues that you need to address before you start planning. Things like Electricity, drainage, water outlets, ventilation, materials, tools, predators etc. Some very handy pointers are revealed in Building a Chicken Coop.

PROS.

Step by step guide that anyone can use no matter what their experience is.

Provides cross sectional diagrams which are easy to follow

Plans are laid out so you can print them off if you need too

Comes in PDF so is instantly downloadable to your computer

Lots of great bonuses

Covers all areas of building a coop

Cover basics of chicken keeping

Affordable price

CONS

Comes only in PDF

SUMMARY

Would have to be my favourite for building a chicken coop. Provides step by step details, cross sectional diagrams and covers all the essentials you need to know before you go ahead and build a chicken coop.

Perhaps the only book I ever need to reference over and over again.

RANKING 91/2 out of 10

Building a Chicken Coop

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Love those chickens Travis

One by one the eggs started hatching and we ended up with 14 new chicks.  We have moved the chicks to a heated area till the boys can set up an area at their own houses. They have decided they want to look after them and when they are a lot bigger they will move them to the coop at school.

The boys are so proud of the new chicks and are just like proud parents. All chicks have been named and each boy has picked out their favorites.

Travis

Probably one of the decisions you’re struggling with right now at this point is determining which type of chicken coop you need. There are a variety of different chicken coops that you can build, but understanding which one is going to best fit your needs is important for getting optimal results. If you spend the money on a chicken house, it only makes sense that it needs to match your individual needs, so getting started on the right foot is important.

There are some main factors that you should take into consideration before deciding what type of coop to build. The following guidelines will lead you down the right path to choosing wisely and being fully satisfied with your new chicken coop once it’s built.

Size

Possibly one of the most important factors that will need to be looked at is the size of chicken coop you want to build. There’s small, medium, and large plans for the chicken coops, each which accommodates a certain number of chickens.

The biggest mistake you can make is trying to cram too many chickens into your coop. Because each chicken requires so much area to feel comfortable and lay eggs properly, you’ll really want to make sure you’re choosing your size wisely.

It’s always better to error on the size of being too big than being too small, plus then you can always add more birds to the chicken coop if you want later on.

Portable Versus Fixed

The next question you should ask yourself is whether you want your chicken coop to be portable or if you preferred one that’s fixed instead. Portable chicken coops give you the advantage of being able to move it around to wherever you are, so if you’re someone who likes to keep the chickens as pets, this makes for a very attractive option.

Also, having a mobile chicken coop allows for easier maintenance since you can simply move the chicken coop to wherever you need to clean it.

On the other hand, if you’re looking for something with a little more structural integrity than you’ll likely be better off choosing a fixed chicken house since these will be built sturdier so that they are able to withstand wear and tear.

Protection

Factor in protection from predators as you make your decision what type of chicken coop to make as well. Ideally you should have a very solid fencing system to keep all varieties of predators out. This will have to be built to match the size of the coop you’re building as well.

Appearance

Finally, think about the overall appearance of what you want your chicken coop to look like. There are a number of different ways you can build the chicken coop which will impact the overall design of the chicken coop. This will also likely influence the cost of the building process, so it’s something to think about and work within your budget.

There are definitely cheaper methods to build your chicken coop so understanding the different things that will influence the cost is the first step to making a smart decision.

So, be sure you’re factoring these points in as you decide which type of chicken coop you wish to build. Getting the information up front before you start to build will help save you hundreds of dollars over the long run.

In the next newsletter, we’ll discuss some of the ways you can help to keep the costs down while selecting your building materials.

All this and more is covered in “HOW TO BUILD A CHICKEN COOP“  to build a chicken coop has been a must have resource.

Here is the type of chicken coops you could possible build with  HOW TO BUILD A CHICKEN COOP

The one above is my all time favourite. This is the one I use for all the base chicken coops I build.

Chicken Coop Plan 2

Chicken Coop Plan 3

“How to build a chicken coop” is definately my number one choice and includes all you will ever need to know about building a chicken coop.

Click the banner below to visit the site.

The boys know if they open the door it could mean the chickens will become dry and the eggs shell could stick to the chickens making it hard or impossible for them to hatch.

Cross your fingers for the chicks and for the boys. Im so proud of the boys for sticking to this project from start to finish.

Have a great day Travis

I can’t wait for it to turn up in the post ….

I also found this really good book as well which has 45 chicken coop plans in it .. Great if you need some ideas plus its filled with great instructions

I am about to go check the eggs before I head to bed

Have a great night everyone Travis

It should be around 7 to 9 days till the eggs start hatching so the boys are very excited. It has been a very long wait for them. I am very proud they have kept up with the project and have done everything to make sure the eggs hatch.

On a side note we are putting together a chicken coop plan for the school. The boys have asked their teacher if they could kept the chickens at school and the teacher has agreed. They are trying to work in a project about chicken keeping for the children as well which is going to be a lot of fun.

Im so pleased that the boys are now loving looking after the eggs, helping me look after my own chickens and they are also loving being able to do some woodwork on the chicken coops.

Travis