Building a chicken coop is not only a great hobby, but it is also an invaluable skill that will serve you for years to come. Learning to raise healthy chickens will provide you with fresh organic eggs on a daily basis and you can even use your newfound skills to make money by building coops for other people as well. One of the most important elements when getting started for the first time with a coop is to always have the proper building plans.
While a lot of people view their chickens as pets and part of the family, many people get into the business of small poultry farming for the eggs that hens provide. If you’re interested in the eggs, then you’re going to need to include nesting boxes for your birds. Fortunately, they couldn’t be easier to build. While you can opt to purchase large steel nesting boxes or expensive pre-made ones, that’s really not necessary. Building your own nesting boxes is cheap, easy, and can be fun.
Note that if you’re building your own coop from one of the various chicken coop designs out there, it may or may not already include nesting boxes. If it doesn’t, all you really need is some plywood, a hammer and nails, and possibly some sandpaper to smooth the edges out afterward. A nesting box is really just that – a box, usually about one foot on all sides. Typically if you are constructing your boxes from plywood, you integrate several nesting boxes together as a single unit. Once you’ve built them, fill them up with straw or wood shavings and your hens will be right at home.
While you can buy various models of chicken feeders from farming supply stores, it’s also possible to build your own without too much effort. Many people who raise fowl as a hobby have a do-it-yourself mindset, and love to share their ideas with others. With a little searching and a little ingenuity on your part, you can easily construct homemade poultry feeders. Most online providers of chicken coop plans will include information and plans for chicken feeders. While these are the simplest of devises, a little upfront thought and planning about their design and integration into your chicken coop is will pay dividends.
Hens aren’t particularly gluttonous creatures. They’ll eat their fill and then go about their business. Thus, most chicken feeders work from a very simple design with minimal human interaction – they don’t require any electronics or things like that. In most models, you simply fill a larger hopper with feed that automatically drains down into a central feeding tray. As the hens eat more of the feed, the extra food in the hopper filters down and keeps their tray full.
Building a functional chicken coop does not have to be difficult, if you are able to find the right chicken coop designs. Start enjoying fresh, healthy eggs every day with your new chicken coop!
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