It’s a satisfying experience, constructing a chicken house for your brand-new hens. If you are acquiring poultry for the pleasure of having fresh organic eggs every day and access to poultry meat, then constructing a DIY chicken coop can be a smart idea.
By building it yourself, not only will you have a more gratifying experience of building it yourself, but you will save yourself a ton of money as well than you would have spent on hiring out a professional builder.
Here are a few things that you are going to need to have on hand if you want to successfully build a coop:
- You need framing lumber to build the skeleton of the chicken coop for your hens. This is typically built with 2X3´s and 2X4´s, but for larger scale projects, you might need 2X6´s and 2X8´s. Setting in your support posts might call for 4X4´s.
- Plywood is needed for constructing of floors, walls, and sheathing roofs. Sheet lumber such as plywood is typically what is used. You can also get away with oriented strand board, and T1-11 paneling boards. There are different sizes of thickness that are available.
- You will need both nails and screws for your chicken coop. You will have times where a nail will not do a screws job, and vice versa, there will be times when a screw will not work as effectively as a nail would. Use strong nail fasteners that will make for a strong coop that can handle bad weather conditions. If your roof has shingles, you will need roofing nails as well.
- You are going to need roofing shingles to protect your finished roof, just like you would use on a home. You can also get by with roofing panels that are made out of fiberglass and metal.
- Wire mesh will be needed to wrap around the chicken coop as well and cover any windows, holes, or vents. Use this wire mesh to make your hens safe from outside animals that may try to get inside.
- Use strong U-shaped fencing staples to hold together the wire mesh.
Along with these materials, you need to have a plan for what your chicken coop will look like. You should account for the spacing and how big it needs to be, as well as knowing where you will place lighting inside of the coop. Chickens like to perch, so you need perching stations, and nesting boxes as well for chickens to lay eggs in. Above all, make sure your coop is free of any structural weaknesses, to ensure the safety of your chickens.
It can be easy to start learning how to build a chicken coop, you just need to have the required materials and a strong foundation on how you will build your coop. You will have healthy, happy hens that are in a safe place for many years to come by developing a chicken coop for them to stay in.
