Hello all, Id like to build a small coop for about 3 to 5 hens and am wondering if anyone knows of any good links to a DIY website or if anyone has any good tips that they might share? Thanks in advance!
Building a small chicken pen and I need suggestions.
- Thread starter MahoganyEclipse
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3-5 chickens dont require much space a 10ft. area would be more then enough space. throw up a good sturdy frame, wrap the sides in chicken wire also the roof. varments like to dig under the fencing to get to the chickens iv'e seen this fixed a couple different ways one was built on a concrete pad the other just had a footer poured in the ground around the perimeter so it couldnt be dug under . iv'e also seen people lay chicken wire on the floor to then covering it up with dirt this can still be chewed through by hungry fox or wiesels. also attached to the side of the chicken area should be a small building or coop with a chicken size access door from the pen to the coop this is were you will hang small boxes around 1ft. x 1ft. on the wall off the ground for laying in /laying eggs, milk crates also work great for this just take a saw and cut the front halfway down so they dont have a problem getting in or out of them, another thing is take some small straight sticks like tobacco sticks or old broom handles and run them through the fencing across the corners so your birds have a place to roost off the ground they like that . you can get a water and food pan at any tractor supply or southern states 1 of each will be plenty for 5 birds you can also aquire bags of laying mash here! which is chicken food for laying chickens i prefer the pellets also comes in a granual form or crumb. if your in the country or even semi rural area once your chickens are use to being there and they know thats were the food is u can let them roam the yard freely and they will not run off . they also eat anything so to save a little cash give them all your table scraps and left overs they will eat them. oh and keep a bail of straw on hand for the nesting boxes just line them with a little straw so the eggs wont get broken or crushed on the hard box floor . once they start laying eggs check for them every 1-2 days eggs keep a while as long as the shell is intact so if u miss a checking they should keep fine and remember always crack a farm egg into a bowl or cup before you put it into what you are preparing just to make sure it isnt a bad egg you will know from discoloration and smell. cleaning of the pen can be done once a week or once a month 5 birds wont do much damage and you can take whatever you rake out of the cage and put it into a compost or straight onto your garden area to be tilled in as fertilizer for the next growing season. well thats about all i can think of hope this helps you out.
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I like the milk crates idea, it'll be easier to move when needed. How tall does a pen have to be for chickens or does that matter? The pen isnt going to be that large on account that it'll need to be moved around a bit.
4-5 ft tall is fine
oky doky. I dont suppose you have any schematics for a coop, do you? I'd get my dad to help me but hes going to be out of state for the next month because of work.
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This summer I built my wife a coop and a pen for 14 hens. The coop is attached to the side corner of our barn and is 4'W x 8' L and 4' high with a shed roof. I cut a 1' sq window in each end for ventilation and a door on the long side. Inside I added a roost, nest boxes, hanging waterer and a hanging feeder. Both are good for 2 - 4 days between fillings.
The pen is 16' x 16' and I used 8' posts set 2- 1/2' in the ground and 8' apart with 6' tall chicken wire. I added 2'x4's at the top of the post and along the bottom to staple the wire to. The bottom of the wire is also buried 6 inches in the ground to prevent critters from digging under. To keep hawks and owls from flying in to the pen I strung strands of wire across the top between the posts. The pen is next to the garden so all wastes from the garden go in to the pen, and the waste from the coop goes back in to the garden. We have coyotes around it all the time and so far we haven't had any loses. It works for us.
The pen is 16' x 16' and I used 8' posts set 2- 1/2' in the ground and 8' apart with 6' tall chicken wire. I added 2'x4's at the top of the post and along the bottom to staple the wire to. The bottom of the wire is also buried 6 inches in the ground to prevent critters from digging under. To keep hawks and owls from flying in to the pen I strung strands of wire across the top between the posts. The pen is next to the garden so all wastes from the garden go in to the pen, and the waste from the coop goes back in to the garden. We have coyotes around it all the time and so far we haven't had any loses. It works for us.
Thanks for the excellent descriptions, guys! Ill definitely be checking out those youtube videos (Didnt even think of looking there).
hows it going with the coop and chickens?
