My Inexpensive Chicken Coop

           We raise chickens which provide us with food in the form of eggs and chicken meat.  The hens lay the eggs which can range in color from white to brown and other pale colors depending on the breed. It is not necessary to have a rooster in order for the hens to lay eggs, but you do need a rooster if you want chicks to hatch from the fertilized eggs.

 

 We allow our chickens to roam freely during the day, so that they can have a varied diet. Chickens are omnivores and will feed on small seeds, plant leaves, grubs and insects.

During the night the chickens will need a safe place to sleep because chickens have lots of predators such as skunks, owls, raccoons, hawks, snakes, opossums, bobcats and foxes. A chicken coop is a safe place for chickens to sleep and lay their eggs. A chicken coop is usually a fenced in area that has nesting boxes for hens to lay their eggs and perches for chickens to sleep on top of during the night.

 

When building a chicken coop you must keep in mind that chickens need access to fresh air, a safe and dark place to lay their eggs, and a clean environment so that they can grow healthy. You need not spend lots of money to build a chicken coop. We reused, recycled and repurposed a lot of building materials to build our inexpensive chicken coop.Top of Form

 

 

 

 Our chicken coop is not completely new; we did a remodel on it. It is the same size as it was before 28 feet by 14 feet. What is different about the coop is that we divided the coop into two separate areas divided by a screen door. On one side of the coop, the chickens have a small door that I can open and they can come and go as they deem necessary. The other side of the chicken coop has no direct door that leads to the outside, they do however have access to a screen door that separates the two halves which I can open if  I so choose to let them wander into the side of the chicken coop which does contain the small door which leads to the outdoors. The reason I did this is because at times we have new hens or hens with newly hatched chicks that need to stick close to the chicken coop for their safety and do not need to be roaming the barnyard or pastures at that given time. This second part of the chicken coop lets me have control over those who need to stay in the coop, while letting those who can roam freely able to come and go as they choose.

 

Another difference with our new chicken coop is that now I can more easily collect the chicken eggs. Before when I wanted to collect the chicken eggs I had to enter the chicken coop and go to the nesting boxes to get the eggs. Now, I collect the eggs without having to enter the chicken coop; I have direct access to the nesting boxes from outside of the coop.

 

 

The last difference with our remodeled chicken coop is that I can easily rake up the chicken manure to add to my compost pile for use in the garden. The bottom of the nesting box area is lined with durable screening which allows for the chickens to easily walk inside the nest box area, but allows for the chicken manure to fall down below. There is ample room below the nesting boxes for me to use a garden rake to gather up the fallen manure for use in the garden.

 

 

“The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it.”- unknown