Tom Sutherland - Chicken Coops: The Essential Chicken Coops Beginners Guide: An Easy Step By Step Guide With Creative Ideas To Plan And Build Your First Chicken Coop

Chicken Coops: The Essential Chicken Coops Beginners Guide

An Easy Step By Step Guide With Creative Ideas To Plan And Build Your First Chicken Coop

Table Of Contents

Introduction

I want to thank you and congratulate you for downloading the book, Chicken Coops: The Essential Chicken Coops Beginners Guide: An Easy Step By Step Guide With Creative Ideas To Plan And Build Your First Chicken Coop.

This book contains proven steps and strategies on how to build your own chicken coop.

This book will guide you through everything you need to know about coop building and a bit about raising chickens. Read this book today and build your very first coop successfully.

Raising chickens in your own backyard is both an enjoyable and a profitable endeavor. You raise chickens in a 100% organic way so you get the freshest eggs and the healthiest meat possible. Not only that, the sweet satisfaction and sense of accomplishment you get as you start harvesting eggs are truly priceless.

Get started on this very rewarding task today with this book.

Thanks again for downloading this book, I hope you enjoy it!

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Chapter 1 :What Are Chicken Coops And Why Do You Have To Use Them?

Chicken coops are enclosures to keep your chickens from running to places where you would not want them to be. It keeps them safe from predators like wolves, foxes and even your beloved pet dog (or the neighbors dog for that matter).

Hen house is another name for chicken coop. It is a building (large or small) designed to keep chickens, especially egg-laying hens. There are nest boxes inside where hens lay their eggs and sit on them.

Perches are present for the cluckers to use when they go to sleep. Hen houses or chicken coops may also house meat chickens or chickens raised for their meat and not for egg-laying purposes.

An indoor and an outdoor area are usually seen in a chicken coop. The indoor area serves as a place for the chickens to sleep and to lay their eggs.

The indoor area should have locks to protect the chickens from predators while they sleep at night. It should also have litter, like in a cat litter box, to collect the feces. The litter should be turned every day. Cleaning the coop should be every 2-3 weeks.

The outdoor area serves as a place where chickens eat and perform other chicken activities. This is where they scratch the ground for grubs, insects, seeds and other chicken treats.

Purposes of a chicken coop

The main purpose of a coop is to be a safe, protected place for hens to lay their eggs. These need to be protected from predators and bad weather to preserve good health and quality.

Hens and their eggs are very vulnerable to predators. There are snakes and small mammals, as well as birds of prey that include eggs in their diets. Larger predators like dogs, wolves and snakes can go after the chicken. The coop serves to keep chickens and eggs safe, especially at night when these predators usually come out to hunt.

Shelter

Protection against harsh weather is another purpose for building the chicken coop. Chickens are hardy type but their health declines when exposed to harsh elements. They may not die immediately but the quality of their eggs and meat decline.

Coop should be able to keep them from the damaging heat, wind, rain and cold. Chickens especially dislike heat.

Healthy environment

Keep temperatures within the coop ideal or at least comfortable for the chooks. Make sure that the coop has good ventilation. Window positioning is very important to prevent overheating. Ventilation also prevents bugs, viruses and infections like infectious bronchitis from affecting the entire coop. Avoid heat buildup in the coop because heat promotes moisture. Infectious microorganisms thrive in moist environments and cause sickness in your chickens.

Protect from cold

Cold, rainy and windy conditions are not good for your chickens, too. Good ventilation is desirable but not a lot of wind inside the coop. This can also lead to cold and bronchitis in your chicken.

Create insulation between the walls if your area experiences very cold temperatures. For winter hardy breeds, supplemental insulation or heat is not needed. If your area is within US Hardiness Zone of 3 and above, supplemental heat and insulation are also not necessary.

Benefits of raising chickens

Why should you go through all the trouble of building a coop and raise your own chickens? When you want to eat eggs, theres always the supermarket.

Well, first off, most eggs in the market are not from chickens raised in the best, healthiest conditions. Most of the chickens are fed with artificial feeds and injected with tons of steroids, artificial hormones and antibiotics. All these junk get into the eggs and eventually into your plate.

By raising your own chickens, you are assured you have better quality, healthier and safer eggs (and chicken meat, if you wish) every time.

Happy chickens, more eggs

Again, most chickens raised for commercial purposes are often kept in confined areas. These poor creatures are not given the chance to spread their wings, scratch the ground and run around even for a short time. Instead, these cluckers stay in overcrowded pens all day.

In your own backyard, you can give them a little space to stretch their wings and walk a little. Yep, even if your space is small, yours is still much better than most factory-farms. Avoid raising more than your space can handle so you get happy chickens. Happy hens lay healthy eggs. Harvest is also more abundant if your chickens are happy and well-fed. In addition, your eggs will taste better, too.