Content
- 1 Arrangement of a chicken coop begins with space planning
- 2 We do the interior arrangement of the poultry house ourselves
- 2.1 What to make poultry house walls from
- 2.2 Poultry house floor arrangement
- 2.3 Correct placement of perches inside the house
- 2.4 Installing nests for chickens
- 2.5 Feeders and drinkers for chickens
- 2.6 Organizing a swimming area inside the poultry house
- 2.7 Mesh run for poultry near the chicken coop
- 2.8 Poultry house ventilation
- 2.9 Artificial and natural lighting of the poultry house
- 3 Results
Many summer residents and owners of private houses keep chickens on their farm. Keeping these unpretentious birds allows you to get fresh eggs and meat. To keep chickens, the owners build a small barn, and that’s it. But with this approach you will not achieve good results. If the arrangement of the chicken coop inside is poorly done, then even the most productive breed of chickens will not be able to achieve rapid growth and good egg production.
Arrangement of a chicken coop begins with space planning
No need to build barn at the dacha for chickens, if there are already outbuildings. Any room is suitable for a chicken coop, the main thing is that it must be properly equipped. The layout of the poultry house begins with determining the number of chickens. Allowed for 1 m2 free area to contain a maximum of 2-3 birds. And then, their number also depends on the breed, since individuals differ in size and habits. When equipping a poultry house, you must immediately decide at what time of year the chickens will be kept.For summer poultry rearing, an ordinary insulated barn. When keeping chickens year-round, the entire room is thermally insulated.
When planning the chicken coop space, allocate free space for walking. Chickens cannot live only in a barn, and they need to roam. The walk is made of metal mesh stretched over poles. Moreover, its area should be approximately 1.5 times larger than the barn itself. The height of the run is about 2 m. The top of the enclosure is covered with a net to prevent predators from getting to the chickens. It is advisable to cover part of the paddock with a roof. Here the chickens can hide from the sun and rain.
We do the interior arrangement of the poultry house ourselves
Now we will try to provide a detailed description, as well as a photo of the arrangement inside the chicken coop with our own hands, and we will start with the structure of the barn itself.
What to make poultry house walls from
They can build a barn for chickens from any material. You can use brick, blocks or stone, but such a heavy building will require a strip foundation. It’s simpler, cheaper and warmer to make the walls of the chicken coop made of wood. This chicken barn will be very light and can be installed on a columnar foundation.
To build a wooden chicken coop, a frame is knocked down from timber, after which it is sheathed with wooden clapboard, chipboard or plywood. If the poultry house is designed for year-round keeping of chickens, the walls must be insulated. Mineral wool, clay with straw or polystyrene foam are suitable as thermal insulation for a chicken coop.
Properly made chicken coop walls should have windows.Their size is calculated in relation to the floor approximately 1:10. It is important to carefully caulk all cracks around the window openings of the chicken coop to avoid drafts.
When the chicken coop is completely completed, the walls are treated with lime solution. This will ensure the safety of the wood, plus good disinfection.
Poultry house floor arrangement
It is the owner who decides what is right, what is best, and what to make the floor of the chicken coop from. The main thing is that it is warm. In general, if a chicken barn is built on a strip foundation, then the floor is usually made of earthen, clay or concrete, and do not forget to lay roofing felt waterproofing and thermal insulation under the top screed. At frame construction of a wooden chicken coop the floor is made from boards. To install such a covering, first a subfloor is knocked down from any board. For insulation, gravel is poured on top along the height of the logs. The finishing floor of the poultry house is laid from edged boards.
The floors made in the poultry house are not the end of the arrangement of this part of the barn. Now the chickens need to pour bedding. First, the floor of the chicken coop is lightly crushed with lime, and then sawdust or sand is poured on top in a 5 cm layer. You can use hay or straw for bedding for chickens, but they quickly get wet and require replacement every two days. In winter, peat is added to the bedding for insulation, as a result of which its thickness increases.
Even during the construction of the walls, it is advisable to equip the chicken coop near the floor with an opening hatch. Through this window it will be convenient to throw dirty litter out of the house.
Correct placement of perches inside the house
When arranging the inside of a poultry house, it is important to make comfortable perches, because chickens spend most of the day on them. Perches are made from timber with a cross-section of 4x7 or 5x6 cm. The perches should be comfortable for chickens. The bird will not be able to grasp poles that are too thick or thin with its paws, and this will cause its instability. Even thin perches can sag under the weight of chickens if they all pile on it at once.
When making chicken poles, the timber is processed with a plane to give it a rounded shape. Next, the workpieces are sanded with sandpaper. Finished perches should be smooth, without sharp protrusions or burrs.
When we arrange perches in a poultry house, we always choose their optimal location. The poles can be mounted horizontally or vertically in the form of a ladder, and the appearance of the structure has nothing to do with it. The first type of arrangement is considered the most convenient for chickens, but such a perch takes up a lot of space in the chicken coop. The second type of location is chosen for very small poultry houses. A vertical perch allows you to save space inside the chicken coop, but the birds experience discomfort on it.
Equipping perches in a poultry house requires correct determination of their length. About 30 cm of free space is allocated on the perches for each chicken. Next, the length of the perches is determined by the number of birds. The poles are fixed no closer than 50 cm from the floor. When placing a perch for chickens horizontally, the first pole is removed from the wall by 25 cm, the rest are attached in increments of 35 cm.
Installing nests for chickens
When installing nests, they try to choose a secluded, dark place without drafts inside the chicken coop.In order for the chicken to feel confident and calmly lay eggs, the structure must be stable. It is important that the nests are spacious. To do this, they are made 40 cm deep. The width and height of the nest is at least 30 cm. Bedding of straw or sawdust must be poured inside. You can use hay.
Chicken nests are usually made from wood. You can make them from boards or knock down a frame from timber, then cover it with plywood. Ready-made nests can be obtained from any container or box of the appropriate size. It is also worth providing a small ladder in the form of a ladder. It is installed at each nest so that the chicken can freely enter and exit.
As for quantity, one nest is usually enough for four laying hens. Although ideally, for example, for 20 hens it is advisable to provide 10 places for laying eggs.
Feeders and drinkers for chickens
Inside an equipped poultry house, it is also important to properly provide feeders and drinkers. Try to pay attention to the habits of chickens in the summer. Birds constantly dig in the ground in search of food. So it’s better to just sprinkle the grain on the floor. Chickens will even peck food from under the litter.
In winter, of course, a lot of food will be lost in the thick bedding, and over time it will begin to rot. During this period, the chicken barn should be equipped with feeders. You can buy them or make them yourself. Store-bought feeders with a mesh section on top have proven themselves to be excellent. The chicken crawls only with its head to the feed, and is not able to scoop it out. With their own hands, poultry farmers make chicken feeders from scrap materials. PVC sewer pipes with elbows are quite suitable for these purposes.They are fixed in several pieces one next to the wall. An example of such a feeder is shown in the photo.
When arranging the inside of a chicken coop with your own hands, it is important to provide drinking bowls. Typically, poultry farmers place an old saucepan or other similar container for chickens. You can do this, but you will have to change the water often. The disadvantage of such a drinking bowl is the ingress of droppings. The water quickly becomes polluted, after which it becomes unsuitable for drinking.
It is best to install store-bought drinking bowls or those made from plastic bottles inside the chicken coop. As with the feeder, the chicken's head only reaches the water. The likelihood of droppings getting inside the drinking bowl is minimal.
Organizing a swimming area inside the poultry house
When carrying out the internal arrangement of the chicken coop, you need to take into account that birds love to swim. While floundering in the dust, chickens clean their feathers. You can organize such baths inside the poultry house in winter. To do this, place a shallow trough or other empty container half filled with wood ash. Bathing is not just a bird's whim. The chicken's body is bitten by lice and other parasites. By wallowing in the ash, the bird cleans not only its feathers, but also gets rid of uninvited guests.
Mesh run for poultry near the chicken coop
Good walking is important not only for the chickens, but also for the owner himself. A bird walking around the yard will peck at everything growing in the garden. To make a simple fence, it is enough to drive 4-6 posts made of steel pipe near the chicken coop, after which the sides and top are covered with metal mesh. They install a run on the side of the entrance doors of the chicken coop. This is where the canopy is attached to provide shelter from the rain.
Poultry house ventilation
Ventilation is needed for air exchange inside the chicken coop.You can use regular ventilation, but in winter the house gets very cold through open doors. It is optimal to make a supply and exhaust system for a home chicken coop from two plastic pipes. The air ducts are discharged through the roof of the poultry house, as shown in the diagram. The exhaust pipe is mounted under the ceiling, leading it above the roof ridge. The supply air duct is lowered to the floor of the chicken coop, leaving a gap of 20–30 cm. The pipe protrudes above the roof of the poultry house a maximum of 40 cm.
Artificial and natural lighting of the poultry house
During the day, the chicken coop is illuminated by natural light through the windows. However, daylight hours laying hens not enough, and broilers, in general, eat even at night. Installing artificial lighting inside the poultry house will help ensure comfort for the chickens. Fluorescent lamps that produce a white glow are ideal for these purposes. In winter, you can additionally install powerful red lamps. They will help raise the air temperature inside the chicken coop to above zero.
The video tells about the internal arrangement of the poultry house:
Results
So, we looked at how to set up a chicken coop at home. If you follow these simple rules, you will be able to raise healthy chickens that will provide your family with fresh eggs.
