I am planning my flock of chickens. Only 4 chickens. Since I have already chose the breeds I would like to get, its time to choose what kind of coop they will live in. There are many many different kinds of coops available on the market. I looked around and it looks like I could buy a coop for 4 chickens for close to $300. The real expense is the shipping. Since these coops are quite heavy, shipping costs a lot of money.
There are also many different ideas floating around for DIY coops. I was first considering finding some sort of free structure and modifying it to be a chicken coop. Although that sounds like a cheap option, as I was looking around, I realized that there are not a plethora of free structures that I could turn into a chicken coop.
I finally decided that I will have to build my own coop (with lots of help from Husband). I want a chicken coop that won't take too much time or money to build. The point of chickens is not to spend a lot of money on them but rather to have pets that produce good food for my family. As I was looking at coops, the idea of a chicken tractor kept catching my eye. A chicken tractor is a basically a chicken coop and run that can be moved around the yard.
The benefits of moving your chickens around the yard is that they will be able to fertilize a different section of yard every day so they will not kill the grass and they will be able to find bugs and grass rather than living on a piece of bare earth. I would love for our chickens to be able to free range but for safety, they will probably need to be locked up when we aren't home.
The coop design that I have found that seems to fit all of our restrictions is an a-frame coop. This coop has the coop area with nesting boxes and roosts above and an enclosed run below. It is light weight so that it can be moved around a yard. Here are two different plans I have found for an a-frame coop! The unpainted wood coop seems to be a little bit less complex and therefore cheaper. The green coop is a bit more complex and also, designed in the metric system. I'll keep you updated on what I end up building. Any ideas for the color?
Linked at frugallysustainable.com
There are also many different ideas floating around for DIY coops. I was first considering finding some sort of free structure and modifying it to be a chicken coop. Although that sounds like a cheap option, as I was looking around, I realized that there are not a plethora of free structures that I could turn into a chicken coop.
I finally decided that I will have to build my own coop (with lots of help from Husband). I want a chicken coop that won't take too much time or money to build. The point of chickens is not to spend a lot of money on them but rather to have pets that produce good food for my family. As I was looking at coops, the idea of a chicken tractor kept catching my eye. A chicken tractor is a basically a chicken coop and run that can be moved around the yard.
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| http://ana-white.com/2012/05/plans/frame-chicken-coop |
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| http://au.lifestyle.yahoo.com/better-homes-gardens/diy/articles/a/-/5829854/chicken-coop/ |
Linked at frugallysustainable.com
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