A chicken coop house is not an elaborate structure that requires specialized carpentry skills or thousands of dollars of materials. They do however require some planning and proper materials to suit the job. A good, simple, cheap pen can be built with just a little lumber and some wire. However, the better you build the pen, the fewer problems you will have down the road. Here are some considerations concerning materials.

Your biggest concern in building the chicken coop house is protection from predators. All materials used in the pen’s construction should be selected with this in mind. Many predators are crafty and tenacious creatures that can defeat a poorly constructed pen quite easily.

Lumber

Depending on the type of pen you wish to build, you will need lumber for the posts, walls of the coop, roof and flooring. Other materials can be substituted for all these uses but old fashioned wood is usually your cheapest and best bet.

To make sure your chicken coop house stands the test of time, make sure that the lumber is treated against the effects of the weather. Marine plywood makes an excellent material for the walls of the coop as well as the floor. A floor of course is not absolutely necessary but will add protection against both predators and rodents and make the coop easier to clean, preventing disease.

Posts are a fairly simple concept. Just make sure they are long enough to sink them well into the ground so they are sturdy.

Fencing

One would think that any old fencing material that keeps a chicken in and the fox out would do the job. To a certain extend you are correct. However, chicken wire is designed with a purpose in mind. It’s lightweight and sturdy and its mesh is small enough that a predator such as a raccoon can’t just reach in and grab a hen. Chicken wire is usually the cheapest option anyway so there’s no need to look for an alternative here.

Hardware

For hardware, a selection of roofing nails, u nails, hinges for the doors and a few screws will do the job. There’s really no specialized type of chicken coop hardware so just use what you would use on any other outdoor job. Just make sure you use it well. Predators will often tear a shabbily connected section of wire right off the posts and wreak havoc on your flock. Use a few extra nails when building to make sure this maddening event doesn’t happen on your watch.

That’s it. Now just put it all together and stock your chicken coop house with chickens. If you need more help, I recommend you check out “Building A Chicken Coop” for expert advice.

Originally posted 2010-03-22 15:10:06. Republished by Blog Post Promoter