Chicken Coop Plans

With urban farming fast becoming one of the most popular new hobbies in the U.S., more and more people are looking into expanding their backyard farms by keeping chickens. Having your own flock of chickens, even if it's just two or three birds, means fresh eggs for your table every day, and high-quality fertilizer for your garden. But, before you can buy the birds, you must have a place for them to roost, nest (lay their eggs), and get fresh air and sunshine in a place that's safe from predators. You must get a hen house, or chicken coop.

While buying a chicken coop is probably the easiest option, it can be a financial burden for many people. Even if you do find a less expensive coop for sale online, you risk it being too small for your flock, poorly built, or, in many cases, arriving in pieces you have to assemble any way. This last is especially galling, as it means you just spent a lot of money on materials and still have to do the construction work yourself!

The most economical solution is, of course, to buy the materials and build it yourself. It is also a very satisfying experience, and you can customize the coop any way you like. You can buy materials at any hardware store, and you probably already have the basic tools you need to build it in your toolbox (and if not, a basic set of tools is not too expensive, and is a handy thing to have around anyway).

Perhaps the most important purchase you'll make when preparing to build your own coop is a solid set of chicken coop plans. While a very experienced carpenter may be able to draft blueprints and create her own coop, you still need to take into consideration the needs of your flock, and unless you have direct experience building chicken coops, you risk forgetting a vital component or making the coop too small without expert guidance.

You can find many websites that will offer to sell you chicken coop plans, and a few that will provide them for free. Beware the ones that are free – you usually get what you pay for, and free plans may not have the expertise to back them up, or may even download a virus onto your computer. You should buy your plans from a reputable source only.

One site that provides not only multiple sets of plans but tons of expert advice on planning and building your own coop, is http://www.buildingachickencoop.com. The plans in their guide require only the most basic tools (so you're unlikely to have to buy new ones), but they include easy-to-follow, step-by-step plans, with full-color diagrams and illustrations. You can download the plans as many times as you like (so if your plans get dirty as you're working, or if you need another copy for people who are helping you, you don't have to buy them all over again).

Not only does http://www.buildingachickencoop.com provide plans, but they offer essential guidance in the planning process. They list six things you must consider before starting, tips on picking the best spot in your yard (to avoid major landscaping), tips on buying materials, and even plans for a chicken coop that will automatically collect the eggs for you. They lay out the tasks you'll need perform on a regular basis to keep your coop clean and your chickens healthy and producing eggs, how to breed your chickens to make a self-sustaining flock, and even provide a list of foods to avoid feeding your chickens!

Currently, http://www.buildingachickencoop.com is offering four additional free downloads in addition to their amazing original guide. With these downloads, you'll also learn the cheapest materials to build your coop out of, how to choose the best materials for the ground you're building on, how to build nesting boxes for free out of common household materials, and how best to position your chicken coop for maximum results. It is all available to download in .pdf format, and it comes with a 60-day, money-back guarantee!

You don't get much more reputable, or more useful, than http://www.buildingachickencoop.com when it comes to building your own chicken coop. With their clear instructions and essential guidance, you'll soon have the satisfaction of having just built the hen house of your dreams with your own two hands!