Chicken Runs and Coops

If you are thinking that you might like to have a few chickens on your place, then you need to start thinking about chicken runs and coops. Your birds are going to require somewhere they can get out of the weather, somewhere they can roost at night, a place to lay their eggs, and a place where they can get some exercise, and some sunshine.

Many people do not realize that when they are designing their chicken runs and coops they have to allow for plenty of sunlight if they want good egg production from their hens. When a hen is denied sunlight, like in the winter when the skies are overcast, and gray, they do not produce as many eggs. So when you are thinking about where to build your hen coops and runs on your property, look for a spot that provides them plenty of natural sunlight.

Inside your chicken huts and runs you are going to want to build laying boxes for your hens, and you are going to want to construct roosting poles for your chickens as well. Inside their hut is where they will go to be safe from predators, and to sleep at night. Chickens naturally try to get on the highest place they can to sleep. So make certain nothing is higher than your poles are.

Also while you are inside your chicken coops runs building nesting boxes there is a hint you should know. These birds must be standing up to have a bowel movement. If your nesting boxes are built like a set of shelves, open on the front, and just enough space for your bird to get in, but not be able to fully stand up in, your eggs that you gather will be cleaner. You do need to provide some hay, or straw for them to nest on to help prevent breakage.

Chicken runs and coops do not have to be fancy, or elaborate, just built with the safety of the birds in mind. These animals have few ways to fight off predators, so you are their protector. It is up to you to construct chicken coops and runs that are safe and secure for them. The best yards or runs have wire on top of them as well as wire on the sides.

If you have not been around very many places where there are chicken hutches and runs available to see, then you should go online and look for design plans on how to build chicken sheds and runs for your backyard. Many of these online sites will provide you with free blueprints to help you build your necessary components.

There are many different ways you can build your pens, but remember to build them in well drained areas. You do not want your birds cages to be known as the chickens ark and runs, so make sure they are not standing in water half of the year, an living in the dessert the rest of the time. Find them somewhere in between.