Poultry House Plans: Best Protection from Hazardous Elements

A good poultry house can protect the chickens from hazardous elements such as the weather, predators, and injury.

Here’s how to do it:

Protection from Weather

A dry, draft-free house is needed in poultry. This can be done by building a relatively draft-free poultry house with windows and doors which can be opened for ventilation when necessary. Build the chicken house on high, well-drained areas. Through this poultry plan, prolonged dampness and water saturation of the floor inside the coop and in the runs outside can be prevented. Let the front of the coop, the windows, and the outside run face to the south as well. This allows the sun to consistently warm and dry the coop. To keep the humidity level in the coop to a minimum, allow an adequate level of space per bird too.

Protection from Predators

The best way to protect the chickens from predators is to keep the poultry house totally confined with fence and covered runs. When planning a poultry house, consider laying a concrete floor, and secure the wall with one or two concrete blocks. This prevents predators from digging under the walls and the floors. When the coop is opened, windows and doors must be securely covered with heavy-gauge mesh wire or screening.

With outside runs, bury the wire into the ground along the pen border with 12 inches depth and toe the fence outward about 6 inches. Through this way, it will help stop most predators from digging under the fence. By toeing the fence outward and burying it, the predator will dig down right into more fencing.

To discourage predators, some people run electric fencing around the outside of their pens 4 inches off the ground and about one foot from the main fence. If your outside runs are not predator-proof, you must lock up your poultry before dark. A 3-4 feet grid over the pen made of boiling twine will give the best protection from any flying predators.

Protection from Injury

Plan your poultry house to prevent any possible injury to your chickens. Take out any loose or ragged wire, nails, or other sharp-edged objects from the coop. Eliminate all the areas other than perches, where the chickens could perch more than 4 feet above the floor. Get rid of any perching areas such as window sills, nest box tops, or electric cords whenever possible. These measures could prevent any injury to you or your chickens and may prevent damage to the house, as well.

In planning your poultry house, make sure, you don’t neglect the details on the best way to protect your chickens because it is a very important matter in the business of raising chickens.

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