Poultry Runs Design Tips
Building poultry runs must start with the birds. There is nothing like a wet hen - when they are damp they act really, really annoyed. They are also susceptible to disease, so putting a roof over their heads is critically important. Poultry like safe, enclosed nesting areas and they will gravitate to a dark corner if they don't have a satisfactory nest. From the roof down, everything should be dictated by the need to keep your chickens well watered and fed as well as reasonably clean.
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Once you've addressed the needs of your poultry runs, then you can begin to add elements that make your life easier. The following are worth considering:
- Automatic watering. All year around, your poultrys need accessto fresh water. At the very least, use a big water container that holds a gallon of water. Try to locate near a water spigot.
- Electricity. To brood chicks or provide enough light to trick your hens into laying eggs all year around, electricity is necessary.
- Automatic food. Use a dispenser that triggers food each day in a specific allotment. You can find models that hang on the wall of the hen house. Additional dispensers for grit or oyster shell are useful too. At least this way you can leave for a weekend without coming home to starving chickens. Hanging feeders tend to be less messy with less waste.
- Safety. The coop needs to be completely enclosed with wire netting to prevent predatory birds from making off with young chickens, wild birds from spreading disease, and furry predators and rodents from eating your feed to say nothing of
marauding dogs and cats. Bury the chicken wire around the perimeter of the coop to discourage tunneling rodents if they're a problem. - Protection from sun and wind. During the summer, your birds need a part of the coop shaded so they can get out of the sun. A windbreak protects them from storms and wind.
- Food storage. Even if you don't come up with a brilliant solution for feeding your birds automatically, storing the food close by is helpful. Bins or metal garbage cans with tight lids can be stored close to or in your hen house.
- Straw. A bale or two of straw should be stored near the poultry runs so you can easily spread fresh straw in nesting boxes.
- Tools. Depending on how you build your poultry runs and hen house, you'll need a rake or broom nearby for raking up the old straw and sweeping out the hen house.
Free range?
Letting your hens run free instead of containing them in a coops or poultry runs is a wonderful thing if your yard is fenced. They'll eat weeds and leave fertilizer as they work. Disease spread by wild birds mingling with your hens is a possibility.
Also, let them out of the coop or henhouse after they've laid their eggs. Otherwise, you'll find eggs all over the garden.
Dimensions
Your poultry runs and coops benefit from being tall enough for you to open a door and walk into it. Though your hens don't care - they can literally live year around in a chicken tractor - you will find that accommodating yourself makes it much easier to maintain your birds. The run should have at least 4 square feet per bird, so if you have four birds, you'll need a coop that is at least 4'x4'. Some folks say you can get by with less space (about 3 square feet), but if you have it, flaunt it.
The size of the poultry runs, which contains the nests and roosts, needs to accommodate the number of birds you have (or aspire to) and be large enough for you to walk into and turn around. It could easily be smaller though, as long as you can get into it to clean and collect eggs. Hinging the roof so it lifts up or has exterior doors into the nests is a perfectly satisfactory approach.
Windows are good, especially if they open. They should be screened to provide ventilation. Cross ventilation is important so include vents on the wall opposite the window.
Once the minimum size has been met which works for the birds, the rest is gravy. Doors of some sort are good: some people like solid, others prefer screen doors. Your climate will determine the type. Add two at different points to make access easier, especially if your design is on the small side. Include a chicken door that opens to a ramp so the chickens can easily access the coop.
Materials
You can buy brand new materials for your hen house and coop to make it the Taj Ma hal among chicken runs or build it from scrap. The birds don't care, so suit your own aesthetic predisposition. Many great architects and builders started with poultry runs, so test your design and construction skills. A well-designed and maintained poultry run is a credit to its owner.
Two by fours and chicken wire are the customary materials, though other wire is fine as long as your birds can't get out and other critters can't get in.
Build the house on concrete blocks and use solid wood flooring to prevent rats and snakes from getting in.
Consider ease of cleaning when you select materials, since you'll need to wash the hen house down annually (preferably during your dry season).
If your climate is very cold, insulation will make the long winter less taxing on your girls.
Here are some great Poultry Runs Design Plans if you need some help on the way!