A summer cottage or a house in a village is not only a break from the bustle of the city, but also an opportunity to provide a family with natural vegetables and fruits. Recently, there has been a tendency among summer residents to master the next step in farming – animal husbandry, so that there is always fresh meat and dairy products on the table. For beginners, the easiest way to start is by breeding chickens – this is not as troublesome as it might seem at first glance, it can provide a family with chicken meat and fresh eggs almost all year round. And even if you visit the country house only in the summer season, it is possible to keep chickens from spring to autumn, as many villagers do.
Where to start?
In order for chickens to be healthy and rush well, they need to provide comfortable conditions for keeping. The main of these conditions is the proper arrangement of the chicken coop. Whether it will be a newly erected building or a shed already on the site is not important at all, the main thing is to create a suitable microclimate inside, equip the space with everything necessary for the comfortable life of poultry. It is quite possible to do it yourself, without the involvement of masters from outside. It is probably not a secret for anyone that nests, perches and feeders must be present in the chicken coop. But this is far from the most important thing in arranging a bird house. The growth, well-being and egg production of chickens are greatly influenced by air temperature, humidity levels, ventilation and, of course, lighting.
If you decide to use an old barn by simply hanging a lamp and a feeder, don’t be surprised if the chickens get sick and don’t lay well. Neither elite feed nor the advertised breed of chickens will help here. It is worth spending not so much time and effort on landscaping in order to get the maximum return as a result. It is worth considering in order all the subtleties of the proper arrangement of the chicken coop.
Features of the layout
As with planning any structure, the first step is to calculate the space and draw up a detailed plan. This will save time and labor costs, as well as avoid mistakes that are usually detected already at the stage of settling livestock. A chicken coop can be built from any materials at hand, whether it is a wooden beam, brick or cinder blocks. Wooden structures are the simplest and do not require additional costs. The frame is sheathed with sheets of chipboard, fiberboard or from any boards that are available. If there are already outbuildings on the site, one of them can be allocated as a poultry house.
Whichever option is chosen, when planning, you should calculate the required area and space for walking. The volumes will depend on the estimated number of birds, because the larger the livestock, the more space will be required for comfortable life. Optimal dimensions are considered to be 3 square meters. m for 2-3 chickens. With austerity of space, these figures can be reduced to 1 sq. m, but it should be borne in mind that tightness adversely affects the fertility of laying hens. The dimensions of the aviary for walking, respectively, should be many times larger. And this is justified, since chickens need outdoor activity:
- laying hens should not gain weight while locked up, otherwise they will stop laying;
- meat chickens gain muscle mass only during movement and loads, that is, what they are intended for.
Lighting and ventilation
After choosing or building a room, you can proceed to the internal work on arranging the house. Light day and free air circulation are necessary for all living organisms for a full life. Therefore, even at the stage of building development, one should consider a place for a window opening (at least one) and ventilation outlets. Typically, a chicken coop window is cut into the wall at a ratio of 1:10. This will be enough for the flow of daylight.
For a comfortable stay of birds, additional lighting is required, which consists of several light bulbs. The number of light outlets depends on the size of the coop and includes lighting above the feeders and perch. This is especially true in the winter, when chickens can receive additional heat from lamps. For these purposes, red glow lamps are installed – they heat the space clearly below them, which allows the birds to be under such a mini-heater. But in the area of uXNUMXbuXNUMXbnestings, it is not necessary to plan additional lighting, since the bird prefers to rush in the twilight, in a calm environment, away from noisy companions at the feeder.
Ventilation is necessary for any building for normal air exchange, exclusion of dampness and musty smell. This is especially true of premises where food is stored or animals are kept. Airing does not give a stable result, and in winter it is completely excluded. Therefore, even at the stage of equipping the chicken coop, you need to take care of creating ventilation holes. For small rooms designed for a dozen birds, you can limit yourself to the simplest supply and exhaust system. Air ducts are made of two ordinary plastic pipes, one of which is installed under the ceiling for exhaust, and the other is lowered to the floor by 20 cm to force fresh air into the chicken coop. To keep a large number of birds in large rooms, forced ventilation is used, which is able to circulate oxygen throughout all parts of the chicken coop.
Wall and floor decoration
The walls and roof of the house must protect the inhabitants from rain and drafts. During the construction of a new structure, these details are prepared in advance, and inexpensive, but high-quality material is purchased for wall cladding and roofing. If an existing barn is used for the chicken coop, make sure that the roof does not leak, and the walls are strong enough and do not form cracks. An ordinary shed made of simple boards can be sheathed from the inside with plywood sheets or old wooden clapboard. For winter chicken coops, heat-insulating material must be laid under the skin. These can be artificial fillers or natural mixtures of clay and straw.
Remember that facing materials that birds can reach must be natural. Protruding pieces of polystyrene foam, hardened polyurethane foam or any other artificial fillers are excluded in the chicken coop room. Birds are able to peck indiscriminately on any surface, which can lead to poisoning and death. After completion of the arrangement, the walls of the chicken coop must be covered with a layer of lime. Lime mortar reduces the risk of the spread of pathogenic bacteria, the reproduction of parasites that torment birds, and also ensures the durability of the wood.
The arrangement of the floor in the poultry house takes place in two stages and deserves special attention, since it must be warm.
- The main floor is made of concrete or wood. In the first case, hydro- and heat-insulating material is laid under the concrete screed. If the floor is planned to be wooden, then first the subfloor is lined with any substandard boards, a layer of gravel or sand is poured for insulation. The finished floor (the flooring itself) should be made of smooth edged boards. They should be painted, which will extend the service life, as well as protect against insects. Be wary of advice to cover the floor of the house with old linoleum. If the material is of a non-industrial category, it will quickly crumble under the blows of the beak, which means that the pieces will fall into the esophagus of the birds.
- The second stage of arranging the floor is a warm bedding, which is changed as it gets dirty. The main floor, like the walls, is covered with lime for disinfection, followed by a five-centimeter layer of sawdust or sand. In winter, peat is added to such a litter, due to which it becomes thicker and warmer. Some farms use straw instead of sawdust and sand, but such bedding gets wet quickly and requires frequent replacement.
How to install nests and perches?
After completion of all work on finishing the building, they begin to equip the internal space. For chickens, this home space is made up of perches, where the bird spends most of its time, as well as nests where it lays eggs. The perch is a horizontal pole located at least 50 cm from the floor, on which the chickens sit in a row, clasping it with their paws. For the convenience of laying hens, the pole should be of a certain thickness – about 5 cm in diameter. The bird cannot wrap around a thicker pole, and on a thinner hen it will not be able to sit steadily. Especially when you consider that birds sleep on perches. In addition, thin poles will sag under the weight of several birds.
The length of the pole is calculated by the number of individuals. There should be at least 25–30 cm of free space for each chicken. The pole is made from a wooden beam, having previously rounded it and sanded it so that there are no knots and burrs. Perches are located with a step from each other at a distance of 35 cm, they can go with a towering gentle ladder. The last pole to the wall should not be closer than 25 cm.
When installing nests, you should choose the most secluded place in the chicken coop, where less light enters, and where the bird will feel privacy and comfort. Wooden boxes with low front partitions are placed at the same height as the perches. The nest should fit the bird in size and perform the only function – laying eggs.
The following sizes are considered optimal:
- width and height – 30 cm;
- depth – 40 cm.
Chickens are unpretentious in terms of nests, therefore, for lack of material, plastic buckets turned on their side, basins, baskets or boxes can be used. But it is better that each “house” has walls and a roof. Bedding made of hay or sawdust must be laid out in the nests. To make it easy for the bird to climb to a height, a narrow lifting ladder is installed – a board with nailed transverse steps.
How to equip drinkers and feeders?
The main task in equipping a place for feeding is to make sure that the bird does not scoop food out of containers, does not turn over drinkers and feeders, and does not climb into them. If you put an ordinary bowl, as for other animals, the chickens will fight for a place to access it, and the contents themselves will quickly be spoiled with garbage and droppings. To avoid this and streamline the feeding process, feeders and drinkers are made of a closed type with a dosed supply of contents. Feeding equipment can be purchased at the store or made with your own hands from improvised materials. The simplest options are gutters with holes. You can use plastic plumbing pipes – cut cuts in them that are suitable in diameter, and install “knees” along the edges into which you can pour water or pour food.
A mesh metal divider is placed on open feeders so that the bird can reach the feed with its beak, but not fall into the container. For stability, the equipment is attached to the wall, and in size it must be in accordance with the number of pets, otherwise fights cannot be avoided. Drinkers are made from inverted plastic bottles, but in this case you will have to make an effort and skill. It is much easier to purchase a store-bought version with a dispenser.
Arrangement of a paddock for walking chickens
Another important aspect of arranging a comfortable chicken coop is an aviary for walking a bird. As noted above, chickens need physical activity and fresh air. For laying hens – this is a guarantee of good egg production, and for broilers – building up the meat layer. Walking birds in an unfenced area is dangerous, they will peck and trample on plantings, and there is also a risk of attack by other animals and birds of prey. As a rule, the size of the enclosure consists of 3 square meters. m per bird, and its height must be at least 2 m so that the chicken cannot fly over it. Pillars are driven in along the perimeter, and the space is fenced off with a fine metal mesh. If birds of prey are found in your area, be sure to stretch the net on top of the aviary.
Useful Tips
Every farmer has his own little tricks for raising chickens, and some interesting farming ideas can be found on the livestock forums.
- Chickens need to sleep in complete darkness for a good rest. But there is a problem with a sharp turn off of the light, since the layers do not see in the dark and will not be able to settle on the perches in time. For gradual dimming, a phased power outage is used. The easiest way to purchase a dimmer for this purpose is an electronic device for adjusting the brightness of light.
- At the stage of equipping the walls, a small hole-manhole can be made from the bottom of the chicken coop door. Through it, it will be convenient for the bird to go out into the yard, and for you to clean up the dirty bedding, raking sewage to the exit to the street. The size of the hole should correspond to the size of the largest individual in the chicken coop.
- From parasites on the bird – ticks, fleas, lice – there are various preparations, but it is easier to install a spacious container with wood ash on the territory of the poultry house. In it, the birds will be happy to “swim” and clean their feathers, thereby freeing themselves from uninvited guests.
For information on how to properly equip a chicken coop with your own hands, see the next video.
