If you’re building a poultry house enclosure and are trying to stick with a firm budget, there are a variety of different things that you should keep in mind in order to have maximum success with this project.

Many chicken farmers spend far more money then they really have to trying to build their chicken coop and with a few simple adjustments they could have saved hundreds of dollars at least.

Here are the main points to know about building a poultry house enclosure on a budget.

Choose The Best Land Before Building

The first thing you should be doing before building a poultry house enclosure is taking a good look at the land you have available to build on. In most cases, you would be required to do some landscaping before building.

This is due to the fact that building a poultry house enclosure on ground that wasn’t firm and level would significantly decrease the stabilization, especially as time progressed, and that could in turn make it much more likely that rebuilding needs to take place.

If you choose to hire in help to do this landscaping, expect to pay big dollars because it can get quite pricey.

The second option is to just do it yourself, but even still, this will take time and could still cost you a small amount of money.

Therefore, the best option is to just survey the entire land you have available and locate the place where no landscaping will be necessary.  You may need to look hard for this, but once you find it you’ll be happy you did.

Add Properly Placed Windows That Allow For Ventilation

The second thing you should take into account to help save yourself money is making sure you place the windows properly in the chicken coop.  Windows are going to be the primary light source that the chickens have unless you plan to wire in electrical light – which is very expensive.

Also, windows will serve for ventilation purposes, which is another important aspect for helping your chickens maintain good health.  By making sure the windows are stationed well and also allow for ventilation, you essentially kill two birds with one stone – and save yourself money in the process.

Build A Smaller Sized Poultry House

Finally, the third way to save money while building a poultry enclosure is to choose to build a smaller size.  Obviously the smaller you build, the fewer building materials you will need, which is often where you incur the highest amount of costs.

Unless you’re planning on selling the eggs commercially, often two to three chickens will be plenty to give you more than enough eggs that you need each day, provided you are building the coop well.

There’s no need to build bigger unless you absolutely have to as this will not only increase your building costs from the start, but could also make them higher down the road as well with upkeep.

So be sure you keep these points in mind.  By taking the right measures you can certainly decrease your building costs and still go about building a chicken tractor that is sturdy and safe. ]]> http://www.chickentractor.org/building-a-poultry-enclosure-on-a-budget/feed 0 http://www.chickentractor.org/are-you-ready-to-raise-your-own-chickens http://www.chickentractor.org/are-you-ready-to-raise-your-own-chickens#comments Sun, 24 May 2009 18:29:14 +0000 Chicken Tractor Guy http://www.chickentractor.org/?p=53 Despite the advantages of raising backyard chickens, the practice is still somewhat uncommon. Most people are simply not aware that not only can you raise your own chickens and get healthy eggs and poultry meat to provide for their family on a regular basis, chickens are fun pets too that you can cuddle. Here are important considerations that have to be carefully evaluated and assessed if you are considering backyard chicken raising – for fun and pleasure and poultry meat and eggs.

Do You Have Time?
Although chickens are relatively low-maintenance, they do require time for daily care and maintenance. The necessary time is almost negligible as you only need 15 to 20 minutes daily (depending on the number of chickens in your flock) for replenishing their food and water and making sure that their beddings are dry.

Do You Have Space?
If chickens are cooped (housed) then you have to ensure that the run (where they are allowed to range freely during the day) is big enough and secure from predators. It is highly recommended that at least six square feet per bird is allotted in the outside run, the more space the better. Chickens are natural foragers and they eat insects, grass and weeds and any other that they can find in the run – the more they are able to forage, the healthier and more contented they will be. This is to your advantage since you will reap the benefits in tastier eggs and poultry meat.

Making chickens range freely is to your advantage because they love to scratch, dig holes for their dust baths and eat plants and weeds. The more space they have, the better it is for your yard since they can keep the grass trimmed. While they range freely, they also aerate the area with their scratching while their droppings fertilize the soil thus making it rich and fertile.

Click here to check out easy chicken tractor and coop plans.

Are Chickens Allowed in Your Neighborhood?
An important aspect of chicken raising is to determine if it is allowed in your locality as not all towns do. Check your local regulations and ordinances regarding backyard chicken raising as it may be necessary for you to secure the necessary health or zoning permit since what you plan to do is not on a commercial level anyway. Do your homework in order to avoid unwelcome surprise visits from town hall officials.

In addition, you also have to find out about noise regulations especially if you plan to have roosters with your flock. It is better to check with your neighbors first in order to avoid misunderstandings and future complications regarding your new hobby. It might be a good idea also to mention that when the chickens start laying eggs, they would surely benefit from that too!

How Much Would It Cost?
The initial investment in constructing the chicken coop, feed supplies, cost of the birds, and maintenance may reach a significant amount of money but in the long run, when they start laying fresh eggs and you already benefit from their poultry meat, the up front cost becomes negligible. This does not include yet the fact that your flock provides you with more fertile garden soil and that they keep farm pests at bay and your grass trimmed!

How Many?
It is important to note that chickens are social birds and do not fare well on their own, you should therefore have a minimum of two for starters. If your family loves eggs then it is best to have two hens per family member; this should be enough to take care of your egg requirements as soon as your chickens start laying eggs.

Check the plan you have chosen and copy the list of materials from the plan. If you will have less than 4 chickens in the coop, the size of the coop is sufficient but for future expansion purposes and to preclude building another coop after a year or two, it may be best to double (or triple) the original size of the chicken coop. Make sure that all of the basics are taken cared of before you buy a single piece of lumber.

If you take the advice to find used lumber in building your chicken tractor then one of the problems you’ll face is getting them all in the same lengths – don’t worry, you can always cut them to size but bear in mind that the shortest piece you find should also be the dimensions of the smallest piece in the chicken tractor plan that you have chosen to avoid unnecessary joints.

In choosing your lumber pieces, make sure to:

1. Choose wood that are bigger or longer than the actual dimensions specified (you need to sand them clean yet) which means they’ll become a little bit smaller.
2. Choose lumber that you can cut in half to make two equal pieces of the same length.
3. Don’t worry about the cracks in the wood, the age of the wood guarantees that they are dry and will not split.
4. Buy as much as you need that are available in the second hand shop, you’ll discover what a bargain (not to mention fun) it is to build your backyard chicken coop.

Click here for easy-to-follow chicken tractor plans.

Regardless of the type of backyard chicken coop you will build for your chickens, you have to make sure that you provide them with the best available comfort, cleanliness and security since this is where your flock will sleep and lay their eggs.

This is where your chickens will eat and sleep. Your coop will also need to keep them safe from potential predators. It is possible to buy a pre-made chicken coop and that is a good option for you if you have the money and don’t have the time to build one on your own. But they can be very expensive so shop around.

Pre-Planning and Site Selection Basics

1. Choose the Right Plan and Design: Based on the family discussion as to how many chickens you plan to have, you already have an idea as to how big the chicken coop should be and what type you would build.
2. Other Factors to Consider: When you have decided on the right plan and design, you also have to consider the following factors in order to make the building phase a lot easier for you. First, limit the number of chickens per feeder or waterer to four. Second, build the nest boxes at the same time you build the chicken coop to save time.
3. Position the Coop Strategically: It is important to the health of your chickens. In choosing the right place for semi-permanent or fixed chicken coop, make sure that the area will have the right amount of sunlight and is not directly in the path of the wind and that predator threats kept to a minimum.

Are you still looking for the perfect chicken tractor plans? Click here to see easy-to-follow plans that come with lots of pictures, sketches and materials lists.

A chicken tractor is basically a chicken coop that can be moved around the yard and has no floor in it. They are typically lightweight so that you can move it around by yourself without much effort. Sometimes people like to add wheels to one end to make it easier to move around. The most common shape for a chicken tractor is an A-frame but there many other designs that work just as well.

The advantage to using a tractor is that you can get the benefits of free range chickens while still protecting them from predators and the weather. Any eggs that are laid are also protected. Within the tractor, the chickens are able to forage on the grass, weeds and bugs. Then the tractor is moved to another location in the yard. Allowing the chickens to forage this way helps decrease the amount of feed that you have to buy.

Another advantage is that you do not have to keep any floors clean. You also get lots of manure to use for your garden or compost.The whole concept of the chicken tractor mimics cycle of free ranging chickens foraging in one location at a time and moving on to another area so that the first area can recover.

Chicken tractor is the name used in the United States. It is known as a chicken ark in the United Kingdom. Both are types of chicken coops, which is the generic name for any enclosure that protects chickens. There are many kinds of chicken tractor plans available online that are geared toward do-it-yourself types who want to build a chicken tractor.

1. It must be predator-proof from all sides. Make sure that all openings are protected with the correct size of wire mesh – 15mm square so that so that predators can not reach inside the coop!
2. Make sure that the area surrounding the coop is protected with wire-mesh fencing with the base buried at least 30cm below ground level to prevent foxes and rats from burrowing into the area. Rats would especially be drawn into the area because of chicken droppings.
3. Keep the tractor well ventilated (but not directly in the flow of air) to prevent respiratory diseases. Although chickens can stand cold weather they can not withstand being in the direct path of the wind.
4. Make sure the tractor is easy to clean.
5. You should provide roosting poles for your birds because that is where they sleep! Make sure that there is adequate spacing so they don’t crowd out one another.
6. Put 1 nest box for every 4 or 5 birds in a dark corner of the coop to encourage your chickens to lay eggs. Nest boxes should be a little bit off the floor but lower than the roosting pole inside.
7. Make sure the coop is roomy enough for the birds to roam around when they are inside, at least 4 square feet per bird.
8. There should be a waterer and feeder inside the chicken coop.
9. For easy disposal of droppings, place a removable plastic tray under the roosting poles.

If you are looking for chicken coop plans to build one yourself, Bill Keene’s ebook Building a Chicken Coop has drawings and schematic diagrams of chicken coops you can build yourself that can house anywhere from 2 to 4 chickens (but can be built larger to accommodate more birds if you desire).

The lists of materials are also included but you can also use scrap lumber to keep your expenses low.

Click here to visit the home page of Bill’s book.