Charlott L

most important factors building a chicken house

1. Make Sure There’s Ample Space If your coop is overcrowded, soon your chickens will start fighting with one another for more space and end up hurting or killing each other in the process. So, how much space is sufficient for your chickens? As a general rule, try to keep a minimum of 3 square feet of space for every chicken you have inside the coop for them to sleep and move about in. For your chicken run (the outdoor area where your chickens are free to roam about for exercise and sunlight), double that amount of space for every chicken (6 sq ft per chicken) and you should do just fine. It is thus recommended that you build a coop based on ready-made plans (more on that below) since the ideal dimensions would have been laid out for you already. 2. Bedding Materials Straw is often thought to be the best material to be used as bedding on the floor of the coop as they’re cheap and can easily be acquired.   The smell that emanates from your coop will also be much worse if the moist doesn’t dry up properly. A superior alternative to straw would be pine shavings (we personally use this) or pine chips thanks to their greater absorbent capabilities and they also dry up much quicker.