Chicken House Designs- Necessary Elements You May Overlook

While most chicken house designs cover the absolute basics, there are some elements that are often overlooked that are necessary to create a healthy, safe, clean and productive house for your chickens.  So, when looking at chicken house designs, make sure they include the following elements.

First of all, you may already know that good chicken house designs include plenty of windows for natural light and air circulation.  However, you don’t want to use just any kind of window.  The best option is to choose sliding windows that don’t have large sills.  Otherwise, your chickens could start to roost on the window sills instead of their nests.  You also need to remember to put screens over the windows so you can leave them open without fear of the chickens getting out.

Another important element that needs to be included in chicken house designs is a cover over the top of the chicken run.  Many people spend a lot of time protecting the chicken house from predators but forget that hawks can swoop down while the chickens are outside of their house.  If you don’t have a chicken run, you obviously can’t protect against this.  However, if you do, take the time to either put some kind of roof or cover over it.

Finally, chicken house designs should also carefully consider how to keep the coop clean.  The best way to do this is to use materials when you build the chicken house that can be easily cleaned and left to dry.  It’s also a very good idea to have a floor that slopes towards the door.  This way any water and debris will easily flow out of the house and onto the ground, which will save you a lot of time as you clean the chicken house.

If you want to create the best house possible for your chickens, then you need to make sure the chicken house designs you choose include the elements above or can be customized to include them.