How to Choose Hen House Plans

There are many online guides and in DIY books out there that you may be wondering how to choose from the different hen house plans available.

You may feel overwhelmed with the sheer variety of plans out there and they can all start to look the same. However, by deciphering the diagrams and choosing the best plan for you will make all the difference in your success.

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One of the worst mistakes people can make is choosing a plan without knowing what they want out of the design. You may end up with an unsuccessful project if you choose a coop that is too simple or too complex for the chicken farm you want as a result.

Here are some directives for how to choose a hen house plan

The number of chickens you plan to keep

The first thing to consider is the number of hens you want to keep. Hens live happily together, without the need of a rooster, and will produce 2-4 eggs per week! Overcrowding and not enough room for exercise can hinder their livelihood and their egg production however. It is always best to determine how many hens you want, then go on to select the right plan. Many good online plans will tell you the optimal amount of chickens for that plan.

Making sure you match the size of the hen house to the number of chickens you want to keep will help your chickens live happily and produce the best eggs they can. It’s always better to build larger than you think you’ll need.

The climate where you are located

Think about your climate when choosing a plan. If you experience a lot of heavy weather like rain or snow and freezing temperatures you may need to think a little more about insulation and structural shapes that will protect the chickens.

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Things like slanted roofs to allow for rain runoff and insulation to prevent freezing inside the coop are important considerations. Also, temperature extremes like heat and humidity will cause a lot of problems if the structure has no ventilation system.

What type of land will you build on?

Your land is an important factor to assess before you go ahead with choosing a hen house plan. You may need to add some land work to your project before you get started. If you don’t have a solid base the walls of the hen house will shift, causing damage to the structure.

Think about a solid structured base for the building to prevent the walls from shifting over time. Pour a concrete block if necessary for the floor base. You can always cover this with a wood or dirt floor which is better for the chickens.

Mobile Coop plans

Finally, think about whether you want your coop to be mobile. This can be an advantage for a small coop where the chickens are free range in the yard by day. You can simply move the coop to clean it out. Also, people who keep chickens as pets often opt for a mobile coop. Decide up front whether you think you will want a small, mobile hen house.

Take some time to go through various building plans to determine the type of coop you want. By using these pre-building guidelines you can answer some basic questions which will lead you to make the right decision. It should be less overwhelming when you look at a variety of hen house plans.

These are the plans I settled on:

They really worked for me and I got the hen houseI wanted within my budget and my building skills. I highly recommend you check out Building a Chicken Coop.

Plan plan and build your own coop in your backyard. In includes drafts of plans, dimensions, materials lists and sources to everything you need to build a sustainable chicken coop.