Well…the time it takes to build a chicken coop does depend on a range of factors:
• How complex a design it is
• How good you are at woodworking
• How good your plans are

The Design

A simple chicken ark should take you less than a day, a rectangular hen house with a run would be a weekend project, a more complex design with a pitched roof is likely to be a three day project – but very rewarding and a long-term home for your flock.

This robust hen house and run could be a good wekend project.

Your Woodworking Skills

You will need to be able to cut timber accurately and to make simple joints, but if you use good plans, they will not require complex techniques, should only use simple tools – and you should be able to build your chicken coop without a high level of woodworking skills.

With good plans, Building a Chicken Coop would be a very good project to undertake with your pre or early teen children and will get them involved in planning for a flock of chickens – so they should get more involved in the chickens care later.

Chicken Coop Plans

There are a number of free plans available on the Internet – but they do tend to be rather basic, often very sketchy in terms of instructions and the designs are not always very practical, as they may not have been drawn up by a professional.

We like Chicken Coop Plans that are well researched and thought through, and come with materials lists and clear instructions and illustrations.

The plans we are featuring at the moment have very good illustrations and it’s easy to see what you should be doing next.

This makes the plans a good bet for a keen teenager – they should get a good result they are proud of.
The designs for all three Chicken Coops are attractive and practical too. The designer has thought about cleaning and care; roosting and nesting spaces work well, with good access for egg collection and cleaning.

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If you’re just getting started, and want a small flock of about three hens, a chicken ark is a good choice. They are simple to build from a good set of chicken coop plans as you don’t need high-level woodworking or carpentry skills or a large number of tools, and the materials won’t cost you much either. So this is a great way to keep your initial start up costs down.

It is worth buying laying hens (ones that are almost ready to lay) the first time round. You can move on to raising your hens from chicks later.

A chicken ark will keep a small flock of chickens protected from predators and harsh conditions and because you move chicken arks around, your chickens get new areas of ground to peck and scratch. You get free-range chickens without having to catch them, or worry about predators such as stray foxes.

Some good chicken ark plans will ensure you get a design that works, and save you time, effort and frustration. You should be able to make one in less than a day, and may even find you’ve already got at least some of the materials you’ll need.

A simple chicken ark will house about three chickens, so you have enough space to keep a flock big enough to lay two to three eggs a day.

Technorati Tags: Building a Chicken Coop, chicken ark plans, Chicken Coop Plans