If you are thinking about raising chickens, building your own chicken ark can save you hundreds of dollars over buying one that is already built.
Plus there can be rewards that go way beyond money.
If you intend to raise chickens that are healthy and happy, they need three basic things.
They need a clean dry nesting space, adequate food and water and a large area to roam and scratch.
One of the first things you need to figure out is where your chicken area is going to be.
Once that is decided, you need to determine if you are going to build a permanent chicken ark or portable chicken sheds that can be moved around.
You can find many basic portable chicken house plans, and one of the most popular designs is for a simple "A" frame.
Building a more permanent structure will be a little more complicated to design.
Permanent chicken coups should be designed with two sections.
Your poultry will only use one section at a time, but they should be built as a two-section type of structure.
Given enough time, chickens will virtually ruin any ground they are scratching on.
If you only have one area for them scratch around on, it will get ruined and stay ruined.
By dividing your chicken coups into dual areas, one area can be used until your birds have pecked and scratched it clean.
At this stage the birds can then be relocated into the other area.
This allows recently used sections enough time to grow new plants and attract new bugs.
It is also a good idea to buy a good clear set of chicken house plans that will make it much easier to build your chicken ark.
The two main materials that are needed to build chicken coups are wire and wood.
The chicken wire should have spaces no larger than 2 inches square.
This will prevent small wild birds or predatory animals from entering the interior of the chicken ark where they can scare or hurt your poultry.
Be sure to treat the wire and wood materials so that you will not end up with rotten wood, insect infestations or wire that is rusted through.
Treating the materials will cost a bit more initially, but it will save you money and headaches over the long haul.
There should also be a 6-inch trench dug around the outside boundaries of the chicken ark.
Pulling the wire below the housing and to the bottom of the trench will prevent predatory animals from clawing their way under the wire fencing and gaining access to the birds.
Chicken coups can be designed in a variety of ways and excellent chicken house plans are available at very low cost.
Before you take a hammer and pound that very first nail, there are some other details that you must give some thought to.
You must give each bird in your flock adequate nesting space.
There should also be at least one or two windows that can be shut tightly in times of wet or bad weather.
Windows can provide fresh air on sunny days, but on wet days they can be closed to eliminate moisture, preserving your chicken pen from getting ruined.
When it comes to cleanup, be sure to install a large hinged opening.
This makes it possible for you to completely get inside the chicken ark if needed.
You will be able to gather eggs, inspect or remove chickens and even clean out the hutch.
Having this easy access makes cleaning time a much simpler job, giving you more time to spend enjoying your birds instead of cleaning up after them.