Читать книгу Hobby Farm Animals - Chris McLaughlin - Страница 47

Chickens aren’t choosy. Whether you provide a simple shack or luxurious villa, as long as the accommodations meet their basic housing needs, your birds will be tickled pink with them. A coop must shelter its inhabitants from wind, rain, snow, and sun and protect them from predators. It also needs to be reasonably well lit and ventilated and roomy enough for the number of birds it houses. When your chickens go inside, they should find sanitary bedding, roosts, nesting boxes, feeders, and waterers. For your flock’s continuing comfort and health, the coop should be clean and easy for both you and the birds to access.

Consider the breed and type of your chickens. For example, when it comes to indoor living space, laying hens demand more space than broiler chickens, which have much shorter life expectancies. Bantams require less indoor space than 10-pound Jersey Giants. Outdoors, a 3-foot uncovered enclosure will keep Jerseys safely contained but will never do for flying bantams. If you don’t provide the latter with a tall, covered run, you may find your entire flock going over the fence.

In northern climes, chicken abodes must be insulated to spare your birds frostbitten wattles, combs, and toes. In torrid southern locales, how to afford relief from the heat will be a major concern.

Costs, time, and aesthetics should be factored in as well. For example, a chicken keeper without a lot of spare cash might decide to build a coop rather than hiring a carpenter or buying a prefab unit. Almost anyone can construct a functional basic coop from scratch, recycling materials at very little cost. Other keepers may have the requisite carpentry skills but not the time to create their own chicken villas.

No matter how excited you are to get started, don’t pick up that hammer until you’ve made sure that the site is right. The where of coop building is very important. You don’t want to have to raze a half-constructed henhouse after you realize that it’s too close to the neighbor’s fence. Chicken keepers in suburban and urban areas are subject to municipal codes.

Also factor in your own preferences. For example, if watching hens peck in the yard will soothe your soul, it makes little sense to shut them away where you can’t see them.