Why the Best Chicken Coop Plans Are Not Free
Chicken pens and hen houses often look like anyone with a saw and hammer could knock up something similar in a couple of hours.
Chicken pen designs cannot be that complicated, right? Even if you decide you need some chicken house plans, why not just download them from the internet for free? But the best chicken coop plans are not the free variety, and here's why.
Let's assume that you are going to make your own hen house or chicken run rather than buying a prefabricated one, to save money.
This is a good idea, as a quick trip to the hardware store or a look at the online shops will demonstrate.
Readymade chicken coops are expensive.
Surely it makes sense to save yet more cash by getting hold of some free chicken coop plans as well? And there are some good ones out there, but you need to know a thing or two about hens and hen house designs so that you can separate the few good from the many bad.
Plans should be proper blueprints with clear cut-to-size measurements and plenty of detail drawings for the difficult areas.
Unless you are an experienced woodworker you will also appreciate having a complete list of materials provided for you, because it is quite tricky working this out for yourself.
There is nothing more irritating than finding you are short of some critical fastener or piece of timber when you are half way through assembly (and finding the hardware store shut for the weekend).
Then there is the matter of your chicken shed design.
Do you know exactly what you (and your hens) want, or would it be a good idea to look at a range of chicken coop designs before choosing? The best chicken coop plans will include a whole heap of designs to meet every need and situation, some of which you might not have considered before.
For instance, will the hen house or chicken run be large enough for your birds? Warm enough? Easy to maintain and clean out? Safe from predators? The best chicken coops will have good weather protection, be warm enough in winter and cool enough in summer, be sturdy, have all the necessary ramps and perches, have provision for food and water, easy egg collection - the list is quite a long one.
Many, if not most, free chicken coup plans fail to give you much help here.
The main point about making the best chicken coop for your treasured hens is that you will want to do a professional job, covering all the necessary bases and perhaps building in a few luxuries for your egg-layers.
You will not want to waste time and money on a trial and error approach.
Perhaps you could do with a few woodworking tips as well.
If you are saving perhaps $700 or more on building your own hen house, why skimp on the $40 or so you will spend on getting a good set of chicken house plans to ensure you have the best chicken coop design to meet your particular requirements? Remember, free is not necessarily best.
In fact, it will almost guarantee an inferior result compared with good plans produced by real chicken experts.
Chicken pen designs cannot be that complicated, right? Even if you decide you need some chicken house plans, why not just download them from the internet for free? But the best chicken coop plans are not the free variety, and here's why.
Let's assume that you are going to make your own hen house or chicken run rather than buying a prefabricated one, to save money.
This is a good idea, as a quick trip to the hardware store or a look at the online shops will demonstrate.
Readymade chicken coops are expensive.
Surely it makes sense to save yet more cash by getting hold of some free chicken coop plans as well? And there are some good ones out there, but you need to know a thing or two about hens and hen house designs so that you can separate the few good from the many bad.
Plans should be proper blueprints with clear cut-to-size measurements and plenty of detail drawings for the difficult areas.
Unless you are an experienced woodworker you will also appreciate having a complete list of materials provided for you, because it is quite tricky working this out for yourself.
There is nothing more irritating than finding you are short of some critical fastener or piece of timber when you are half way through assembly (and finding the hardware store shut for the weekend).
Then there is the matter of your chicken shed design.
Do you know exactly what you (and your hens) want, or would it be a good idea to look at a range of chicken coop designs before choosing? The best chicken coop plans will include a whole heap of designs to meet every need and situation, some of which you might not have considered before.
For instance, will the hen house or chicken run be large enough for your birds? Warm enough? Easy to maintain and clean out? Safe from predators? The best chicken coops will have good weather protection, be warm enough in winter and cool enough in summer, be sturdy, have all the necessary ramps and perches, have provision for food and water, easy egg collection - the list is quite a long one.
Many, if not most, free chicken coup plans fail to give you much help here.
The main point about making the best chicken coop for your treasured hens is that you will want to do a professional job, covering all the necessary bases and perhaps building in a few luxuries for your egg-layers.
You will not want to waste time and money on a trial and error approach.
Perhaps you could do with a few woodworking tips as well.
If you are saving perhaps $700 or more on building your own hen house, why skimp on the $40 or so you will spend on getting a good set of chicken house plans to ensure you have the best chicken coop design to meet your particular requirements? Remember, free is not necessarily best.
In fact, it will almost guarantee an inferior result compared with good plans produced by real chicken experts.
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