Chicken House Plan – Chickens in My Backyard?

While looking for a workable chicken house plan, there are a few other factors that you will need to consider.

In My Backyard
Although you may want to raise chickens for many reasons, you will need to check out how realistic the idea really is. First and foremost you need to make sure that your town even allows for raising chickens. Not all towns do! You will need to check out your local ordinances and regulations regarding raising chickens.. You may have to get special permits to meet health and/or zoning regulations. You do not want one of the local ‘tin gods’ from city hall paying you a visit………..fines, etc. Oh boy, so not worth the hassle!

Then there is the noise factor. If you plan to have a rooster or two, there will be some ‘crowing” going on in the pen. So you need to make sure you are not only meeting your local noise ordinances, but meeting your own and possibly your neighbors’ noise restrictions. So where you locate the chicken coop or house is very important. You don’t want your new hobby to irritate friends and or neighbors, as well as yourself. Of course letting your neighbors know that fresh eggs could be in their future, maybe even free eggs could soften their concern.

How Much Is This Going to Cost Me?
This is not a factor to be taken lightly. Even wood ain’t cheap these days! (I know ain’t ain’t in the dictionary …but sometimes it just seems to fit!) Yes, the initial costs for construction materials, chicken feed, the birds themselves and maintenance supplies may be a significant sum, depending on how big a coop you plan to have.

But once the little buggers (that’s a technical term for those of us in the business!) start laying those farm fresh eggs, and providing incredibly fresh meat, these costs will become insignificant.

This does not include yet the fact that your flock provides you with more fertile garden soil and that they keep farm pests at bay and your grass trimmed!

How Many Chickens Do I Need?
Well, this is obviously an important question to answer. What are you planning to do with your chickens. Hobby? For just the family? Are you planning to sell the products for additional income?

Whatever your reason, you must understand that chickens are social critters (another technical term), and you must have at least two hens in order to keep them happy. And of course the more the merrier as far as the hens are concerned. The rooster will not mind either, if you get my drift.

If your family loves eggs, the rule of thumb is two hens per family member. If you plan to give some away or sell them, you will need even more hens.

Now for today’s Stupid Chicken Joke!
Why did the chicken end up in the soup ?
Because it ran out of cluck !

Sorry about that one!

Ok, enough for today. I hope this article has helped to make choosing a chicken house plan a little easier. In the next article I will discuss what types of chicken you should purchase.