Shed for chickens: how to do it yourself, step by step instructions, tools and materials

In a summer cottage or household plot, in addition to crop production, keeping chickens of egg or meat and egg breeds is of great help. The physiological needs of poultry dictate the need for arranging the premises, the simplest of which is a barn. Consider the stages of building a chicken shed, where it is better to place it, what and how it should be inside, what microclimate needs to be maintained.

Where to install a chicken shed?

On the site, choose an unshaded flat or slightly elevated place that is not flooded with melt water and does not experience groundwater effusion in the spring.The area for walking chickens can be located in the openwork shade of trees. Spare no space for her, as the egg breeds are active and move a lot, while the meat direction hens move little. Preferably rectangular areas.

Important! The area under the barn is calculated based on the norm: 3 birds per 1 square meter.

A competent approach to the construction of a barn involves the creation of a general plan of the site. The future barn for chickens and plantings should be put on it ahead of time. If there are valuable light-loving plants on the site that will be in the shade of the barn, they should be transplanted in advance.

Based on the plan, they draw up a statement of work and a plan for the purchase of building materials and equipment for building a barn, assess the level of material costs, and, if necessary, find ways to reduce the cost.

Required tools and materials

Construction equipment and tools include:

• concrete mixing equipment and masonry tools;
• a set of tools for woodworking (saws, jigsaws, hammers);
• drilling equipment (screwdrivers);
• measuring instruments (tape measure, levels);
• consumables (nails, screws, screws, angles).

Materials for building the foundation:

• brick, cement, crushed stone;

Materials for building a frame and erecting a roof:

• Wooden slats, beams, floor boards, chipboard sheets for wall cladding, insulation material (mineral wool, foam), slate, roofing material or tiles.

The chicken shed should have windows to let the sunlight in. You will need glass and a wooden frame or ready-made frames of a small size. The walls inside the chicken coop are painted with water-based paint, the floors are lined with linoleum or ceramic tiles. All materials can be picked up from old disassembled furniture, after repair and alteration of the floor, kitchen set.

Pay attention! Before purchasing materials, carefully consider the construction technology and how you will keep the chickens - year-round with heating or during the season.

How to build a barn with your own hands?

For 18-20 chickens, it is enough to build a rectangular barn with an area of 6 square meters with a length of 3 and a width of 2 meters. It is quite possible to build such a barn with your own hands. Let's figure out how to do it.

Preparatory work

The site intended for construction is cleared of plant residues, stumps and rhizomes are uprooted.If the soil at the site of the future construction is fertile, the top layer is removed and leveled. Small bumps are easy to level with a rail tied to a rope on both sides, or a wooden ladder.

Refinements are carried out by level. After leveling mark the structure. Stakes are driven in at the corners, a cord is pulled along them, which marks the boundaries of the barn and is an indicator of the height of the foundation.

Foundation

The foundation for a chicken coop can be of two types:

• columnar;
• solid.

For a small building 2x3 meters, a columnar foundation of 4 or 6 racks is enough. The main purpose is to protect the building from flooding and freezing of the floor in winter. The foundation posts under the barn are placed at an equal distance from each other. For structural strength, the bearing logs must be thicker than 80 millimeters.

Dig out square or round holes 0.5 meters deep under the foundation pillars. Crushed stone is poured to the bottom and rammed with a bar or column. Racks can be made of bricks or cement mortar can be poured into formwork made of wood, roofing material or foam concrete blocks.

The solid foundation is poured into the formwork along the perimeter of the barn. The consumption of cement mortar increases, but it will be possible to use logs of a smaller thickness.

Important! Foundations of any type must be at least 30 centimeters above the ground!

Gender

A moisture-proof layer of roofing felt is laid on the foundation. Then, the lower harness is attached to the concrete racks with anchor bolts. Between themselves, wooden logs are connected according to the “half-tree” method. Boards are attached along the perimeter of the lower trim, forming a bed for the future floor or a box.Several supporting logs are laid along the box, their fasteners are made and the floor boards are nailed. In a winter barn, it is better to perform double floors with an insulating layer in the middle or install an electric floor heating system.

Building walls

Along the perimeter, bars are attached to the floor, on which vertical racks of the frame 2.0-2.2 meters high will rest. The main racks are at the corners of the building, additional ones are at each corner of the windows and doors. It is also recommended to make intermediate vertical racks along the width of the insulating material. The minimum width of the vertical beams is 50 millimeters. Check the verticality of the racks by level more often. On top of the racks, a second strapping is performed by fastening with corners.

Roof and ceiling construction

The rafter part of the roof is attached to the upper trim. Choose a high enough angle of elevation to ensure normal rain runoff and snow melting, otherwise leaks will occur.

Cross rafters are performed with a step equal to the fastenings of the roofing material and the width of the selected type of insulation. Too narrow a step leads to higher construction costs, and a wide one leads to roof deflections and possible stagnation of rainwater in the places of deflections.

A waterproofing layer is laid over the rafters. If a soft roof is to be used, an additional layer of chipboard is provided for sealing or slate sheets are laid. From the inside of the barn, under the top trim, the ceiling is fixed.

Doors and windows

It is advisable to make windows on the east and west or south side. The total window area should be at least 10 percent of the floor area in the barn. In order to ventilate the interior space, windows should open outside the barn. In addition to windows and doors, a bird hole is made at the bottom of the wall that communicates with the paddock.

The door should open outward and lock tightly, and the bird's eye should be closed with a latch from the outside.

Insulation

The walls are covered with insulation from the outside, followed by a vapor barrier layer in the form of a dense cellophane film. Outside, sheathing is done with chipboard sheets, boards or plastic siding.

Microclimate in the barn

The conditions inside the laying barn are of particular importance, as the correct microclimate helps to avoid the development of infections in the birds and regulate their productivity. What to look out for:

• air ventilation;
• lighting and day/night mode;
• air temperature.

Let's take a closer look at each of the points.

Ventilation

The optimal limits for air humidity inside the barn are 60-70 percent. In summer, it is maintained with the help of frequent ventilation. If there are a lot of birds in the room, an electric fan is mounted on the window, acting as a supply ventilation.Provide ventilation openings under the roof and near the floor.

Lighting

To maintain egg production, laying hens are provided with lighting for at least 13-14 hours a day. One 40-watt fluorescent lamp is suitable for the selected area, which is suspended from the ceiling in a reflective shade.

Temperature

The optimum temperature for keeping hens of egg breeds is from 16 to 23 degrees. When the temperature rises, the birds become stressed and dehydrated, and when the temperature drops, productivity drops sharply, since energy costs for warming the body increase. In summer, the bird feels comfortable on the paddock.

Heat for the winter

If a warm floor was provided during construction, then this heat is enough to maintain the temperature in the barn at 16-17 degrees. In severe frost, they additionally heat with a potbelly stove or an oil radiator.Bedding of straw and sawdust is increased to 20 centimeters, adding a new layer every week.

What is needed in the chicken barn

Inside the barn, they will equip perches, nests where laying hens lay their eggs, feeders and drinkers.

Perches and nests

Perches are poles round in diameter, for which the bird clings with its paws and rests in this position. It is advisable to fix them in two tiers at a distance of 30-50 centimeters from each other. The first tier is at a height of 50-80 centimeters from the floor.

The simplest nests are built along the darkest wall of the barn, from wooden or cardboard boxes measuring 30 x 40 centimeters, one nest is enough for 3-4 birds. The bottom of the boxes is covered with straw. Tilt design available for faster egg collection.

Drinkers and feeders

The industry produces ready-made drinkers and feeders for birds of various designs. For one head, you need 8-10 centimeters of space at the drinker and feeder.

Pay attention! Drinkers and feeders are installed at a distance from each other so that the water in the drinker remains clean.

For dry food, wooden feeders are suitable, for green - mesh. In winter, the bird actively digs into the litter, so it is constantly added, layer by layer.

Bathing area

Chickens need baths of ash or sun-baked sand. This measure protects the feather cover from insects. The ash must be dry and settled for several months; fresh ash contains substances harmful to poultry. In summer, a bathing place is arranged on the street, in winter - in the dressing room of the barn.

Walking area

The site communicates with the shed through a hole for chickens, it is fenced with a metal or nylon mesh at least 2 meters high. The lower and upper edges are reinforced with boards or metal shields. The walking area per head is at least 1 square meter.

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