Raising chickens has become a high demanding job amongst farmers. You may not think that keeping chickens, feeding them, breeding them and using their eggs for food would be practiced regularly as it was in the past. Sure, times have changed and there are now many chicken raising factories that have automated egg hatcheries and such, but the fundamental procedures of raising chickens grows more and more each year as the world's population continues to grow. Hence it is vital for a chicken raising farmer to understand these concepts and learn how to build a chicken coop.
For many of us who have a backyard chicken flock, one of the key issues we come across is finding some really good chicken coop plans for building chicken coops. There are hundreds of different breeds of chickens and as any experienced chicken farmer will tell you, it is not a good idea to keep certain types of chickens together in the same chicken coop.
Chicken
The bantam chickens are the ones that do not grow any larger than one fifth to one quarter of the size of a standard chicken breed. They are known as the miniature classes of chickens and they are extremely cute and fun to watch.
While there aren't many chicken coop plans designed especially for bantam chickens, I have found through my experience raising chickens that bantams and standard chickens differ in other ways besides their size. Therefore I have put together some chicken coop plans tips that will help you build a chicken coop for these miniature fowls.
#1:
Build a chicken coop that is tall and has multiple long and high perches. Unlike large standard chickens which tend to hang around at the bottom of the coop due to their excessive weight, small bantams can easily jump up to the highest perches, giving your chicken coop plenty of space to keep more chickens. Build plenty of perches, nests and feeders so that the bantams can jump around from perch to perch and eat from any part of the coop.
#2:
Bantam chickens have tendencies to jump really high and some can almost fly across an entire field. Therefore you want to make sure that if your chicken coop has an attached chicken pen or chicken run, it is covered with a high net or its surroundings have really high fences. The last thing you want is for your bantam chicken to fly over your fence because they are not smart enough to jump back across.
#3:
Bantams can be quite feisty. As cute as they are, bantam roosters can become quite aggressive when their territory is threatened. You may want to separate the chicken coop into smaller compartments with chicken wire. Keep one rooster per every three hens.
#4:
Be aware of injured bantams. For some strange reason, I have had many of my bantam chickens get eaten alive by the other bantams. This may sound absurd but it is true. Chickens tend to peck at each other at times and if they draw blood, the other chickens will begin pecking at the blood and eventually killing off the innocent chicken. This is why you should remove any chicken that you notice has been pecked or injured and keep it in its own cage for a week until it heals.
By following the chicken coop plans above you should have an easier time raising bantam chickens in your backyard. Bantams can be quite adorable but they require a lot of maintenance and care if you truly want to get the best out of your chicken flock.
Are you confident enough yet to build your own chicken coop? Many people have had success building their own coop and saved a lot of money in doing so. These are only just a few tips to help you on your chicken raising endeavors. For detailed chicken coop plan and instructions you should try these
advanced chicken coop plans
Dale Higgins has been raising chickens and poultry for over 20 years and is an expert in building chicken coops. You can visit his chicken coop plans website here: http://www.mybackyardchickenfarm.com