Chickens can lay eggs in the cold season no worse than in summer. However, for this, the farmer must create the right conditions. It is important to ensure not only the optimal temperature, but also lighting, ventilation, the correct location of perches and other elements inside the building.
The winter chicken coop must be built according to all the rules. There are no trifles in this case. It is necessary to take into account all the requirements that put forward for such a winter building. They will be discussed in detail later.
Requirements
Ready-made winter chicken coops are made in accordance with all the requirements that the poultry industry puts forward. They are designed in such a way that their inhabitants feel comfortable. Chickens lay well in summer. At this time of the year, they are not only warm, but also light enough, since the days are long and the nights are short. In the chicken coop, the temperature should not fall below +10 ° C.
Chickens will need to provide adequate nutrition. It should not be excessive. To provide comfortable conditions for the living of chickens, you need to assemble an insulated building. You will also need to provide it with enough light. You can build such a chicken coop from scratch or convert an old building without insulation.
Dimensions of the internal space should be sufficient so that the birds do not interfere with each other. There should be 2-5 chickens per square meter of space. It is not recommended to populate more densely. Therefore, it is worth considering that a winter chicken coop for 50 chickens should not be less than 10 m² or even more.
You will need to correctly distribute the space inside the building. It is necessary to establish a sufficient number of perches. You can create a multi-level chicken coop, where perches will be located one above the other. This does not interfere with laying hens.
The territory should be fenced near the chicken coop, as the bird walks on the street even in frost down to -15 ° С. At the same time, in the house itself, it should be comfortable not only for laying hens, but also for the farmer who will have to maintain the building. The height of the chicken coop must be at least 1.5 m.
Choosing a seat
Before starting construction, you need to prepare diagrams or drawings of a winter chicken coop with your own hands (or use ready-made ones, they are presented below). Here you should indicate the size of the building (according to the number of chickens), as well as all its elements, both inside and outside. First of all, you will need to properly position the house on the site.
So that the noise and the specific smell from the house do not interfere with resting in the country or in the cottage, you need to equip the chicken coop away from home. You should find such a place on the site,where the space is reliably protected from wind and drafts. Also, direct sunlight should not fall on the building. He must be in shade. However, chickens need sunlight, so you should choose a place where trees and bushes grow. This will create a very small shadow. It is not recommended to build such a structure behind the wall of another building.
When developing a scheme for a winter chicken coop (it’s easy to make it with your own hands after reading our instructions), you need to provide enough space before building for walking birds. This space should be fenced off with a metal mesh. Cells should be small enough. Domestic cats and wild animals can harm chickens. At the same time, it is worth considering that the protection of the fence should protect the inhabitants of the building from rats. They can also harm birds.
The walking area also needs to be fenced off so that the chickens do not scatter around the territory. Its height should be about 2 m. Even with clipped wings, laying hens can fly up to this height.
Conditions inside the building
When drawing up a drawing of a winter chicken coop for 20 chickens or another number of birds (shown below; in the figure, numbers I and II indicate roosts for chickens), you need to create the right conditions for keeping chickens. It is considered optimal if the temperature is 15-28 ° C. If it gets colder, the performance of layers drops. And summer should not be too hot. To do this, the chicken coop is ventilated. In winter, you will need to reduce the maximum amount of heat loss. You also need to provide additional heating.
It is necessary to create walls with a thickness of at least 20 cm. It will be necessary to insulate the floor, roof and walls with high quality. It is necessary to seal the room as much as possible. All cracks are sealed. This will minimize heat loss as much as possible. Be sure to have a window in the chicken coop. It is needed for ventilation. It should be positioned so that in winter the sun's rays penetrate through it for as long as possible. In summer, the window is shaded.
You also need to think about good ventilation. She may be natural. Heating in the room can be done using different heating devices. It is better to give preference to infrared varieties. Furnaces cannot be used. This does not comply with fire regulations.
One of the good options for heating will be a UV lamp. However, experts recommend the use of infrared floor heating. In this case, you can maintain the required temperature in the chicken coop. The thermostat will allow you to spend exactly as much electricity as you need to maintain the temperature set by the owners. At the same time, it will be warmer on the lower tier than on the top.
Arrangement
The drawing of a winter chicken coop should contain a layout plan for all components of the interior space. In such a building, there must be feeders, perches and drinkers. For laying hens, nests must be provided.
The scheme of the winter chicken coop suggests that the perches should be installed on the side that will be on the opposite side from the entrance. Their size corresponds to the breed of chickens. To arrange nests, you need to find the most shaded place in the chicken coop. There should be no drafts here. Their size is also determined by the breed of chickens.
Feeders and drinkers should also be properly placed inside. They should not interfere, stand in the aisle. Feeders should be designed for different types of feed. They are placed in different parts of the house. Feeders should be accessible from all sides. To do this, you need to purchase or create several containers yourself. For dry food, an elongated wooden trough is suitable. Access to its contents should not be hindered by anything. For wet food, a plastic container is suitable. The grass is laid out in a metal wire mesh with a small mesh size.
In the chicken coop, it is necessary to provide for the presence of a hole through which the chickens will enter the street. The winter chicken coop also needs such a hole. It will need to be insulated with high quality.
Electricity and ventilation
Build a winter chicken coop with your own hands for 50 chickens or other number of birds, taking into account the relevant requirements. For such a structure, it is important to provide proper lighting. If daylight hours are 12 hours, the performance of chickens increases significantly. However, this period is not worth doing more. In this case, the birds will get sick, weaken.
In winter, the sun is not enough. Therefore, it will be necessary to create artificial lighting. To do this, use different lamps. Most of all, energy-saving lamps are suitable for these purposes. Their power may be small. Hueglow should be neutral. It matches the daylight to the maximum. The number and power of lamps are chosen in accordance with the size of the chicken coop, the height of its ceiling. So, it will be necessary to provide lighting of about 20 lux / m². When choosing lamps, it is worth considering that some varieties increase the temperature in the room. This must be taken into account when calculating the power of heating equipment.
Ventilation should be of high quality. However, drafts should not be allowed to appear. Therefore, for the winter period, the window is carefully insulated. A piping system is used to create ventilation. One of them is installed at the bottom of the building (at a distance of about 10 cm from the floor), and the second - near the roof.
Foundation
Must have a self-made foundation for a winter chicken coop for 30 chickens or other poultry. Its type is chosen in accordance with the materials used in construction. If the walls are made of bricks, blocks of various types (shell rock, cinder or foam blocks), they create a pile or tape shallow foundation. For relatively light buildings (with wooden, frame walls), a columnar base can be created. The same option is both simpler and less expensive.
If a columnar foundation is being built, the supports must be placed in the corners of the building. They should also be separated from each other at a distance of about 2 m. Also, the columnar foundation allows you to create a ventilated base. It will require additional insulation.
To create suchfoundation, you need to mark the site in accordance with the prepared drawing. Pegs are installed in appropriate places. The top layer of earth is removed along the perimeter. You need to mark the notches. The hole should be 30 cm deep and 40 cm long and wide.
At the bottom of each recess, you need to fill in sand first, and then crushed stone with a layer of 10 cm each. Then pour 5 cm of concrete. Brick blocks will be laid out on it. They are fixed with cement mortar. Each post must be plastered and covered with a layer of bituminous insulation.
Building walls
How to build a winter chicken coop with your own hands? The answer to this question can be given by professional farmers. They argue that the walls of the chicken coop, which is operated during the cold period, must be strong and thick. For this, a thick beam is used. Wood is easier to work with and has good thermal insulation properties.
You can also build walls using frame technology. In this case, the design will be light, but very durable. However, such walls keep heat inside worse. The walls are erected with a height of about 1.9 m.
Waterproofing (roofing material) is laid on the prepared foundation pillars. Lay the first row of bars. Their ends must be joined in half. On the created strapping, you need to lay logs in increments of 60 cm. To do this, you need to make cutouts in the timber. Next, lay the next row of bars. Fixation occurs according to the "groove-thorn" system. Between them you need to lay a heater, which is a linen made of flax-jute fabric.
You canuse dowels (wooden rods) for additional fixation of the timber. They are buried at a distance of 1.5 timber. In this case, the distance between the dowels should be about 1.3 m.
When building the walls of the winter version of the chicken coop, you need to lay a window on the south side. The doorway is on the adjacent wall. Windows and doors need to be properly insulated. Thermal insulation covers the walls from the outside. For this, polystyrene foam or foam sheets are used.
Gender
Considering the technology of how to build a winter chicken coop, you need to pay attention to the correct construction of the floor. It is mounted on prepared logs. First, the flooring is made of boards with a cross section of 25x100 millimeters. A layer of windproof film is laid on them. Between the lags, the space must be filled with insulation. Mineral wool is used for this.
Next, you need to sew boards across the lag. Their cross section should be 50x150 millimeters. Small gaps are made between the boards. When the temperature changes, wood can change its dimensions somewhat. Next, a sheet of plywood is laid on top. You can put a heating film on it. Cutouts are made in plywood to deepen the junctions and channels for wires, the thermostat sensor. The film is checked for performance (using a multimeter), and then covered with moisture-resistant plywood.
Roof
The winter chicken coop should also have an insulated roof. It can be of different configuration. Most often, the roof is made single or gable. The angle of inclination depends on the amount of precipitation in the area. The more snowfalls in winter, the moreramps should have a greater angle of inclination.
Shed roofs are easier to make. However, gable varieties are more functional. They protect the chicken coop from temperature changes. In the space under the roof, in this case, feed and inventory can be stored.
First you need to install the ceiling beams to create the ceiling. These are horizontal logs from a bar. The rafters are set at an average angle of 45 °. A crate is mounted on them. Next, a layer of waterproofing is laid. A mineral wool insulation is laid on it. Next, you need to lay the roofing material. They can be corrugated board, tiles and so on.
The ceiling on the inside of the chicken coop is sheathed with a sheet of plywood on both sides. Between them, in the interval between the lags, you must also lay a layer of insulation.
Completion of construction
After creating a winter chicken coop, you can begin to equip it. First make ventilation. This will require two pipes with a diameter of 140 mm (plastic or galvanized). They are installed in different sides of the chicken coop. One of them is installed on the floor. Through this pipe, air will enter the chicken coop. The second pipe is needed to extract moist air from the building. It should exit through the roof and rise high above the building. This pipe should be away from perches and nests.
Then they conduct electricity, equip lamps. A warm floor is connected to the network (according to the manufacturer's instructions). After that, perches, nests, feeders and drinkers are placed inside. The area around the buildingenclose. After that, it can be operated.
Having considered how to properly build a winter chicken coop, you can build a structure with your own hands.
