DIY CHICKEN COOP MISTAKES
Are you planning to build a DIY chicken coop? Here are seven DIY chicken coop mistakes we made (or almost made) when building our first coop.
BUILDING THE COOP TOO SMALL
Our plan was to get 20 meat chickens. Then butcher most of the chickens at home. By the fall we could fill our freezer with winter meat. Our chicks arrived in late April, and we kept them in a DIY brooder in our laundry room for a few weeks.
NOT ENOUGH VENTILATION IN THE COOP
We live off the grid in an extremely cold part of Canada, north of the 60th parallel. Homesteading here is tough. It gets down to -50C and colder (that’s -58F) in the winter.
OUR DIY CHICKEN COOP IS TOO TALL!
I think our coop is so pretty. After looking over pages of chicken coop painting ideas, we settled on navy blue with white trim. There’s a white door (okay, it’s mostly dirty. But it is white under there.) And a white-framed window.
THE CHICKEN RUN IS TOO SMALL
We don’t free- range because our lot isn’t fenced. Also, predators such as bears, wolves, pine martens and eagles concern me. Now, this might change in the future.
NO SICK BAY IN OUR CHICKEN COOP
It wasn’t until Dot, one of the smallest chickens began to act sick that we realized our chicken coop didn’t have a sickbay. We made do with a dog crate.
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