Are Free Chicken Coop Plans Good Value?
Article by Kieran Gracie
Maybe you have decided to build a chicken shed or hen run yourself in place of a readymade store product. Good idea. You must have looked at the costs for these online or in the shops. Off-the-rack chicken sheds are very expensive. Surely it makes sense to save yet more cash by getting hold of some free chicken coop plans as well? But the best chicken coop plans are not the free variety, and here’s why they are not good value.
All good chicken coop plans should be blueprints with clear dimensions and detailed diagrams and instructions for the difficult assembly bits. Novice woodworkers will also need a full list of materials to build the hen house, because it is quite difficult to prepare this accurately from drawings. There is nothing more annoying than finding you are short of some critical fastener or piece of timber when you are half way through assembly (and finding the hardware store shut for the weekend). Free plans are often a bit light on these important details.
Then there is the matter of your chicken coop design. Do you know exactly what you (and your hens) want, or would it be a good idea to look at a range of chicken shed designs before choosing? The best chicken coop plans will give you 50 or more designs to sort through, perhaps including some you had not thought about. For example, will your hen house be large enough? Be warm or cool enough? Easy to maintain and clean out? Well secured from predators? Again, free plans tend to have a very limited range of choice and information.
The best hen houses will have good weather protection, be warm in the winter and cool in the summer, be built to last, have all the necessary ramps and perches, have provision for egg collection, water dispensers and food trays – the list is quite a long one. Information and guidance on these and other important aspects of chicken shed design are usually conspicuous by their absence in free plans. Perhaps you could do with a few woodworking tips as well – good plans will include a lot of advice here.
Most people will want to do the best for their hens, which includes making the best chicken coop and ensuring that all vital elements have been included in your design to keep your hens healthy, safe and happy. A trial and error approach will be a complete waste of time, energy and money.
If you are saving perhaps 0 or more on building your own hen house, why skimp on the or so you will spend on getting a good set of chicken coop plans to ensure you have the best chicken coop design that meets your particular requirements?
As you can see, free chicken coop plans are not necessarily best. On the contrary, they will almost certainly lead to inferior results when compared with chicken house plans produced by professionals. Surely your precious hens deserve to have a coop that is fit for purpose to ensure that they are healthy and happy – and good layers! You need to make the small investment in a really good set of chicken coop plans.
About the Author
If you need help in finding the best chicken coop plans currently available you will find plenty of information at BuildThingsDirect, as well as much more about keeping hens properly and happily.