Coop in winter should reliably protect the bird from cold and wind.But this is not all that remains to be considered when building a house for layers. Among other things, it is necessary to provide good lighting, because in the winter it is especially lacking. The erected building should be well insulated by means of high-quality heat insulators, as for even such a chicken coop in which it is supposed to install heating appliances.
Features planning a chicken coop
A chicken coop for broilers mustget dry. This is due to the fact that high humidity in a tandem with low temperatures will have a bad effect on the health of the bird. Do not think that high humidity can be combined with a warm room. In this case, the bird can become ill with ailments of the upper respiratory tract.
If you intend to place in a chicken coopa large number of birds, you should not make the room too spacious, this is due to the fact that a large area will be quite difficult to heat. The most suitable in size will be the room that is built at the rate of 1 m2 for three hens of meat breeds, and as for hens, for four of them 1 m will be needed2. Thus, to build a chicken coop for 30 chickens, you need 7.5 m2.
Do not forget that the windows should be as possiblemore, it will save electricity that goes to the lighting. Windows must be well insulated. It is recommended to turn them to the south side. This will help promote the health of chickens, because the sun's rays act as a source of vitamin D.
Features of the construction
Initially, to choose the material forcarrying out the construction process. This can be done on the basis of the budget allocated for the construction work. But experienced experts say that it is necessary to choose the one that has the highest qualities of heat saving. If you decide to use wood, then it is recommended to acquire an exceptionally dense, as well as a wide timber, this will guarantee that the walls will not freeze through. But a chicken coop can be erected for 30 chickens from other materials, for example, from mud blocks, as well as brick or adobe. However, it is important to take into account the region in which the building is supposed to be installed - the more north the area, the more massive and warmed the walls should be.
Особенное внимание необходимо уделить кровле, if it is thin, then all the warm air will go through the ceiling. This will entail a significant increase in the cost of heating resources. For the winter coop, you should equip the roofing pie, making it out of roofing material or roofing felt, which must be folded in two layers, as an alternative solution, you can use chips, stacked in four layers.
Foundation
Прежде чем строить курятник на 30 кур своими hands, you need to lay the foundation of the building. The foundation is recommended to make columnar. This will speed up the work, because the support base does not imply expectations after the bookmark. In addition, this design is erected easier than other types of foundation. Under the floor will be a space that will serve as a ventilation gap. But you can use as a base and another type of foundation, which you will most conveniently build. Due to the fact that the chicken coop will be located at some distance from the ground, the wood at the base of the walls will be protected from contact with the soil, and rodents will not be able to build their holes under the floor.
Foundation construction technology
In order to build a chicken coop on 30 chickenshands, you must first select the place where you want to install the building. Further, the territory is cleared and marked up. You can use for this a thin cable and steel rods. The latter must be hammered along the perimeter and covered with a cable above the ground. Then you can start the excavation work, which implies the need to eliminate the top layer of soil. Now in the corners you can make the grooves where you intend to mount the foundation supports. It is necessary to go deeper by 70 cm, giving the pits a width of 50 cm, while the step between the supports should be equal to 1 meter.
In order to build a chicken coop for 30 chickens, onthe bottom of the pits must be filled with sand and gravel, the thickness of the layer obtained after a thorough tamping should be equal to 10 cm. After the first pair of bricks or stones can be laid. At the next stage, the solution is prepared, and then poured. Then, two more bricks need to be mounted across the already installed ones, and the foundation support needs to be raised to the level of the cable. The space between the bricks and the soil should be filled with gravel. In addition, it is recommended to pour it on the area under the future construction.
Construction of walls
In order to build a quality chicken coop on30 chickens with your own hands, you need to take care of the construction of solid walls. To do this, on the basis you need to lay the timber. However, previously the roofing material is laid on the surface of the foundation in two layers. After the first level of the boards is laid, it is necessary to mount the sex lags, the cross section of which is equal to 100x150 mm. They should be separated from each other by 50 cm. Then you can proceed to the laying of subsequent levels. Bars should be prepared beforehand, for this they form a lock joint of the thorn-groove type.
The construction of a chicken coop from a bar mustaccompanied by laying insulation material between the logs. As a heater you can use flax fiber. In the process of building walls, it is necessary to strive to reach a level of 1.7-1.8 m. Only after you can begin to fix the ceiling beams.
Roof arrangement
After the ceiling beams are reinforced,you need to make and install rafters, and then lay the roof. It can be made a gable, it will allow to get free space above the ceiling, where you can store litter and feed. This, by the way, will create an additional insulating layer. The ceiling can be mounted using any board or plywood, which must be used in tandem with insulation.
Creating a ventilation system
Building a winter chicken coop with your own hands, notit is worth forgetting about the presence of a ventilation system. This will ensure a healthy and comfortable microflora for the bird. To do this, install a pair of ventilation pipes. One end should be 30-50 cm from the surface of the ceiling, while the second - at the level of the ceiling. In order to be able to adjust the intensity of ventilation, the ends of the pipes need to be supplied with valves.
Floor arrangement
Erecting a winter chicken coop with your own hands, you needtake care of the correct floor system. This is the only way to avoid drafts. In order to get a quality floor, it is preferable to make it double. It can be based on a 25-mm board, vapor barrier, as well as bars, whose cross-section is 100x100 mm. In conclusion, you can put a smooth material on the floor, which can be a board or plywood. Do not forget about the layer of litter, which should be quite impressive.
Additional insulation
The construction of the coop may be accompaniedwall insulation by caulking. To do this, in the grooves that are formed by a bar or board, you need to lay tow or glass wool. This can be done after the completion of construction work with a special tool and a hammer. After the board from the inside of the building you can sheathe plywood, as an alternative solution it is permissible to use cardboard. This not only improves the surface, but also makes it wind-proof. On top of plywood, the base can be covered with plaster, and after whitening, it will disinfect the room. If you want to protect the surface of the walls from chickens that can peck the finishing layer of plaster, then the walls can be covered with plastic. In addition, such a room will be much easier to wash using a wet method.
Coop for broilers in the area of the ceiling can beto insulate using peat or straw. A piece of pipe for ventilation in the gap from the ceiling to the roof can be sheathed with straw, and then coated with clay. The pipe located above the surface of the roof should have double walls, between which sand is laid, it can be replaced with peat, it will perform the same functions.
Gender in the hen house should not be left withoutlitter, to be monitored, the layer of the substrate must be thick within 15 cm. To do this, sawdust or peat can be used, and some hosts use chopped straw. The most heat-saving will be the "warm floor".
Artificial heating
For the northern areas of natural insulationIt is not enough, in the role of additional heating, you can use infrared emitters. If the building is very well insulated in the area of walls, ceiling, floor and windows, then one heater will be quite enough. It is preferable to use the heater, which has a thermostat in the system. This will make it easy to monitor the temperature, in this case you will not have to monitor the reading on the thermometer and think about the sufficiency of the heating.
Lighting Features
Coop, large or small, requirelighting. The bird wakes up at 5-6 in the morning, it is at this time that the room should be light. Since the sun does not rise beyond the window for a long time, it is necessary to install additional lighting. When dusk comes, the light can be turned on again for about 4 hours. But before spending the night it is unacceptable to turn off the light immediately. Initially, you need to put it down a little, it will be a signal for chickens to calm down and get ready for bed.
To ensure lighting is permissible to applyTraditional incandescent bulbs that emit yellow light. It is worth remembering that the lighting of different colors affects the bird in different ways. So, blue calms, red is able to increase reproduction, while green promotes growth.
Well, if you can connectlighting to the timer. This will ensure the same length of daylight hours. Subsequently, such an impact will have a positive effect on the health of the bird and its productivity.
After the coop sizes have been selected,the place for its location is determined, you can start construction work. After the erection, it is necessary to test the construction for suitability of the hens in it. To do this, supply the coop with thermometers if construction is carried out in winter. The building itself can also show where the walls are not sufficiently insulated. In this case, outgrowths of frost will appear on their surface. This will indicate that warm air appears in these places, and the wall needs to be further warmed.
