Chicken Arc Plans - How to Build
Raising chickens can be an inexpensive and rewarding hobby. They are fascinating creatures to watch with the added benefit of fresh eggs thrown into the deal. Much of the difficulty of keeping chickens can be solved by building a proper chicken ark to house them.
The advantage of a chicken ark is that it can be moved around every few day so as to provide the birds with fresh forage and keep you from having to deal with the manure build up problems of a permanent coop.
The first step is to decide on a proper design. The best choice is an A-frame approximately six feet long by four feet wide. This size ark will be big enough to house six or seven birds, but not too big to be easily moved around the yard which is the whole purpose of the design. Search inline to get an idea of the different designs being offered for sale – this will give you plenty of ideas for the features you want to incorporate into your own.
Chickens are not picky about their homes. They need only a bit of grass to peck at and a dry place to roost. So do not be intimidated about building your own. If you have limited building skills, you might consider buying a set of plans which can help you out. They should include a complete list of supplies which will save you trips to the lumber yard and hardware store. If you have some basic building experience, you should be able to handle the project on your own.
Since your structure will be outside and sitting on the ground, you should use pressure treated lumber to protect and against insects and rot. 2 x 4 boards will provide adequate strength for the triangle walls at either end and the connecting runners between each set on points. Add two more boards halfway up the sides to support the floor of the roost. If you extend these supports past the ends of the ark they can do double duty as the handles as well.
A single sheet of pressure treated plywood will provide enough material for the floor of the roost and its roof as well. Carefully cut a rectangular hole in the center of the roost and save the off-cut to use as the ramp. You will need to add a hinge to one side and a latch to the other side. For convenient access to the roost and the egg laying area, add hinges to one side of the roof as well. If you choose, you can use metal siding for the roof of the structure. This is personal preference and often based on what scrap materials you have around the house.
With the major construction done, the last step is to add chicken wire around the lower level of ark. Now you can choose to paint and decorate your ark or leave it natural. Your ark is now secure and ready for its first guests.
