If your interested in keeping chickens then you have probably checked out some of the hen coops for sale.
As I am sure you are probably aware coops can be pretty darn expensive.
So before you go spending a fortune on a ready made coop or give up on keeping chickens altogether let me go over the two different kinds of chicken coops and point you in the right direction if you want to save money and build one yourself.
Making your own chicken coop can be the ideal solution to the rising prices of ready made chicken coops.
You don't have to be a carpenter to make them either.
All you need is a good set of instructions and the ability to use simple everyday tools like a hammer.
Before you even begin building your chicken coop you should decide on your design.
Most hen coops for sale can be categorized into two different types.
Chicken coops and chicken tractors.
Before you do anything else you should decide on which one is best for you.
Chicken Coops Chicken coops are the most common design you will see on the market.
They are structures fixed to the ground which usually consist of the hen house where the chickens sleep at night and the run where the chickens run around during the day.
This kind of design is perfect if you have a fixed place you want to put your chickens like a yard.
It provides excellent protection against the elements and predators while still allowing your chickens the freedom to walk around in your run.
However this design does take up more space then a chicken tractor and does not make full use of your chickens foraging and pest control nature.
Chicken Tractor As you look through different hen coops for sale you will most likely come across coops that are small and movable.
This kind of design is known as a chicken tractor.
A chicken tractor is smaller then a chicken coop and not fixed to the ground which allows you to move it about your yard.
This takes full advantage of your chickens foraging nature to keep pests under control and keep your garden/yard fertilized.
It also gives your chickens a new place to forage every day so they will not rely solely on you for food which is what happens in a run after the chickens have been their for awhile.
This is a good design to go with if you have a large area to move your chicken tractor around in or a garden that you would like to keep pest free and fertilized.
However be aware that chickens do scratch up the earth they are on in search for food so do not put your chicken tractor on your nice lawn or your precious salad garden unless your fine with them being torn apart.
I hope that this breakdown of the two main coop designs has helped you make sense of the multitude of hen coops for sale.
Once you decide on the right design for you then it is a good idea to purchase a book on making chicken coops.
This will provide you with all the tools you need to make your own coop and avoid spending thousands on one of the ready made hen coops for sale.