Chicken Pen - The Most Efficient Way to Build a Chicken Pen

You probably know all about the interior of the chicken coop, but have you thought about how the chicken pen will be laid out? There are many things to consider, and depending on how well you implement things, you could have either a happy group of chickens or a very irritated group of chickens. Trust us when we say that the last thing you want to do is irritate your chickens.

The first order of business when creating your chicken pen is determining what type of fencing you want to use. You don't want to use the standard wire fence because chickens can easily poke their head through this type of fence or even squeeze through. This normally wouldn't be a huge problem, but chickens are probably the most widely hunted animal on the face of the planet by human and animal alike. If one gets out, it's sure to be eaten.

When your chickens are in the pen, you should make sure that they have access to water. You may have a water dispenser inside the coop, but it certainly couldn't hurt to have one outside as well. You could always pick up a galvanized metal watering device that will hold up to two gallons of water. The important thing is to make sure that you constantly clean it because it is outside and it will probably be on the ground unlike the one within the coop.

You do not necessarily need food outside for them, and it would probably be a bad idea because chicken feed will be destroyed in the rain. If you want to feed them in the pen, you can just toss them bread or other scraps throughout the day. They will eat it right away, and you won't have to worry about them being hungry if for some reason you are denying them access to the coop.

If you do not make the fence high, then you should have some sort of cover over the top of the coop. This is not so much to keep the chickens in as it is to make sure predators do not climb the fence and eat your chickens. It would also be a good idea to make sure that there is an entrance to the chicken pen from outside so you don't find yourself climbing over the fence every time you need access. That might work ninety percent of the time, but one of the times you try to do it you will end up knocking the fence over, which isn't good in any case.