To build a simple chicken coop is an excellent idea for those who love to be self-dependant. By raising your own chickens, you have your own supply of food assured. Having free meat or free eggs is great, but better than that is that in case something happened, you would have your own supply of food.
In order to buy a simple chicken coop, you still should have in mind a few basics about the health of your chickens.
You want your chicken coop to be warm enough so that your chickens can be safe at winter. So, you should have at least one or two electrical lights inside, which will provide warmth and let you check your chickens at night.
You should build your coop in some place where it can take as much sunlight as possible.
If the weather in your zone is very cold, your chicken coop must have a window and a door. If your weather is not so cold, you could just use a curtain to close the coop.
Put some kind of fence so your chickens are safe from predator like foxes, wild dogs and others.
A nice chicken coop must be kept clean. It is recommended to clean and disinfect it at least once in a week.
You should provide them with enough space to exercise, too. A chicken that´s free to run around and be well exercised is a happy chicken, and happy chickens mean better eggs :-). Just keep in mind that your chickens will be able to get back into the coop when they need warmth. The exercise area should have some green grass. Green grass is green food for your chickens, and the roots will absorb the impurities your chickens leave behind.
Take a look at my article at http://goarticles.com/article/Tips-to-help-you-Build-a-Simple-Chicken-Coop/4263535/.
I recommend this website which has great step-by-step plans to build your own chicken coop according to your own needs:
http://tinyurl.com/buildsmallchickencoop
