Chicken Coops for Sale in Moulton, Alabama
Chicken Coops for Sale in Moulton, Alabama
Metal Siding on Chicken Coops
My chicken coops have always had metal roofs, and now I’m trying out metal siding, on the grounds that I want anything I build to last 20 years without maintenance, and the exterior plywood I’ve been using doesn’t deliver that.
[Update: Seven years after writing this blog post, the corrugated metal walls are holding up well. Seven years is long enough for plywood walls to start falling to pieces, but the metal walls are holding up well, with only a bit of rust here and there.]
One of my old pasture houses, with a 15-year-old metal roof and 7-year-old metal siding.
Does Metal Promote Condensation and Wetness?
People will tell you that metal siding sweats, because of condensation. This is true if the inside of the house is warmer than the outside, since moisture from the warm house will condense on the cold walls and ceiling. But it’s not about metal vs. wood, since condensation forms on any kind of roof or wall, no matter what it’s made of. In marginal cases, it’s more visible on metal because it’s 100% non-absorbent.
A Fresh-Air House is a Dry House
But you can dodge the problem with a fresh-air poultry house. If you add enough ventilation, the inside of the house is just as cold as the outside, and you get no condensation. My metal roofs don’t have condensation unless there’s snow on the roof and temperatures are above freezing. The rest of the time, my highly ventilated houses have dry ceilings and walls.
Fresh-Air Poultry Houses, by Prince T. Woods. Reprinted by me!
This is one of the main points of , the chicken-coop book I’ve republished (check out the if you haven’t already). It focuses on the advantage of well-ventilated houses, a concept that still needs to be repeated constantly today. You won’t read anything about metal walls or roofs in this book, since it predates their use, but it’s a treasure trove in other ways.
You can also prevent condensation with insulation, but I don’t do that.
Can you really prevent damp chicken houses through ventilation alone? Well, it works for me, and I live in Oregon, which has a famously wet climate!
Installing Corrugated Sheet Metal Walls
Back to the construction project. In keeping with my other rule of construction (never use a saw when you can buy stuff that’s already the right size), I ignored my existing stock of 10-foot metal roofing and obtained some cheap 8-foot corrugated roofing from Home Depot. My chicken houses are 8×8 feet.
Karen and I banged these sheets onto a couple of sides of a chicken house where the old OSB siding was falling to pieces. We used roofing screws. These are hex drive screws with neoprene washers. We used to use roofing nails, but they pull loose too easily and we hate having roofing panels flapping loose in the breeze! And using power tools instead of a hammer keeps my shoulders and back from seizing up. I bang the screw in a short way with a hammer, then drive it home with a cordless drill.
I’m told that roofing screws have three times the holding power of nails.
These panels went on very quickly, and if they ever rust through (which they will, at the bottom edges anyway, if I allow chicken manure to pile up against them), I can take the screws out and replace them just as easily.
So far, so good. The shiny metal really brightens up the interior of the chicken house, and because it’s non-porous, it provides no place for roost mites to accumulate.
Cheap Roofing is Good Enough
Plain old “ripple metal” (corrugated steel) is less rigid than V-channel roofing, but it’s proven to be stiff enough, even for a house that gets dragged around behind a tractor, which can put all sorts of stresses on it, especially if it gets hung up on holes and bumps along the way. So far, so good. That means that, so far, the cheapest possible corrugated metal has been perfectly adequate.
Watch out for translucent corrugated fiberglass. In my experience, it’s not very strong and becomes increasingly brittle over time. I’m sure it has its uses, but don’t think of it as being structural in the way that plywood and corrugated steel are.
You Don’t Have to Settle for Ugly
Of course, you can build a much prettier house with metal roofing with baked-enamel finishes in designer colors, and you should probably do this if you don’t want a silver house, since it’s hard to get paint to stick to galvanized steel. While I’m always looking for the cheapest, longest-lasting, easiest-to-build designs, there are plenty of other ways of approaching the problem of chicken-coop design.
Related
Baby Chicks For Sale in Moulton, Alabama
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Moulton Alabama" into any one of the numerous search engines and a wealth of information will pop up. This information will provide links to other websites that will be informative and will provide the right direction for finding Moulton Alabama chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Moulton, Alabama With the massive boost in poultry keeping there has been an equally large increase in the range of chicken materiel on sale. Chicken housing is a proceedings in factor. It's also a traditional instance of the great old bandwagon being got on as numerous potential poultry housing specialists market a variety of lodging declaring to be the suitable solution to your chicken real estate needs. Often the cost looks eye-catching, your house looks appealing, heck even the clean-cut family members standing there feeding the chickens look eye-catching. Undoubtedly they recognize a quality chicken house when they see one? There are numerous low-cost as well as awful cages swamping the market. I recognize this as I've tested a variety of them in the area, as well as seen a ewe run straight via one when the feed container appeared. The outcome was nothing but an expensive heap of firewood and also a small flock of bemused and also currently homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop And Run in Moulton, Alabama
Generally these standardized models are constructed of fast grown up lumber - come the first decrease of rainfall they swell, leaving you either barricading a doorway that will not shut, or tearing the door furnishings off in a vain attempt to release the squawking citizens. The very first warm day indicates the hardwood dries out as well as splits, the felt roof covering bubbles as well as boils, and come nightfall the hens choose not to enter. This is not due to their disappointment at the decline of their once desirable residential property but since the hovel is now a haven for, and also most likely crawling with, the fowl keeper's bane, red mite. Add on the fact that it stated on the blurb that it would suit 4 big hens when that stocking density was based on the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and also exactly what are you entrusted? A few joints and also some kindling. A suitable coop for thee to 4 birds must cost you around ₤ 300 though this could depend upon whether you elect for a totally free standing house or one with a run connected. Presuming you are ranging your birds in a huge space as well as the pop opening doorway is big enough for the type you maintain, after that the main requirements of real estate come down to 3 factors which will certainly specify the number of birds your home will certainly hold; perches, nest boxes as well as air flow. Most types of chicken will certainly perch when they go to roost in the evening, this perch ought to preferably be 5-8cm large with smoothed off sides so the foot sits easily on it. The perch must be higher than the nest box entrance as chickens will also naturally seek the highest point to perch. A perch below that will have the birds roosting in the nest box overnight (which is incidentally when they create the most poo) leading to stained eggs the list below day. They should not however be so high off the floor of the house that leg injuries might take place when the bird gets down in the morning. Chickens require concerning 20cm of perch each (in small types this is obviously much less), plus if greater than one perch is mounted in your home they must be more than 30cm apart. They will hunker up with their neighbors but are not that crazy about roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird ahead. Preferably your house needs to have a the very least one nest box for each three birds and also these ought to be off the ground as well as in the darkest location of your home. The house needs to have sufficient ventilation: without it then condensation will certainly develop every night, even in the coldest of climate. Realize, ventilation works on the principle of warm air leaving with a high void drawing cooler air in from a reduced gap - it's not a collection of holes on contrary wall surfaces of the house and also at the same level, this is what's called a draught. If you have a house with a run connected after that the factors above are still true, yet you should additionally take into consideration the run size. The EU maximum lawful stocking thickness for a free variety bird is (and allow's encounter it, among the inspirations for maintaining some hens in your home is potentially boosted or better well-being) 2,500 birds per hectare, that's optimal one bird each 4m made even. Take a close check out some of the bargain houses - it could well be your house has the right perches, correct ventilation and also ample nest boxes for a practical number of birds, but will each of the chickens have anything more than an A4 sized piece of ground to spend the day on? And so as the claiming goes, "you obtain what you pay for". You could think you've grabbed a bargain, yet you and your flock could rue the day you did. Acquisition the best house as well as it will certainly last for a few decades, otherwise longer provided the proper treatment. In the long run your poultry and your chicken keeping encounter will certainly be a lot the better for it.build chick
More Posts
Chicken Coops for Sale in Helena, Alabama
Chicken Coops for Sale in Dolomite, Alabama
Chicken Coops for Sale in Midland City, Alabama
Chicken Coops for Sale in Malvern, Alabama
Chicken Coops for Sale in Dickinson, Alabama