Chicken Coops for Sale in Ratcliff, Arkansas
Chicken Coops for Sale in Ratcliff, Arkansas
How to build a Chicken Coop for under $50
How to build a Chicken Coop for under $50
Why Raise Chickens?
Really, the question you should ask is “Why not raise chickens?” Raising chickens can be a really rewarding experience. These amazing animals eat a small amount of feed a day, and yet produce one egg about every day of the year. (Out of 365 days a year, they lay about 335 eggs.) They take a couple days off here and there, but for the most part they are great layers. Having complete control over the food you feed your family is also really rewarding. Knowing our chickens eat non-GMO, Organic feed, and are allowed to free-range on our acre yard somehow just makes the eggs taste better. There are many benefits to free-ranging your chickens. First of all, they don’t develop diseases because they are out in the fresh air and not living in their poop. Second, they eat a LOT more bugs and let me tell you, you WANT your chickens to eat bugs. Not only does it help keep your bug(& scorpion) population down, it also increases the amount of Omega-3’s per egg. There are just some things that nature does better! The added bonus of letting your chickens eat bugs is that they will eat less of your store-bought feed which helps bring down your overall cost.
FYI, chickens that are locked up in small spaces are SUPER mean to each other. Like cannibal mean. By cannibal, I mean they will literally eat each other. Seriously. They will gang up on the weakest and peck at it incessantly until it dies and then eat it. It’s all Mean Girls up in there, I’m telling you. So, definitely free-range, okay?
How Much does it Cost to keep Chickens
If you buy “regular” chicken feed, it will only cost you about $11.00 for a 50 lb. bag. Pretty good deal, huh? Well, not really. “Regular” feed is chock full of GMOs (genetically modified organisms) which are KNOWN for making chickens sick. Genetically modified organisms are also called Roundup Ready. GMO’s require massive amounts of pesticides, herbicides & fungicides. Yum. “Regular” feed is also usually pre-packaged with antibiotics. Wasn’t that nice of the feed company? Gosh, they are so nice to give our chickens anti-biotics after making them sick with GMOs. So thoughtful. When all’s said and done and your chickens stop going diarrhea, it will only cost you 82 cents a dozen. Organic, Non-GMO feed is about $24.00 for a 50 lb. bag but the benefits are amazing. Our feed is full of clean grains, as they should be, with no pesticides in them or on them. We also supplement their diet with dinner table scraps. It costs us about $1.75 a dozen. At the store, you can expect to pay $5.99 a dozen for ORGANIC, FREE-RANGE eggs. A Plan is Hatched (I’m freakin’ hilarious) The chicken coop I’m about to show you is one for FREE-RANGE chickens. This means your chickens should only be in the coop to eat feed, lay eggs, and roost/sleep at night. For the rest of the day they should be allowed in a yard so they can stay nice and healthy. I can’t take full credit for this idea. Okay, I can’t take ANY credit for this idea. Kevin and I were talking about how to get rid of our old crib. We couldn’t really give it away to Goodwill because it has that old school drop side that has totally been recalled now for safety issues. Then Kevin mentioned on how that sliding door would come in handy for a chicken coop. YES! Totally! I’ve been wanting to build a new chicken coop, and this thing was pretty much built for me! Well, I took Kevin’s idea and ran with it. I first drew a picture of how I wanted it to look. Yes, I’m a very visual person. (Lydia said it was the best drawing of a crib she’s EVER seen, so that means it’s pretty dang good.) The crib. Ah, crib you’ve served us well. You’ve kept our sweet little babes safe and sound as they have sweetly slumbered. Well, except for that one time when the drop side malfunctioned and Ethan tumbled out when he was 8 mo. old. But let’s forget about that one issue. You have been a great crib and we’re thankful for all your service. Aaannd now you will be a pooping ground for our chickens, mmkay? Ta-da! Here’s the coop all finished! It was SUPER easy. We lined two sides with chicken wire, two sides with wains coating, slapped a roof on that mutha’ and called it a day. Okay, okay. It took a little longer than that. I had to paint it, which actually takes way more spray paint than you’d think. I was actually embarrassed at how many times I kept underestimating the amount of spray paint I needed. It was becoming a problem, how bad I was at estimating my spray paint needs. I kept going back to the store and I totally felt like the checkout lady was thinking, “Really? MORE spray paint?” And I, feeling stupid for being the worst spray paint estimator ever, imagined yelling, “Yes, it’s for my chickens, OKAY?!!” The drop side comes down just enough to gather eggs and fill the feeder. I totally cut these pieces myself. I also cut the table I was using but we won’t dwell on that. Sorry Kevin! You’re still “not mad”, right??? A chicken coops not a chicken coop ’till you put an actual picture of a chicken on it, right? I thought so. It has a simple roof made of wains coating and trim. Underneath is a simple frame of 1x2s. Did I mention it was simple? Super cute, right? And cheap, which makes the Mr. Husband happy.
P.S. My friend Claire from wrote an excellent guide on (and raising chickens in the winter in general). I highly recommend it!
Do you own chickens? Have you ever thought of raising chickens? You should! And you should totally use your old crib because, well, it’s super cheap and super cool.
Chicken Coop For Sale in Ratcliff, Arkansas
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Ratcliff Arkansas" 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 Ratcliff Arkansas chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Ratcliff, Arkansas With the massive boost in poultry maintaining there has actually been a just as big surge in the range of chicken stuff on sale. Chicken real estate is a proceedings in point. It's likewise a traditional instance of the great old bandwagon being got on as various would-be fowl housing professionals market a range of cottage claiming to be the ideal solution to your chicken housing requirements. Typically the cost looks appealing, your diy-chicken-coop-planshome looks desirable, hell also the clean-cut family standing there feeding the chickens look desirable. Surely they understand a quality chicken house when they see one? There are many low-cost and also nasty cages swamping the market. I know this as I've tested a number of them in the field, as well as seen a ewe run straight with one when the feed container appeared. The outcome was only an expensive heap of firewood and also a small group of bemused as well as currently homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Easy To Clean in Ratcliff, Arkansas
More often than not these standardized designs are built of quick grown up hardwood - come the initial decrease of rain they swell, leaving you either barricading a doorway that won't close, or tearing the door furnishings off in a vain effort to release the squawking citizens. The first warm and comfortable day implies the hardwood dries and also fractures, the felt roof covering bubbles and boils, and come nightfall the chickens choose not to go in. This is not because of their dissatisfaction at the decrease of their as soon as eye-catching residential property yet because the hovel is now a haven for, and also most likely abounding, the fowl keeper's bane, red mite. Add the fact that it stated on the blurb that it would certainly match four large chickens when that equipping thickness was based on the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, as well as exactly what are you entrusted? A few hinges and also some kindling. A decent coop for thee to 4 birds should cost you in the region of ₤ 300 though this can rely on whether you elect for a free standing house or one with a run connected. Presuming you are ranging your birds in a huge area as well as the pop hole door is big enough for the type you keep, after that the major requirements of housing come down to 3 points which will specify the variety of birds your house will hold; perches, nest boxes and ventilation. A lot of types of chicken will perch when they visit roost at night, this perch should ideally be 5-8cm broad with smoothed off edges so the foot sits pleasantly on it. The perch needs to be above the nest box entry as chickens will also naturally seek the highest point to perch. A perch less than that will have the birds roosting in the nest box overnight (which is by the way when they create the most poo) causing stained eggs the list below day. They shouldn't however be so high off the flooring of your house that leg injuries could possibly take place when the bird gets down in the morning. Chickens require about 20cm of perch each (in tiny types this is obviously less), plus if greater than one perch is installed in the house they should be more than 30cm apart. They will certainly hunker up with their next-door neighbors yet are not that keen on roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird in front. Ideally your home must have a least one nest box for every three birds and also these ought to be off the ground and also in the darkest location of the house. Your home should have appropriate air flow: without it then condensation will build up every evening, also in the coldest of weather condition. Be aware, ventilation works on the principle of cozy air leaving with a high void drawing cooler air in from a reduced gap - it's not a set of holes on opposite wall surfaces of the house as well as at the very same degree, this is what's referred to as a draught. If you have a house with a run attached after that the factors above are still true, yet you need to additionally take into consideration the run size. The EU maximum legal equipping thickness for a free array bird is (as well as allow's face it, among the motivations for keeping some hens in the house is possibly boosted or far better welfare) 2,500 birds each hectare, that's optimal one bird per 4m made even. Take a close look at a few of the bargain houses - it could well be your house has the ideal perches, appropriate ventilation and also adequate nest boxes for a practical number of birds, yet will each of the chickens have anything more than an A4 sized piece of ground to invest the day on? And so as the claiming goes, "you obtain what you spend for". You could believe you've got a deal, however you and your group might rue the day you did. Acquisition the best house as well as it will certainly last for a few decades, if not longer offered the correct treatment. Eventually your poultry and your chicken maintaining experience will be a lot the better for it.coops chick
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