Chicken Coops for Sale in Montague, California
Chicken Coops for Sale in Montague, California
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
Chicken Coop Out Of Pallets in Montague, California
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Montague California" 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 Montague California chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Montague, California With the substantial increase in poultry keeping there has been a just as big surge in the range of chicken stuff for sale. Chicken real estate is a situation in point. It's also a timeless example of the excellent old bandwagon being got on as different potential chicken housing experts pitch a selection of holiday accommodation declaring to be the optimal remedy to your chicken housing requirements. Commonly the rate looks appealing, your diy-chicken-coop-planshome looks desirable, hell also the clean-cut family members standing there feeding the chickens look eye-catching. Certainly they understand a high quality chicken house when they see one? There are several cheap and also horrible coops swamping the marketplace. I understand this as I've checked a number of them in the field, and also seen a ewe run directly via one when the feed pail showed up. The result was just a pricey pile of firewood as well as a tiny flock of bemused and also currently homeless bantams.
Baby Chick Care in Montague, California
Generally these mass produced designs are constructed of fast grown up wood - come the initial decrease of rain they swell, leaving you either defending a door that won't close, or tearing the doorway furnishings off in a vain attempt to launch the squawking inhabitants. The initial cozy day suggests the lumber dries out and fractures, the felt roofing system bubbles as well as boils, and also come nightfall the hens choose not to enter. This is not as a result of their dissatisfaction at the decrease of their once desirable apartment however considering that the hovel is currently a place for, and also possibly crawling with, the chicken keeper's bane, red mite. Add the fact that it stated on the blurb that it would certainly match 4 large hens when that equipping thickness was based upon the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and also exactly what are you left with? A number of joints and some kindling. A suitable coop for thee to four birds ought to cost you around ₤ 300 though this could depend upon whether you choose for a cost-free standing house or one with a run connected. Thinking you are varying your birds in a huge room as well as the pop hole door allows enough for the type you keep, after that the main requirements of housing boil down to 3 factors which will specify the variety of birds your house will hold; perches, nest boxes as well as air flow. Most breeds of chicken will perch when they visit roost at night, this perch must ideally be 5-8cm large with smoothed off sides so the foot rests comfortably on it. The perch needs to be more than the nest box entrance as chickens will certainly likewise naturally look for the highest point to perch. A perch lower than that will certainly have the birds roosting in the nest box over night (which is incidentally when they generate one of the most poo) leading to stained eggs the list below day. They should not however be so high off the floor of your home that leg injuries could possibly happen when the bird comes down in the early morning. Chickens require concerning 20cm of perch each (in small breeds this is certainly less), plus if greater than one perch is set up in your house they ought to be more than 30cm apart. They will hunker up with their neighbors but are not that keen on roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird in front. Ideally the house ought to have a the very least one nest box for each three birds and also these need to be off the ground and also in the darkest location of the house. The house ought to have ample ventilation: without it then condensation will certainly build up every night, also in the chilliest of weather. Be aware, air flow deals with the principle of cozy air leaving via a high void drawing cooler air in from a reduced space - it's not a collection of holes on other walls of your house and also at the same degree, this is what's referred to as a draught. If you have a house with a run affixed then the factors above are still real, yet you should likewise consider the run size. The EU maximum legal equipping density for a complimentary variety bird is (as well as allow's encounter it, one of the inspirations for maintaining some chickens at home is possibly enhanced or far better welfare) 2,500 birds per hectare, that's maximum one bird each 4m settled. Take a close consider several of the bargain residences - it could well be your house has the ideal perches, right air flow and ample nest boxes for a practical number of birds, but will each of the chickens have anything greater than an A4 sized item of ground to spend the day on? Therefore as the claiming goes, "you get exactly what you pay for". You may believe you've grabbed a deal, however you as well as your group could rue the day you did. Acquisition the best house as well as it will last for a few decades, if not longer provided the appropriate therapy. In the end your poultry and also your poultry maintaining encounter will be considerably the far better for it.chicken coops
More Posts
Chicken Coops for Sale in Big Creek, California
Chicken Coops for Sale in Knights Landing, California
Chicken Coops for Sale in Antioch, California
Chicken Coops for Sale in La Grange, California
Chicken Coops for Sale in Descanso, California