Chicken Coops for Sale in Tahoe City, California
Chicken Coops for Sale in Tahoe City, California
Preparing Your Coop/Flock For Winter – Part 1: Roof Structure
Last week I posted a list of items that you may want to consider doing to make sure you and your flock are ready for the colder winter months. I’m going to try address one or two of these topics every Wednesday so that if you are going to work on them over the weekend you have time to plan.
Again I know it’s hard to even think of winter when the temperatures are in the 90’s in many parts of the country, but the cold weather will be on us before you know. Its much easier to take the time now to button up any issues, then trying to do it in the dead of winter. Many of you will not deal with snow and ice (lucky you!) but many of these topics effect all of us backyard chicken keepers and have a detrimental effect on the overall health of your coop…As I always say if what I post pertains to you and helps, great, if not just forget about it and move on…
Coop Roof Structure:
The roof of your coop is the first line of defense against the elements. A sound roof will not only prevent water penetration but will help in keeping your coop warm during the winter. As we all know heat rises (check our second floor of the house out in the summer!) and a solid roof can help trap some of this heat keeping the inside of the coop warmer. The important thing to remember is that you do not want to trap all of the heat by cutting off ventilation. Heat develops moisture and condensation so it’s important to have a balance. Ventilation is an important aspect of the coop, without it moisture builds, ammonia fumes become overpowering and your birds health will suffer. There is a huge difference between ventilation and a draft, we will be discussing “drafts” in a later post.
Having controllable ventilation at the peak of the roof structure will help to maintain a healthy coop. This can easily be accomplished with some screen covered holes on the side walls of the peak and using a piece of plywood to control how much of an opening you want. There are some much more elaborate systems out there but they all accomplish the same thing, controllable ventilation. If you don’t have ventilation at the peak you may want to consider it. There is a reason why so many homes have ventilation at the eves and peaks, it helps to control moisture in the home during the winter as well keeping the home cooler in the summer months.
Ensuring that your roof is leak free is also very important. That little leak you have been dealing with all summer may become a big issue during the winter when you get the “freeze/thaw effects”. During the day as snow and ice melt, water can leak into the the roof structure. At night this water freezes and expands resulting in a larger and larger leak as the days go by. There are many products out there that can help seal up these leaks but be careful some have toxic fumes that could be harmful to your flock. Sometimes just using a new shingle on asphalt roofs does the trick. Metal roofs typically leak at the seams or nail heads, a good quality sealer should handle these areas. Just remember most of the time the leak you see dripping on the underside of the roof came from a hole or crack above where you see the dripping. When water leaks in, gravity causes the water to run to the lowest point. It may take some investigation to find where the leak is actually coming from but a good starting point is to start above the spot you see the leak dripping.
If the wood on your coop roof is rotted it should be replaced. Rotted wood normally contains a large amount of moisture. The moisture in this wood adds moisture to the coop (remember, it’s a bad thing). “Freeze/Thaw” effects can take place on this rotted wood causing it to deteriorate even quicker. Snow loads can add significant weight to the top of the coop and a unstable structure runs the risk of collapse. I can only imagine how difficult it would be dealing with a roof collapse in the dead of winter! If the snow and ice get to heavy for the roof on your coop, you should remove it. When removing it be careful not to damage the roof shingles or other covering! Stand on a steady surface with both feet firmly planted on the ground or step when attempting to remove snow and ice.
A roof leak also adds unwanted moisture to you coop by letting water in and keeping the litter wet. The interior of a coop has enough moisture from bird droppings and the moisture a chicken itself gives off by breathing, you don’t need or want the added moisture from a leak. If the litter in the coop becomes wet from any source during the winter you should remove it and replace it with fresh as quickly as possible. Placing a bucket under the leak to catch the drip is not a good fix. When water drips into the bucket it can splash a fine mist a considerable distance. This mist keeps the litter wet and the air inside the coop too moist.
A well ventilated, leak free, structurally sound roof on your coop is a extremely important part in maintaining the overall health of your coop. This is not an area that you want to just “make do” and cut corners. There are many materials that you can use for a roof. Some, like scrap metal roofing or end cut pieces of tar paper and shingles can be found at a local building site (ask first, you don’t want the end up in jail!) or a recycling center. I would avoid using a tarp, although these are good in an emergency should you find a leak. And never use pressure treated wood which can give off toxic fumes in a enclosed area like a coop. If your roof membrane is water tight there is no need for pressure treated plywood or lumber as a deck surface.
By addressing the coops roof now you can prevent dealing with the effects of a wet environment in the dead cold of the winter months…Hope this helps….
FrankThe Chicken Fountain™
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Chicken Coop Run Plans in Tahoe City, California
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Tahoe City 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 Tahoe City California chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Tahoe City, California With the significant boost in poultry maintaining there has actually been a similarly huge increase in the variety of poultry paraphernalia for sale. Poultry housing is a proceedings in point. It's additionally a timeless instance of the excellent old bandwagon being jumped on as various prospective chicken housing specialists market an array of cottage asserting to be the excellent remedy to your chicken real estate demands. Frequently the price looks appealing, your house looks appealing, heck also the clean-cut family members standing there feeding the chickens look appealing. Certainly they recognize a professional chicken house when they see one? There are lots of low-cost as well as awful coops swamping the marketplace. I know this as I've examined a variety of them in the area, and also seen a ewe run directly with one when the feed pail appeared. The outcome was just a pricey stack of firewood and a little flock of bemused and currently homeless bantams.
Baby Chick Care in Tahoe City, California
Typically these mass produced models are created of fast grown timber - come the very first decline of rainfall they swell, leaving you either defending a door that will not close, or tearing the door furnishings off in a vain effort to launch the squawking inhabitants. The very first warm and comfortable day implies the wood dries and also splits, the really felt roof covering bubbles as well as boils, as well as come nightfall the chickens choose not to enter. This is not due to their dissatisfaction at the decrease of their as soon as appealing apartment but due to the fact that the hovel is now a place for, and most likely abounding, the fowl caretaker's nemesis, red mite. Add that it stated on the blurb that it would fit four huge chickens when that equipping density was based on the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, as well as just what are you left with? A number of hinges and some kindling. A suitable coop for thee to 4 birds must cost you around ₤ 300 though this could rely on whether you choose for a complimentary standing house or one with a run affixed. Presuming you are ranging your birds in a huge space and also the pop hole door is big enough for the breed you maintain, then the main requirements of housing come down to 3 factors which will certainly specify the variety of birds your home will hold; perches, nest boxes and ventilation. The majority of breeds of chicken will certainly perch when they visit roost in the evening, this perch needs to preferably be 5-8cm broad with smoothed off edges so the foot sits conveniently on it. The perch needs to be above the nest box entrance as chickens will additionally naturally try to find 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 create the most poo) leading to stained eggs the list below day. They should not nevertheless be so high off the floor of the house that leg injuries can take place when the bird comes down in the morning. Chickens require concerning 20cm of perch each (in tiny breeds this is clearly much less), plus if greater than one perch is mounted in your house they should be greater than 30cm apart. They will certainly hunker up with their next-door neighbors yet are not that crazy about roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird ahead. Ideally your house needs to have a least one nest box for every 3 birds and also these ought to be off the ground as well as in the darkest area of the house. Your house needs to have sufficient air flow: without it after that condensation will accumulate every evening, also in the coldest of weather condition. Realize, air flow works on the concept of warm and comfortable air leaving through a high space drawing cooler air in from a lower void - it's not a set of holes on other walls of the house as well as at the very same degree, this is just what's referred to as a draft. If you have a house with a run affixed then the points above are still real, but you should likewise take into consideration the run dimension. The EU optimum lawful equipping density for a totally free variety bird is (and let's face it, one of the inspirations for keeping some hens at home is potentially boosted or far better welfare) 2,500 birds per hectare, that's optimal one bird each 4m squared. Take a close consider a few of the deal residences - it could well be your home has the best perches, proper ventilation and ample nest boxes for an affordable number of birds, yet will each of the chickens have anything greater than an A4 sized item of ground to invest the day on? Therefore as the saying goes, "you get exactly what you pay for". You might assume you've got a bargain, but you as well as your flock might rue the day you did. Purchase the ideal house as well as it will certainly last for a couple of years, otherwise longer provided the correct therapy. Eventually your chicken and also your chicken keeping encounter will certainly be a lot the much better for it.plan chicken
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