Chicken Coops for Sale in Union City, California
Chicken Coops for Sale in Union City, California
Transform Your Little Tikes Playhouse into a Chicken Coop
When I started pestering my husband about chickens (again), I knew I was fighting an uphill battle. He did not want to spend a bunch of money and time on the construction of a suitable coop. We’d already been down the road of improper chicken housing before, and it wasn’t a road that either of us wanted to travel again. But I really, REALLY wanted to give chicken keeping another try. And I thought that with a little bit of forethought, we could eliminate the challenges we ran into before. For starters, the birds would need enough space. And the coop would need to be easy to clean. And most importantly, the coop would need to be secure. Nothing like coming home to find your chickens walking along the 6′ high wall that surrounds your yard! But to construct this type of set up from scratch would cost quite a bit of money in materials, not to mention all the time and sweat it would take for the hubs to actually BUILD the thing.
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So then I started scouring the internet trying to find the best deal on a “coop in a box”. I had my eye on but the price tag was a bit hefty. (It’s actually on sale for 58% off right now if you happen to be in the market for a pre-fabricated coop!) Not only was the hubs not excited about building a chicken coop, he also wasn’t excited about the idea of another “thing” in the yard. Our yard was already overrun with toys, bikes, gardening tools, a composter, and our very well-loved Little Tikes Playhouse. So as I sat in the yard one spring evening watching the kids play with everything BUT the playhouse, I got to thinking… Why couldn’t we just turn the playhouse into a chicken coop?!?! I didn’t tell hubs about the idea right away. Instead, I began looking at the structure of the playhouse to see if my idea would even work. Guys, I swear, this thing was MADE to become a chicken coop! It had everything we needed! The house is large enough for me to walk inside to rake it out, it has plenty of space for a nesting box, waterer, food, and a roosting bar. And it even came with a little cut out section near the floor (picture a doggy door) so the chickens could access the run we built behind it! I sketched out an idea of the modifications that we would need to make, and I presented my idea to the hubs. Guess what? He went for it! It was PERFECT. The structure was already built. We wouldn’t have to add another “thing” to our already tiny yard, and the best part? It’s totally incognito. No one would EVER suspect chickens were living in the playhouse! That night, I ordered our chicks! So how did we transform the playhouse? Well, let’s take a tour, shall we?
The first thing we did was cover all the openings with garden wire. Hubs had a roll of this laying around from some other project. He used drywall screws to attach the wire to the windows. The coop actually stayed like this for a while. While the chicks were still small, it was best for them to be confined to a smaller space, so not having a run wasn’t an issue.
Next the hubs built the run. You can see the “doggy door” in the bottom left corner…this is how the chickens get in and out of the house. The run is a pretty simple A-frame structure made out of 1″x 1″ pine pieces. The frame was made in sections and the wire was screwed on to each section as it was assembled. The top of the run lifts up so I can climb in and rake out the poo. I just prop it open with an upside down rake and jump on in.
The corners are all secured with these nifty . And the whole top piece is attached to the frame with some thin chains that act as a hinge. Here is a picture of the chains.
The brown plastic covering you see on this window is actually the cover to our sand and water table. The hubs cut it to fit over the largest window to break some of the wind in the winter. He used more drywall screws to attach it to the house.
Inside the coop, we attached a roosting bar (made out of an old broom handle) to the side of the house using a simple scrap of wood to attach it.
Here is a look at one side of the roosting bar. The other side just sits on the “mantle” inside the house.
My favorite part about the coop is the nesting box. Hubs attached a recycling bin to the wall using a couple brackets. It’s the PERFECT size for a comfy chicken laying box. And it’s up high so there’s a little privacy. We did cut it down a bit…chickens are not very bright creatures…they were afraid to go inside when the lip of the box was up higher.
The is hung from the ceiling by a thin chain (to keep the birds from standing on it), and the just sits on the floor. The set up is working BRILLIANTLY for us. The birds are happy and laying an egg per chicken per day (even though it’s winter), and it is all super easy to care for. The best part is that we were able to make this transformation for a whopping $46. I can’t say enough about how awesome chicken are…I’m pretty sure my kiddos would agree! Think you might transform your little tikes playhouse into a chicken coop?
Here is the complete list of materials and tools we used to make our playhouse into a chicken coop. Our chickens have been living in the coop for 8 months, and it’s still holding up great!
Hardware
- , to secure wire to playhouse
- to secure wire to wood frame
- to hang feeder from inside coop
Tools
- – for cutting the wire
- (for pounding staples)
- for cutting 1 1/2″ pieces of wood
Chicken Coop Kits Ebay in Union City, California
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Union 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 Union City California chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Union City, California With the substantial rise in poultry maintaining there has been a similarly big rise in the array of chicken paraphernalia for sale. Chicken real estate is a case in factor. It's additionally a classic example of the great old bandwagon being jumped on as various prospective fowl real estate professionals market a selection of cottage asserting to be the ideal option to your chicken housing demands. Commonly the cost looks desirable, the house looks attractive, heck also the clean-cut family standing there feeding the chickens look desirable. Certainly they recognize a quality chicken house when they see one? There are many cheap and awful cages swamping the marketplace. I know this as I've tested a number of them in the area, as well as seen a ewe run straight through one when the feed bucket appeared. The result was nothing but a pricey heap of fire wood as well as a little flock of bemused as well as currently homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Yard Ideas in Union City, California
Most of the time these standardized designs are constructed of quick grown timber - come the initial decrease of rainfall they swell, leaving you either barricading a doorway that will not shut, or tearing the doorway furnishings off in a vain attempt to release the squawking inhabitants. The first warm and comfortable day means the hardwood dries and also fractures, the really felt roofing bubbles and boils, and come nightfall the chickens refuse to enter. This is not because of their disappointment at the decline of their once eye-catching residential property but considering that the hovel is now a sanctuary for, and also possibly crawling with, the chicken keeper's nemesis, red mite. Add on the fact that it said on the blurb that it would certainly match four big hens when that stocking thickness was based on the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and also exactly what are you entrusted? A couple of hinges and also some kindling. A decent coop for thee to four birds should cost you around ₤ 300 though this could rely on whether you choose for a complimentary standing house or one with a run attached. Presuming you are ranging your birds in a big area and also the pop hole door is big sufficient for the type you keep, then the main demands of housing boil down to three factors which will certainly define the variety of birds your home will certainly hold; perches, nest boxes and air flow. Many breeds of chicken will perch when they go to roost at night, this perch must preferably be 5-8cm wide with smoothed off edges so the foot sits pleasantly on it. The perch ought to be higher than the nest box entry as chickens will certainly additionally naturally seek the highest point to perch. A perch less than that will certainly have the birds roosting in the nest box overnight (which is incidentally when they generate the most poo) causing dirtied eggs the following day. They shouldn't however be so high off the flooring of your house that leg injuries might happen when the bird comes down in the morning. Chickens require about 20cm of perch each (in small breeds this is obviously less), plus if more than one perch is set up in your home they need to be greater than 30cm apart. They will certainly hunker up with their neighbors yet are not that crazy about roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird ahead. Preferably your home ought to have a least one nest box for each three birds as well as these must be off the ground as well as in the darkest location of your home. Your house ought to have ample air flow: without it after that condensation will develop every night, also in the coldest of weather condition. Be aware, ventilation works on the principle of warm and comfortable air leaving via a high gap drawing cooler air in from a lower gap - it's not a set of holes on other wall surfaces of your home and also at the same degree, this is exactly what's known as a draught. If you have a house with a run connected after that the points above are still real, yet you should additionally think about the run size. The EU optimum lawful equipping thickness for a free array bird is (and also allow's face it, one of the inspirations for maintaining some chickens in the house is perhaps boosted or far better welfare) 2,500 birds per hectare, that's optimal one bird per 4m settled. Take a close look at some of the deal residences - it could well be your house has the ideal perches, proper air flow as well as enough nest boxes for a practical number of birds, however will each of the chickens have anything more than an A4 sized item of ground to invest the day on? Therefore as the stating goes, "you obtain just what you spend for". You might believe you've grabbed a bargain, however you as well as your group could possibly rue the day you did. Purchase the ideal house as well as it will certainly last for a couple of years, otherwise longer given the appropriate treatment. In the end your poultry and your fowl maintaining experience will certainly be much the better for it.plans build
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