Chicken Coops for Sale in Lake City, Colorado
Chicken Coops for Sale in Lake City, Colorado
Sand Litter Bed In The Chicken Coop: An Experiment
We’ve been managing our chicken coop through a . This hybrid system has worked extremely well in . Briefly, how that system works is, the chickens roost over the sand, which acts like kitty litter to dry out their overnight poop, and in the morning the poop is raked to the lower area, where it composts-in-place with lots of straw and other high-carbon bedding.
Last year, fed up with the very real problems involved when you combine chickens and vegetable gardening, we decided to stop attempting to free-range our birds and instead fenced in a large, outdoor area adjacent to the coop. We confined the hens to this area (the ducks, less destructive, still get to free range) and this solved many of our chickens-scratching up-my-seedlings problems.
Too Much Of A Good Thing?
However, this confined run area led to another problem. This is a good problem, a problem I cannot believe I have, but it’s a problem nonetheless. In order to accommodate our flock in this confined area, we piled on the straw and woodchips in both the coop’s lower area, and the outdoor run.
This has led to, basically, more compost than I can use. Yeah, I have too much compost. Crazy, right? I didn’t know there was such thing as too much compost.
When I hauled out all the deep litter and piled it up, it looked like this.
And it’s not just dealing with storing Mount Compost Heap up there. The bedding was building up so deeply in both the coop and the run that we started to have problems just opening the door to the coop. The chickens weren’t super effective at scratching down to the lowest levels, and I’m embarrassed to say that some anaerobic ickiness was starting to take place in the deeper levels of the bedding.
Something needed to change.
Trying something new.
Is Sand A Solution?
In order to manage these drawbacks, we are experimenting with a sand bed in the run area of the coop. The fenced outdoor chicken area will still be managed as a deep litter system, with arborists woodchips and straw added as needed for carbon.
But inside the coop itself, I’m trying sand.
I had help raking out the new sand.
I see several potential upsides to a sand bed, and a few downsides as well.
Pros:
- Sand bed is lower profile, so we’re able to open the door without hassle.
- Seems drier in winter due to superior drainage.
- Spilled chicken food is less likely to get “lost” in the bedding. I’ve observed chickens pecking at the food that falls on the sand. Less food waste = less feed expense.
- Sand adds natural grit to a chicken’s diet and sharpens nails
- Probably less expensive in the long-term, since sand doesn’t require frequent additions or “top-ups” like a deep litter system.
- May allow for indoor dust-bathing. I have not observed my hens using the sand to dust bathe, but I’ve read that they will.
- May cut down on opportunities for Coccidiosis in chickens by providing an inhospitable environment for the protozoa.
- Easy collection of poop allows for a more dedicated manure-composting system, which might be of use to people looking at black soldier fly farming (hem hem, me) or related endeavors.
When the hens spill feed, they can pick it up now.
Cons:
- Cold. The sand does not add to the warmth of the coop like the composting bedding. The sand feels noticeably colder to me when I touch it, and I’m not even walking around barefoot like my chooks. Cold is a drawback here in January. However, to chicken keepers in hot weather climates, perhaps a non-heat generating litter option would be a benefit?
- Requires more regular dedicated maintenance. We’re already in the daily habit of scooping the poop from the sand covered upper coop area, so this doesn’t add a huge amount of work to that chore, but it’s definitely not the kind of job you can ignore for several
weeksdays. - Does not break down into compost. Unless your chickens already make more compost than you can use, less compost is a bad thing.
- The ducks don’t seem happy about the sand, but then ducks don’t like change, so I don’t read too much into this yet.
- Duck poop doesn’t scoop well. The front runner of Reasons I May Go Back To Deep Litter is wet duck poop on sand. Ewww.
- The poop has to go somewhere. In the prior system we just scrapped the upper poop onto the composting bedding. Now the upper and lower poop have to go somewhere. At the moment we’re scraping the poop out the door into the outdoor run area, but this experiment of sand-bedding the indoor run has triggered a re-evaluation of all my manure and compost management practices. So, simple change.
As of now, I have more questions than answers. I’ll let you know how the sand bed works out going forward.
Chicken Coop Setup in Lake City, Colorado
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Lake City Colorado" 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 Lake City Colorado chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Lake City, Colorado With the massive boost in poultry maintaining there has been an equally huge increase in the array of chicken stuff for sale. Chicken housing is a proceedings in factor. It's also a timeless example of the good old bandwagon being jumped on as numerous would-be poultry housing experts market an array of cottage declaring to be the excellent solution to your chicken real estate requirements. Often the cost looks eye-catching, the house looks attractive, hell even the clean-cut household standing there feeding the chickens look attractive. Undoubtedly they recognize a top quality chicken house when they see one? There are several economical and also unpleasant cages swamping the marketplace. I recognize this as I've examined a number of them in the area, and also seen a ewe run directly with one when the feed pail appeared. The outcome was only an expensive pile of firewood and also a little flock of bemused as well as currently homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Enclosures in Lake City, Colorado
More often than not these standardized models are built of fast grown up lumber - come the initial decrease of rain they swell, leaving you either fortifying a doorway that will not close, or ripping the door furnishings off in a vain effort to launch the squawking occupants. The initial warm day indicates the wood dries out and also cracks, the really felt roofing system bubbles as well as boils, as well as come nightfall the chickens choose not to go in. This is not as a result of their disappointment at the decline of their as soon as attractive building but because the hovel is now a sanctuary for, as well as most likely crawling with, the fowl caretaker's bane, red mite. Add that it said on the blurb that it would certainly fit four huge chickens when that equipping density was based on the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and also exactly what are you left with? A couple of hinges and some kindling. A respectable coop for thee to four birds should cost you in the region of ₤ 300 though this can depend upon whether you choose for a cost-free standing house or one with a run affixed. Assuming you are ranging your birds in a huge area and also the pop hole door allows enough for the breed you keep, after that the main requirements of housing come down to 3 factors which will certainly define the number of birds your house will certainly hold; perches, nest boxes and ventilation. A lot of types of chicken will certainly perch when they visit roost during the night, this perch should ideally be 5-8cm broad with smoothed off sides so the foot sits easily on it. The perch should be more than the nest box entry as chickens will certainly additionally normally search for the acme to perch. A perch below that will certainly have the birds roosting in the nest box overnight (which is incidentally when they create the most poo) causing soiled eggs the list below day. They should not nonetheless be so high off the floor of the house that leg injuries could possibly take place when the bird gets down in the early morning. Chickens need regarding 20cm of perch each (in small types this is undoubtedly less), plus if greater than one perch is installed in your house they ought to be greater than 30cm apart. They will certainly hunker up with their neighbors but are not that keen on roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird ahead. Ideally your home ought to have a least one nest box for every single three birds and also these should be off the ground as well as in the darkest location of your house. Your home ought to have ample ventilation: without it then condensation will develop every evening, even in the coldest of weather. Understand, ventilation works on the principle of warm and comfortable air leaving via a high void drawing cooler air in from a reduced void - it's not a collection of openings on contrary wall surfaces of the house and at the exact same level, this is exactly what's referred to as a draft. If you have a house with a run affixed after that the points above are still true, but you ought to likewise consider the run size. The EU maximum legal stocking density for a totally free range bird is (and let's encounter it, among the inspirations for keeping some hens in your home is perhaps improved or far better well-being) 2,500 birds per hectare, that's optimal one bird per 4m squared. Take a close look at a few of the bargain houses - it could well be the house has the appropriate perches, proper ventilation and also ample nest boxes for an affordable variety of birds, yet will each of the chickens have anything greater than an A4 sized piece of ground to invest the day on? And so as the saying goes, "you obtain just what you spend for". You may think you've got hold of a deal, however you and also your flock could possibly rue the day you did. Purchase the right house and also it will last for a couple of decades, if not longer offered the right therapy. In the long run your poultry and your fowl keeping encounter will be considerably the much better for it.build diy
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