Chicken Coops for Sale in Sanford, Colorado
Chicken Coops for Sale in Sanford, Colorado
building our homestead | the chicken coop.
When Justin and I had been , he took me to his family’s farm for Thanksgiving. I was already nervous as it was – he was a new boyfriend and I was meeting his family – but by the end of the weekend they’d coerced convinced me to drive a skid loader, fire off a few rounds at some coffee cans, and forage for my own breakfast in the chicken coop. When we came back the next spring, there were a handful of baby chicks fluttering around the yard and I thought they were so precious. Uncle Bill handed me one, nearly weightless in my palm, all its hollow bones twitching against my fingers. It made me nervous, how fragile it felt and how anxious it seemed to get back to its Mama Bird.
But the eggs? The eggs I loved. I loved the plastic Easter egg sitting inside the nesting box (to encourage the ladies to lay there); I loved the varying shades of brown, the speckled pattern and the occasional pastel green egg that appeared. They made the white grocery store eggs look so bland, so boring. And when we brought the eggs inside to fry up alongside our buttered toast, their yolks were electric orange. I’d never seen anything like it before (they grow pumpkins on the farm and feed the chickens with the broken pieces, thus the late-autumn yolks are especially colorful). I slid two over-easy’s onto my plate and split them open with the prong of my fork and watched the yolk puddle out to my toast. I think about that breakfast a lot, about the smell of the barn early in the morning; how Justin and I were living outside our comfort zones and learning to love each other; how he casually mentioned that, one day, we might have a farm.
We don’t have a full-blown farm, not by a long shot, but after trying to and finally accepting this is where we’ll stay, we decided to start building our backyard homestead. Justin bought the blueprints for a chicken coop and set to work in our garage over the winter. We poured the concrete footers together before Christmas, before the frost would come, and Justin etched our initials into the last one while it was still wet. He spent hours under the fluorescent lights of the garage bay, hammering and nailing and sometimes painting. And finally, after months of work, we hauled it outside with a trailer and some extra manpower.
Most of the books we read said chickens were low-maintenance, that they don’t need much besides a cardboard box and some fresh water. But my husband, God love him, is an overachiever. So our chickens will have the Ritz Carlton of chicken coops to call home. And this coming weekend, our chicks will arrive! We have nine in total – three each of Barred Rocks, Rhode Island Red, and Ameraucanas (Easter Eggers). They’ll live in a brooder box in our garage for the first few weeks to stay toasty warm, and by the end of May or June we’ll move them out to the luxury hotel we call a chicken coop. It isn’t quite finished, we still need to add shingles and chicken wire all around, but I’m so proud of it. I’m proud of what we’re doing, how we live, how we eat, how we teach our kids about food and about life.
So cheers to the homestead! We’re finally doing it.
***
First few photos are iPhone.
Resources:
Baby Chick House in Sanford, Colorado
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Sanford 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 Sanford Colorado chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Sanford, Colorado With the substantial boost in chicken keeping there has been a just as big rise in the range of chicken paraphernalia for sale. Chicken housing is a case in factor. It's additionally a classic instance of the excellent old bandwagon being jumped on as various would-be chicken housing professionals peddle a variety of accommodation asserting to be the ideal solution to your chicken real estate requirements. Commonly the cost looks eye-catching, your house looks attractive, hell even the clean-cut family standing there feeding the chickens look appealing. Undoubtedly they know a high quality chicken house when they see one? There are several inexpensive and also unpleasant coops swamping the market. I understand this as I've tested a variety of them in the area, as well as seen a ewe run straight via one when the feed bucket appeared. The outcome was just an expensive heap of firewood as well as a small group of bemused and also now homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Build in Sanford, Colorado
Most of the time these mass produced models are constructed of quick grown lumber - come the very first decline of rainfall they swell, leaving you either barricading a door that will not shut, or ripping the door furniture off in a vain effort to launch the squawking residents. The first cozy day indicates the wood dries as well as cracks, the really felt roof bubbles as well as boils, and come nightfall the chickens refuse to enter. This is not because of their disappointment at the decrease of their once desirable building however since the hovel is currently a sanctuary for, and also probably crawling with, the fowl keeper's bane, red mite. Add on that it claimed on the blurb that it would match four large chickens when that equipping thickness was based upon the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and also exactly what are you left with? A couple of hinges and some kindling. A suitable coop for thee to 4 birds need to cost you approximately ₤ 300 though this could depend upon whether you elect for a cost-free standing house or one with a run connected. Presuming you are ranging your birds in a big area and also the pop hole doorway is big sufficient for the type you keep, after that the main requirements of housing come down to 3 points which will specify the number of birds your house will certainly hold; perches, nest boxes and air flow. A lot of types of chicken will certainly perch when they visit roost during the night, this perch needs to ideally be 5-8cm wide with smoothed off edges so the foot sits comfortably on it. The perch should be above the nest box entrance as chickens will certainly additionally naturally search for the highest point to perch. A perch less than that will certainly have the birds roosting in the nest box overnight (which is by the way when they create the most poo) bring about dirtied eggs the list below day. They shouldn't however be so high off the flooring of your home that leg injuries could possibly happen when the bird comes down in the early morning. Chickens need about 20cm of perch each (in tiny breeds this is certainly much less), plus if more than one perch is installed in the house they need to be greater than 30cm apart. They will hunker up with their next-door neighbors but are not that keen on roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird ahead. Ideally the house needs to have a the very least one nest box for every three birds and these should be off the ground and in the darkest area of your home. The house should have ample ventilation: without it then condensation will certainly build up every night, also in the coldest of climate. Know, ventilation works with the concept of cozy air leaving via a high gap drawing cooler air in from a lower void - it's not a collection of holes on opposite wall surfaces of the house and at the exact same degree, this is what's known as a draft. If you have a house with a run affixed then the points above are still true, yet you must additionally consider the run dimension. The EU optimum lawful equipping thickness for a totally free variety bird is (and also let's face it, one of the motivations for maintaining some hens at home is perhaps enhanced or far better welfare) 2,500 birds each hectare, that's optimal one bird each 4m made even. Take a close check out a few of the deal houses - it could well be the house has the appropriate perches, appropriate ventilation and ample nest boxes for a practical variety of birds, but will each of the chickens have anything more than an A4 sized item of ground to spend the day on? Therefore as the claiming goes, "you obtain just what you pay for". You might believe you've grabbed a deal, yet you and your flock could rue the day you did. Acquisition the right house and it will last for a few years, if not longer offered the appropriate treatment. Ultimately your fowl and also your chicken keeping experience will certainly be considerably the better for it.coop diy
More Posts
Chicken Coops for Sale in Eckley, Colorado
Chicken Coops for Sale in Glade Park, Colorado
Chicken Coops for Sale in Saguache, Colorado
Chicken Coops for Sale in Georgetown, Colorado
Chicken Coops for Sale in Aurora, Colorado