Chicken Coops for Sale in Keystone Heights, Florida
Chicken Coops for Sale in Keystone Heights, Florida
Tropical Chicken Coop Construction – Ch.1
Tropical Chicken Coop Construction – Ch.1
I have been helping our friends build a chicken coop so that they can start raising there own hens and producing their own eggs. The week before I helped them build a compost pile so that they could start composting their yard waist on a larger scale, now we move into coop development. After researching different designs and methods for building a coop I decided to go with one that would fit well in the tropics. Much like San Diego, you don’t have to worry about a freeze or the chickens getting to cold, however you do need to be concerned with other natural elements like predators, tropical rain storms, gusty winds and too much heat. Taking this into consideration I designed a coop that would protect the hens from the elements, yet be opened up enough to allow a breeze and shade for the hens to grow in.
Chicken Coop Design
Chicken Coop Plans
The structure of the coop is 4x8x8. It is 4 ft wide by 8ft long and 8ft high at its highest point. The floor of the hen house is three feet off of the ground. There is a thatched roof covering the length of the coop to keep out the rain and sun. The roofs highest point is at 8ft (in the center) dropping down to 6ft on the front side, and 7ft on the back side. This allows for a consistent air flow throughout the coop
Chicken Coop Plans (Side Views)
I designed the coop on paper, worked out the measurements and then we started putting it together after we picked up the supplies. As expected we made a few adjustments as we began to put the coop together to fit the surroundings a little better. One thing that I didn’t keep in mind was the slope that we would be working on, this eventually elevated the ‘run’ side a little more giving the hens an extra 6 inches to play around in.
Chicken Coop Supplies (So Far)
- 3 4×8′ 1/2″ pieces of plywood
- 20 2x4x8′ studs
- 12 2x2x8′ studs
- 1 6x2x8′ stud
- 2 4×8′ roofing sheets
- 1 4×50′ roll of chicken wire
- 1 box 3.5″ screws
- 1 box 2″ screws
- 6 hinges
- 3 latches
- 4 cinder blocks
Chicken Coop Structure
Putting up the Frame
After we picked a location by the mango tree, the first thing that we did was put together the frame. This would be our skeleton if you will, everything else would be built off of the frame. As mentioned before the frame of the structure is 4ft wide by 8ft long. We put 6ft posts on the front side, 7ft posts on the back side, and two 8ft posts on the ends (for the roof). Notice the cinder blocks used to give us a level playing field, not the prettiest look, this is something that we will fix up as we finish the project.
Chicken Coop Construction
Putting Up the Walls
After we got the frame up we started to work on the hen house itself, this is where then hens will go to lay their many eggs in the future. We closed off the floor and the back wall first because these are permanent, no doors or latches needed. In this picture you can see that we also added a few more frame pieces for the roof, this was because of the type of roofing that we decided to go with. You will be able to see why when we finish.
Hen House Layout
Building the Hen House
Once we put in the permanent walls and floor we began building the doors that would allow us access into the hen house for cleaning and feeding. This front door section will open up giving us plenty of room to work around the hen house.
Nesting Boxes
The Nesting Boxes
The Nesting Boxes came next on our plans. We decided to do two rows of boxes 4 boxes deep. This gives us a total of 8 nesting boxes. Each box is 12″x12″12″. We started the bottom row 6 inches off of the floor and the next row 12 inches above that. We left a 3″ over hang to give the hens something to climb up to before entering their boxes. We also put a 4.5 inch lip on the front of the boxes making the entrance to the boxes 7.5″x12″. We did this to give the hens more protection and less room to move around. This should prevent them or the other hens from eating their eggs once they began producing.
Entrance for Eggs
Behind the nesting boxes, on the outside of the hen house we installed two barn style doors to give us easy access to all of the boxes, thus giving us easy access to the eggs down the road. This will also make it easier for cleaning an maintenance when the time comes.
Hen House Entrance
Hen House Entrance
This last image is of the entrance into the hen house, this was the last thing that we finished up to this point. We still have the roof, chicken wire enclosure and last minute adjustments. As you can see the Tropical Chicken Coop is coming along just fine. We are almost there but not quite yet. Once we get some more time to work on it we should be able to wrap up this project and move the hens in. Eggs are on their way!
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Chicken Coop Necessities in Keystone Heights, Florida
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Keystone Heights Florida" 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 Keystone Heights Florida chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Keystone Heights, Florida With the massive increase in poultry keeping there has actually been a just as big increase in the variety of chicken paraphernalia on sale. Chicken real estate is an instance in point. It's additionally a traditional example of the excellent old bandwagon being jumped on as numerous would-be fowl housing professionals pitch a selection of holiday accommodation claiming to be the perfect solution to your chicken real estate requirements. Typically the cost looks appealing, your diy-chicken-coop-planshome looks attractive, heck also the clean-cut household standing there feeding the chickens look desirable. Surely they understand a quality chicken house when they see one? There are lots of inexpensive as well as horrible cages swamping the marketplace. I know this as I've examined a variety of them in the area, as well as seen a ewe run straight with one when the feed container appeared. The result was just an expensive heap of fire wood and a little flock of bemused and currently homeless bantams.
Baby Chicks Hatching in Keystone Heights, Florida
Typically these standardized designs are built of fast grown up wood - come the first decline of rain they swell, leaving you either blockading a doorway that will not shut, or tearing the door furniture off in a vain attempt to release the squawking inhabitants. The very first warm day indicates the timber dries out as well as splits, the felt roof covering bubbles as well as boils, and also come nightfall the chickens refuse to enter. This is not because of their disappointment at the decrease of their once desirable home yet because the hovel is currently a sanctuary for, as well as probably abounding, the fowl caretaker's bane, red mite. Add on the fact that it stated on the blurb that it would certainly match 4 large chickens when that stocking density was based on the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and exactly what are you entrusted? A few joints and also some kindling. A decent coop for thee to four birds must cost you around ₤ 300 though this can depend on whether you elect for a totally free standing house or one with a run connected. Thinking you are ranging your birds in a large room as well as the pop opening doorway allows enough for the type you keep, then the major demands of real estate boil down to three points which will specify the variety of birds the house will certainly hold; perches, nest boxes and also ventilation. A lot of types of chicken will perch when they go to roost during the night, this perch should ideally be 5-8cm broad with smoothed off edges so the foot sits easily on it. The perch must be more than the nest box entry as chickens will likewise naturally look for the highest point to perch. A perch below that will certainly have the birds roosting in the nest box overnight (which is by the way when they create one of the most poo) resulting in stained eggs the following day. They should not nevertheless be so high off the floor of your house that leg injuries could possibly occur when the bird gets down in the early morning. Chickens require about 20cm of perch each (in small types this is certainly much less), plus if greater than one perch is mounted in your home they should be greater than 30cm apart. They will 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 the house should have a the very least one nest box for each 3 birds and these should be off the ground and in the darkest location of your house. Your house should have adequate air flow: without it after that condensation will certainly accumulate every evening, also in the chilliest of weather. Be aware, air flow works with the principle of cozy air leaving through a high gap drawing cooler air in from a reduced gap - it's not a set of holes on other wall surfaces of your house and at the very same level, this is just what's known as a draft. If you have a house with a run attached after that the factors above are still true, but you ought to also think about the run dimension. The EU maximum lawful stocking thickness for a free array bird is (and also allow's encounter it, among the inspirations for maintaining some chickens at home is potentially improved or much better welfare) 2,500 birds per hectare, that's optimal one bird each 4m settled. Take a close check out a few of the deal homes - it could well be your home has the ideal perches, appropriate air flow and also ample nest boxes for a sensible variety of birds, but will each of the chickens have anything more than an A4 sized piece of ground to invest the day on? And so as the claiming goes, "you obtain exactly what you pay for". You might assume you've got a bargain, yet you and your group can rue the day you did. Acquisition the right house as well as it will certainly last for a couple of years, if not longer given the appropriate therapy. Eventually your fowl as well as your fowl maintaining experience will be considerably the much better for it.plans coops
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