Chicken Coops for Sale in Mesena, Georgia
Chicken Coops for Sale in Mesena, Georgia
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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Baby Chick Facts in Mesena, Georgia
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Mesena Georgia" 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 Mesena Georgia chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Mesena, Georgia With the substantial boost in poultry maintaining there has actually been an equally huge increase in the variety of poultry stuff for sale. Poultry real estate is a case in point. It's additionally a timeless instance of the excellent old bandwagon being got on as various would-be chicken real estate specialists market an array of holiday accommodation claiming to be the ideal remedy to your chicken real estate needs. Typically the cost looks attractive, the house looks eye-catching, heck also the clean-cut family members standing there feeding the chickens look attractive. Undoubtedly they recognize a quality chicken house when they see one? There are numerous cheap as well as horrible coops flooding the marketplace. I recognize this as I've checked a number of them in the area, and also seen a ewe run directly with one when the feed pail appeared. The outcome was nothing but an expensive stack of fire wood and also a tiny group of bemused as well as currently homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Boxes in Mesena, Georgia
Most of the time these mass produced models are created of rapid grown lumber - come the first decline of rain they swell, leaving you either defending a doorway that will not close, or ripping the doorway furniture off in a vain effort to release the squawking occupants. The first warm and comfortable day implies the lumber dries and also cracks, the felt roofing bubbles and boils, as well as come nightfall the chickens choose not to enter. This is not due to their dissatisfaction at the decrease of their when eye-catching apartment however due to the fact that the hovel is now a sanctuary for, and probably crawling with, the chicken caretaker's bane, red mite. Add on that it said on the blurb that it would certainly match 4 large chickens when that stocking thickness was based on the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and also just what are you entrusted? A few hinges as well as some kindling. A decent coop for thee to 4 birds need to cost you around ₤ 300 though this could rely on whether you choose for a totally free standing house or one with a run connected. Presuming you are ranging your birds in a huge area and also the pop opening door is big sufficient for the type you maintain, then the major requirements of real estate come down to 3 points which will specify the number of birds your home will certainly hold; perches, nest boxes and ventilation. A lot of breeds of chicken will perch when they go to roost in the evening, this perch must preferably be 5-8cm vast with smoothed off edges so the foot rests easily on it. The perch needs to be more than the nest box access as chickens will certainly additionally naturally search for the highest point to perch. A perch less than that will have the birds roosting in the nest box over night (which is by the way when they create the most poo) causing stained eggs the following day. They shouldn't however be so high off the flooring of your house that leg injuries could possibly happen when the bird gets down in the early morning. Chickens need regarding 20cm of perch each (in small breeds this is clearly less), plus if more than one perch is set up in the house they need to be more than 30cm apart. They will certainly hunker up with their next-door neighbors but are not that keen on roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird in front. Ideally your home should have a the very least one nest box for every single 3 birds as well as these ought to be off the ground as well as in the darkest location of your house. The house ought to have sufficient air flow: without it after that condensation will certainly develop every night, even in the chilliest of weather condition. Understand, air flow deals with the concept of warm and comfortable air leaving with a high space drawing cooler air in from a lower void - it's not a collection of holes on contrary walls of your home and at the very same degree, this is exactly what's called a draft. If you have a house with a run affixed after that the factors above are still true, yet you need to also think about the run size. The EU maximum legal equipping thickness for a complimentary range bird is (and also allow's face it, among the inspirations for keeping some hens in the house is potentially improved or far better well-being) 2,500 birds per hectare, that's maximum one bird per 4m squared. Take a close consider a few of the deal houses - it could well be the house has the appropriate perches, proper ventilation and also sufficient nest boxes for an affordable variety of birds, but will each of the chickens have anything greater than an A4 sized item of ground to spend the day on? And so as the saying goes, "you get what you spend for". You could believe you've got hold of a deal, but you and your flock might rue the day you did. Purchase the appropriate house and it will last for a couple of decades, otherwise longer given the appropriate treatment. In the end your poultry and also your poultry maintaining experience will certainly be much the far better for it.diy coop
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