Chicken Coops for Sale in Montpelier, Idaho
Chicken Coops for Sale in Montpelier, Idaho
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 Pictures in Montpelier, Idaho
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Montpelier Idaho" 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 Montpelier Idaho chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Montpelier, Idaho With the substantial rise in chicken keeping there has been an equally big rise in the range of poultry stuff on sale. Chicken housing is a case in factor. It's additionally a traditional instance of the excellent old bandwagon being got on as different would-be fowl real estate experts pitch an array of holiday accommodation claiming to be the perfect solution to your chicken real estate requirements. Usually the price looks appealing, your house looks eye-catching, hell even the clean-cut family members standing there feeding the chickens look attractive. Surely they understand a quality chicken house when they see one? There are many cheap and also unpleasant cages flooding the marketplace. I know this as I've examined a number of them in the field, as well as seen a ewe run directly through one when the feed container appeared. The result was just a pricey pile of fire wood and also a little flock of bemused as well as now homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Roost Ideas in Montpelier, Idaho
Usually these mass produced models are built of fast grown up timber - come the initial decrease of rainfall they swell, leaving you either blockading a doorway that will not shut, or ripping the doorway furniture off in a vain attempt to launch the squawking inhabitants. The very first cozy day suggests the hardwood dries as well as cracks, the felt roofing bubbles as well as boils, and also come nightfall the hens choose not to go in. This is not due to their frustration at the decrease of their as soon as desirable apartment but due to the fact that the hovel is now a place for, and also most likely abounding, the fowl caretaker's bane, red mite. Add the fact that it said on the blurb that it would certainly suit 4 large chickens when that equipping thickness was based on the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, as well as what are you left with? A couple of hinges and also some kindling. A decent coop for thee to four birds need to cost you in the region of ₤ 300 though this can rely on whether you elect for a free standing house or one with a run affixed. Assuming you are varying your birds in a large room and also the pop opening door is big enough for the breed you keep, then the primary needs of housing come down to three factors which will specify the number of birds your home will certainly hold; perches, nest boxes as well as air flow. A lot of types of chicken will certainly perch when they visit roost at night, this perch needs to preferably be 5-8cm broad with smoothed off sides so the foot sits conveniently on it. The perch ought to be more than the nest box access as chickens will additionally normally search for the highest point 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) resulting in dirtied eggs the list below day. They should not however be so high off the flooring of your house that leg injuries could possibly occur when the bird comes down in the morning. Chickens need concerning 20cm of perch each (in small breeds this is obviously much less), plus if greater than one perch is mounted in your home they ought to be greater than 30cm apart. They will hunker up with their next-door neighbors yet are not that keen on roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird in front. Ideally the house should have a least one nest box for every three birds and also these need to be off the ground as well as in the darkest location of your house. The house must have appropriate air flow: without it after that condensation will develop every evening, also in the coldest of climate. Understand, ventilation works with the principle of warm air leaving with a high void attracting cooler air in from a lower gap - it's not a set of openings on contrary walls of your home and also at the very same level, this is just what's known as a draught. If you have a house with a run attached after that the factors above are still real, however you must likewise think about the run size. The EU maximum lawful equipping density for a totally free variety bird is (as well as allow's encounter it, among the motivations for maintaining some hens at home is possibly boosted or far better well-being) 2,500 birds per hectare, that's maximum one bird per 4m squared. Take a close check out several of the deal homes - it could well be the house has the best perches, correct ventilation and sufficient nest boxes for a practical variety of birds, however will each of the chickens have anything greater than an A4 sized item of ground to spend the day on? And so as the claiming goes, "you get exactly what you pay for". You might think you've grabbed a deal, but you and your flock could rue the day you did. Purchase the right house as well as it will certainly last for a couple of years, otherwise longer offered the appropriate therapy. Eventually your chicken and your chicken keeping encounter will be a lot the far better for it.coops coop
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