Chicken Coops for Sale in Altona, Illinois
Chicken Coops for Sale in Altona, Illinois
Chicken Coop Rehab Addict
Do you watch Rehab Addict on the DIY channel? It’s a show about a young woman who rehabilitates old homes to their former glory. Except for the fact that she is young, tiny, cute, and rehabs houses, we are like twins! I am old, not tiny nor cute, and I am addicted to rehabbing chicken coops. Other than that, twins.
I have been rebuilding, redesigning, reconfiguring, repurposing, redecorating, and rehabilitating chicken coops since before I got chickens. It seems like I never quite get it right. There is always something that doesn’t work at all or could be improved upon. So I tinker.
The coops we bought when we moved to this property, although well built, were a complete miss-step. We ended up closing in the fronts, insulating them, and adding ventilation out the backs. I thought they were working well until the chickens decided that the nest boxes were much more comfortable for sleeping than the roosts. I won’t even go into the problems that caused. I had to close off the nest boxes in a couple of coops, forcing the hens to lay eggs on the floor, which created a whole new set of problems.
So, it was back to the drawing board. I knew that once I got them back up on the roosts at night, they would most likely stay there. With the exception of silkies, all my chicken breeds have preferred roosting, the higher the better. The nest box squatters are mostly juveniles and some old lazy girls. The problem with yanking them out of the nest boxes and putting them on the roosts at night, is that my roosts ran side to side. There were 2 to 3 roosts in each coop. My roosts are not attached to the coop walls, rather they are supported by these 2×4 hangers. The boards can be lifted out for coop cleaning and egg collection.
Because my coops had open fronts, we were not able to install the roosts front to back so we had to put them side to side.
That means we could not walk inside the coops without taking the roosts down. Michael could squeeze under, but my old body doesn’t bend that way.
Then we decided to insulate the coops and close in the fronts for temperature control and noise abatement. Now I had a solid wood surface to attach my hangers and roosts! I could deal with the problem of non-roosting birds!
I can walk in, yank them out of the nest boxes and put them on a roost!
Here is Judge Judy inspecting my work on Coop#3, our largest coop. She is one nosy girl for sure!
The first night was a bit chaotic. Some of the birds were too afraid go inside, choosing to roost on the plumbing, outside in the cold. They were swiftly scooped up and put inside, on a roost.
Some chose to sleep on the floor. I put them on roosts as well.
Some got yanked out of nest boxes and put on roosts.
Today we finished retrofitting the final two coops. Of the 53 chickens who inhabit five coops, 10 were not on roosts tonight. I got everybody in the right place quite easily. I love finally having the roosts running the direction that makes it more convenient for us! We also gained several additional feet of roosting space. Note to self: This doesn’t mean getting more chickens.
With the roosts moved, I now had to figure out where to put the feeders to keep them from getting pooped on. With the fronts closed the feeders now fit perfectly on a hook on the inside of the doors! When the doors are closed they are the right height for the chickens to reach. They are also easier to fill now. I don’t have to climb in the coops with buckets of feed.
So, the moral of the story is, keep working on your chicken coop until you get it right. Oh, I just noticed how sloppy the inside of that door looks. Maybe we should paint the insides of the coops and hang curtains?
It’s what Nicole would do if she had chickens.
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Chicken Coop Run Ideas in Altona, Illinois
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Altona Illinois" 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 Altona Illinois chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Altona, Illinois With the huge increase in chicken keeping there has actually been a similarly big surge in the range of fowl stuff on sale. Chicken housing is an instance in factor. It's additionally a classic example of the great old bandwagon being got on as different prospective fowl housing professionals peddle a range of cottage asserting to be the excellent remedy to your chicken real estate demands. Typically the rate looks eye-catching, your diy-chicken-coop-planshome looks eye-catching, hell also the clean-cut family standing there feeding the chickens look eye-catching. Surely they recognize a quality chicken house when they see one? There are many cheap and unpleasant coops flooding the marketplace. I understand this as I've examined a number of them in the field, and seen a ewe run directly via one when the feed pail showed up. The result was nothing but an expensive heap of fire wood as well as a small group of bemused and now homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop On Trailer in Altona, Illinois
More often than not these mass produced versions are built of quick grown up hardwood - come the initial decrease of rain they swell, leaving you either fortifying a doorway that will not close, or ripping the door furniture off in a vain attempt to launch the squawking citizens. The initial cozy day suggests the wood dries out as well as splits, the felt roof bubbles and boils, as well as come nightfall the chickens refuse to enter. This is not as a result of their dissatisfaction at the decline of their when eye-catching apartment but since the hovel is now a sanctuary for, as well as most likely abounding, the fowl keeper's bane, red mite. Add the fact that it claimed on the blurb that it would suit 4 large chickens when that stocking density was based upon the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and just what are you left with? A number of hinges and some kindling. A respectable coop for thee to four birds ought to cost you approximately ₤ 300 though this could rely on whether you elect for a complimentary standing house or one with a run affixed. Thinking you are varying your birds in a huge room and the pop hole doorway is big sufficient for the type you maintain, after that the major demands of housing boil down to three points which will specify the number of birds your house will certainly hold; perches, nest boxes and air flow. The majority of breeds of chicken will perch when they visit roost in the evening, this perch needs to preferably be 5-8cm large with smoothed off sides so the foot sits conveniently on it. The perch ought to be higher than the nest box entrance as chickens will certainly also normally try to find the highest point to perch. A perch lower than that will certainly have the birds roosting in the nest box over night (which is incidentally when they generate one of the most poo) bring about soiled eggs the list below day. They should not nonetheless be so high off the floor of the house that leg injuries can happen when the bird comes down in the morning. Chickens need concerning 20cm of perch each (in tiny types this is clearly much less), plus if greater than one perch is installed in the house they ought to be greater than 30cm apart. They will hunker up with their neighbors however are not that crazy about roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird in front. Preferably the house should have a the very least one nest box for every 3 birds as well as these ought to be off the ground and also in the darkest location of the house. Your house should have appropriate ventilation: without it after that condensation will certainly accumulate every night, also in the coldest of climate. Realize, air flow works on the principle of warm air leaving through a high void attracting cooler air in from a lower space - it's not a set of openings on other walls of the house and also at the exact same level, this is exactly what's known as a draught. If you have a house with a run attached after that the points above are still true, but you ought to likewise take into consideration the run dimension. The EU optimum lawful equipping density for a free array bird is (and also allow's encounter it, among the inspirations for keeping some chickens at home is potentially improved or better welfare) 2,500 birds per hectare, that's optimal one bird per 4m settled. Take a close take a look at some of the deal homes - it could well be your house has the best perches, right ventilation and sufficient nest boxes for an affordable variety of birds, but will each of the chickens have anything greater than an A4 sized piece of ground to spend the day on? Therefore as the saying goes, "you get what you pay for". You might assume you've grabbed a bargain, however you and your group can rue the day you did. Purchase the appropriate house and it will certainly last for a couple of decades, if not longer given the appropriate treatment. In the long run your fowl and your chicken maintaining experience will certainly be much the much better for it.coops chickens
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