Chicken Coops for Sale in Hines, Illinois
Chicken Coops for Sale in Hines, Illinois
Our Finished Chicken Coop
These past few days had us outside enjoying the beautiful weather. One of the jobs I crossed off the list was to clean out our new chicken coop.
Because of our over the past year or so, our family was going through several dozen eggs a week. (I can’t help it – I’m hooked on !)
So last summer we quit “planning” to get our own chickens, and actually did it. The whole family pitched in to build a little abode for our egg-laying beauties. And because we were first-time chicken owners and newbies in all chicken-related topics, we joined and gleaned months worth of ideas, do’s and don’ts, and building plans. (I can’t recommend this site highly enough! If you have the slightest inclination of doing chicken anything, go here and read to your heart’s content.)
It was so helpful to see photos and designs when we were in the planning stages, I thought I’d share pictures of our coop and the hows and whys of what we did.
The chicken coop
Instead of starting from scratch, we bought a small granary from my brother-in-law; about 9’x7′ inside measurements. This gave us about 3 sq. ft. per bird. The coop is nothing fancy really. It isn’t visible from the road and we don’t live in town with neighbors to care about the view from their back window, so we used as much scrap material as possible. Plus we didn’t think the chickens would mind.
So far they haven’t rebelled.
We re-tinned the roof (that’s my honey!) and I got to use the saw sawl to make holes for the windows and vents. You can call me Mrs. Handyman. . .
Inside the chicken coop
Framing the windows and vents was the most time consuming part since the building wasn’t square. We used insulation and vapor barrier for the walls for added moisture protection and warmth because the windchill can get -40 below or more in the winter.
We made the roosting boards parallel and the same height because apparently hens will act like old biddies and fight for the top most board. (Some people’s kids. . .)
We rounded the edges of the roosting boards so it’s easier on the hens’ feet. The boards can be removed for ease of cleaning the poop boards underneath.
Poop boards seemed quite popular among chicken peoples and we’ve quickly learned why. First, chickens poop more when roosting, so the roosting boards are placed above the poop board. This makes clean up as simple as buying a wide sheetrock mudding tool and scraping the droppings into a bucket each day. We then add the droppings to our compost pile.
We originally built a rollaway community nesting box directly underneath the poop board, but the chickens ended up laying eggs everywhere but there. Eventually we added a ‘normal’ set of 12″x12″x12″ nesting boxes and they’re happy campers again.
We decided to use the deep litter method. We spread a bag of wood chips on the floor and because the hens leave most of their droppings on the poop boards, there’s minimal waste on the floor. The chickens like to scratch and fluff the wood chips so it gets stirred up and aerated. This means the coop is less smelly, and there’s only a few minutes of daily cleaning of the boards. If needed, you can add more wood chips throughout the year.
We clean the coop out fully in the spring and fall. So far it’s worked wonderfully.
We nailed a board across the doorway to prevent the rising litter from falling out every time we opened the door.
The feeders are gravity fed. They’re made of PVC pipe with a 90 degree corner and a cap at the end. We like that we can leave for several days at a time and don’t have to worry about having someone come out to do chicken chores for us.
This water stand was Travis’s idea. The hens have a platform to stand on so no matter how high the litter gets, they can reach the water comfortably.
The chicken nipples underneath are another idea shared by BYC that I LOVE. The water doesn’t drip, there is no poop or mud to worry about, and our full grown hens figured it out within 24 hrs. The pails are covered with lids to prevent the water from getting dirty and it lasts for at least a week (we add apple cider vinegar).
When we’re home, we clean them out and give them fresh water every few days.
There’s electricity on the wall above the waterers with a timed light switch. We use bird bath heaters to keep the water from freezing during the winter. We had to add the slanted plywood because the hens were roosting on the pails. (I told you they fought for highest roosting privileges.)
The pop door is a simple design, and it works great. It slides up and down, held in by L shaped boards.
When in the closed position, the hook and eye on the right prevent racoons (or children!) from trying to lift the door from the outside.
We used 1/2″ x 1/2″ hardware cloth to cover the insides of the windows and vents. . .
. . .and plexiglass for the actual windows.
We made sure to have plenty of vents (thanks to sage advice from Pat’s Ventilation Page) and used eyes and rope to open and close them at different heights.
Finally, we added a small lean-to to the side so the hens could come out in the winter. This helps block snow drifts right in front of the pop door, and they can still come out for fresh air and sunshine when they get cabin fever.
It might not win a beauty contest – but there’s something to be said for function-ability Hope this gave you some ideas!
What have you done to your chicken coop? We’d love to hear your ideas and suggestions!
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Chicken Coop Necessities in Hines, Illinois
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Hines 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 Hines Illinois chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Hines, Illinois With the substantial rise in poultry maintaining there has been a just as big surge in the array of chicken paraphernalia for sale. Chicken housing is a proceedings in point. It's additionally a timeless instance of the excellent old bandwagon being got on as different potential fowl housing professionals market a selection of accommodation asserting to be the suitable solution to your chicken real estate needs. Often the rate looks appealing, your diy-chicken-coop-planshome looks attractive, heck also the clean-cut family members standing there feeding the chickens look desirable. Surely they know a quality chicken house when they see one? There are many cheap as well as horrible cages swamping the marketplace. I know this as I've checked a number of them in the area, as well as seen a ewe run directly through one when the feed pail showed up. The outcome was only a costly heap of fire wood and a small group of bemused and also currently homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Enclosures in Hines, Illinois
Usually these standardized designs are built of rapid grown timber - come the initial drop of rainfall they swell, leaving you either defending a door that won't close, or ripping the doorway furnishings off in a vain attempt to launch the squawking occupants. The initial cozy day suggests the wood dries out and also splits, the really felt roofing bubbles and also boils, and also come nightfall the chickens refuse to go in. This is not as a result of their dissatisfaction at the decrease of their when eye-catching home yet since the hovel is now a place for, and probably abounding, the fowl keeper's bane, red mite. Add on the fact that it said on the blurb that it would certainly suit 4 huge chickens when that equipping density was based upon the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and what are you left with? A couple of hinges and also some kindling. A suitable coop for thee to 4 birds should cost you around ₤ 300 though this can depend upon whether you choose for a cost-free standing house or one with a run connected. Presuming you are ranging your birds in a large space and the pop opening doorway is big enough for the type you keep, then the main requirements of housing come down to 3 points which will certainly define the number of birds your home will certainly hold; perches, nest boxes and also air flow. The majority of breeds of chicken will certainly perch when they go to roost at night, this perch must ideally be 5-8cm wide with smoothed off sides so the foot sits conveniently on it. The perch ought to be higher than the nest box entry as chickens will certainly additionally normally seek the highest point to perch. A perch less than that will have the birds roosting in the nest box overnight (which is incidentally when they generate one of the most poo) resulting in soiled eggs the following day. They shouldn't however be so high off the flooring of your home that leg injuries could occur when the bird comes down in the morning. Chickens require concerning 20cm of perch each (in little types this is certainly less), plus if greater than one perch is set up in your house they need to be more than 30cm apart. They will certainly hunker up with their neighbors yet are not that crazy about roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird ahead. Preferably your home should have a least one nest box for every 3 birds and these ought to be off the ground and also in the darkest location of your home. The house needs to have ample air flow: without it then condensation will build up every evening, even in the coldest of weather condition. Understand, air flow deals with the concept of warm air leaving with a high space attracting cooler air in from a reduced space - it's not a set of openings on other wall surfaces of your home and at the exact same level, this is what's known as a draft. If you have a house with a run connected then the points above are still true, yet you need to also think about the run size. The EU optimum legal equipping thickness for a free variety bird is (and let's face it, among the inspirations for maintaining some chickens in the house is potentially enhanced or far better welfare) 2,500 birds per hectare, that's maximum one bird each 4m made even. Take a close look at some of the bargain houses - it could well be the house has the appropriate perches, proper air flow and also ample nest boxes for a sensible variety of birds, yet will each of the chickens have anything greater than an A4 sized item of ground to invest the day on? Therefore as the saying goes, "you get exactly what you spend for". You may assume you've got a deal, yet you as well as your flock can rue the day you did. Purchase the ideal house as well as it will certainly last for a couple of years, otherwise longer offered the appropriate therapy. In the end your fowl as well as your fowl maintaining encounter will be considerably the far better for it.plan plans
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