Chicken Coops for Sale in Kent, Illinois
Chicken Coops for Sale in Kent, Illinois
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
Baby Chicken in Kent, Illinois
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Kent 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 Kent Illinois chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Kent, Illinois With the big increase in chicken keeping there has been an equally large surge in the array of chicken materiel on sale. Poultry real estate is a situation in point. It's also a timeless example of the excellent old bandwagon being jumped on as numerous prospective fowl housing professionals peddle a range of cottage asserting to be the suitable remedy to your chicken housing demands. Frequently the price looks desirable, the house looks desirable, heck even the clean-cut family members standing there feeding the chickens look attractive. Surely they understand a top quality chicken house when they see one? There are many inexpensive as well as nasty cages swamping the marketplace. I recognize this as I've examined a variety of them in the field, as well as seen a ewe run directly via one when the feed container showed up. The result was just an expensive heap of firewood as well as a tiny flock of bemused as well as now homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Yard Ideas in Kent, Illinois
Typically these standardized versions are built of rapid grown up hardwood - come the initial decline of rain they swell, leaving you either fortifying a door that will not close, or tearing the door furniture off in a vain effort to launch the squawking citizens. The very first warm and comfortable day means the hardwood dries and fractures, the really felt roof bubbles and boils, as well as come nightfall the chickens refuse to go in. This is not because of their dissatisfaction at the decline of their as soon as desirable apartment however due to the fact that the hovel is now a sanctuary for, and most likely crawling with, the fowl keeper's nemesis, red mite. Add the fact that it said on the blurb that it would fit 4 big chickens when that stocking density was based on the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and what are you left with? A few hinges and also some kindling. A good coop for thee to 4 birds ought to cost you around ₤ 300 though this could depend upon whether you elect for a totally free standing house or one with a run connected. Thinking you are varying your birds in a large room and also the pop hole doorway is big sufficient for the breed you keep, then the main needs of real estate come down to three points which will certainly specify the variety of birds your house will certainly hold; perches, nest boxes as well as air flow. The majority of breeds of chicken will certainly perch when they go to roost at night, this perch needs to ideally be 5-8cm large with smoothed off sides so the foot sits easily on it. The perch should be more than the nest box access as chickens will certainly additionally naturally seek the acme 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 the most poo) causing stained eggs the list below day. They should not nonetheless be so high off the flooring of your house that leg injuries could possibly occur when the bird comes down in the morning. Chickens require about 20cm of perch each (in little breeds this is clearly less), plus if greater than one perch is mounted in the house they need to be more than 30cm apart. They will 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. Preferably the house should have a least one nest box for every 3 birds and also these should be off the ground as well as in the darkest area of your home. The house must have appropriate ventilation: without it after that condensation will certainly develop every evening, even in the chilliest of weather. Understand, air flow works with the concept of warm and comfortable air leaving through a high space attracting cooler air in from a reduced space - it's not a collection of holes on other wall surfaces of your house and also at the same level, this is just what's referred to as a draft. If you have a house with a run attached then the factors above are still true, yet you should also take into consideration the run dimension. The EU maximum lawful stocking density for a cost-free range bird is (and allow's encounter it, one of the motivations for maintaining some chickens at home is potentially improved or much better well-being) 2,500 birds each hectare, that's optimal one bird each 4m made even. Take a close check out several of the bargain homes - it could well be the house has the appropriate perches, proper ventilation and adequate nest boxes for a practical number 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 get just what you pay for". You could assume you've got a bargain, yet you and your group might rue the day you did. Acquisition the best house and also it will last for a few years, otherwise longer offered the correct treatment. In the long run your chicken as well as your fowl keeping encounter will be a lot the better for it.coops plan
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