Chicken Coops for Sale in Makanda, Illinois
Chicken Coops for Sale in Makanda, Illinois
Chicken coops for beginners – a primer!
Your chickens will need a safe dry and well ventilated place to roost at night or to be in bad weather. So here is a chicken coops for beginners primer!
Just cute chicks!
Chicken coops for beginners – things to consider!
We have had a variety of coops since we first started with chickens. We have had old wooden crates converted to a basic house through to our latest construction. We have learned much from each design and have tried to build a better coop for both the chickens and us each time we have had to reconstruct. The only reoccurring theme is that we have tried to use as many recycled items as we could….more to save costs than any other noble reason.
To get some inspiration, have a look at .
The chickens in the new coop
Here are the things that we now consider when we are designing our coops.
Safe Is the coop secure from other animals trying to get in? Here in the NE of the USA we worry about foxes, coyotes, raccoons etc. So it needs to be a design that can’t be broken into, ripped open, lifted up or turned over. In Australia I would be also trying to keep out snakes. Out coop lets in a chipmunk and a squirrel – they get a free feed but don’t do any other damage.
Airy Even in our cold climate, we have a well ventilated coop. Chickens seem to cope extremely well in the cold (ours did great in three months of very bitter winter when it did not get above freezing). So they don’t need a coop that is centrally heated. So good ventilation without being breezy on the birds is perfect.
Chickens on ice!
You don’t need it be be insulated and have central heating. On the really cold days and nights when the thermometer reading was way below freezing we run a red heating lamp to provide a little comfort.
Dry Damp chickens are not happy chickens…and will probably end up as sick chickens. Your coop needs to always be dry. So it has to be up off the ground, a roof to stop rain and/or snow dripping in and a way to open it up in case it does get damp inside. We have stopped providing drinking water in our coop unless its winter (with a water warmer) because the chickens just made a wet mess!
Roosting poles
Chickens need to be able to roost on a perch to sleep, just like all birds do at night (ok …emus don’t). Your chickens needs to have an old broom handle, tree branch or other item to settle on inside the coop. We have four feet of old curtain rod and all six adult birds are very happy. When we get more chickens (the coop could take another dozen) we will install more perches.The new coop’s roosting pole.
Nesting boxes Your girls will appreciate a place to lay their eggs. Some people like to build nesting boxes inside the coop. We found that having nesting boxes that have easy access for humans to collect eggs are great, however our free ranging girls like to lay in a spot in our barn rather than the nesting boxes. Inside our coop the nesting boxes are cut down plastic buckets and these are only used if we are late in letting them out and one girl just can’t wait.
The plastic nesting boxes
Easy to clean We use the deep litter method – which is just code for laying a deep pile of old hay onto the floor of the coop. We clean it out every few months and find that it works great. On past coops it was quite a chore to get into the coop and clean it. With our current design we made a flap on one wall so we have great access for cleaning. We also made the coop tall and added two cut down doors so we can get inside both from the outside and from inside the barn in winter.
Front of the coop – see the lower flap we can open to clean it out – now its a 5 min job!
Chicken coops for beginners – why do it!
Building the coop can be a great family affair. We collected materials from our dump for a few months and then built the structure as a lean-to off the barn. That way we could have a door to the inside of the barn so during winter the chickens could use the barn to roam around if they did not want to venture out into the snow. We also have a door on the outside of the coop and a window on the south side – so it gets loads of light and is easy to clean and air out.
The coop framed up
Coop finished
So far this chicken coop has been perfect! Easy for us to get into. Easy to clean. But most of all, the chickens seem happy to call it home! Using recycled materials has kept our costs low as well!
Jen and Madie ‘fancy up’ the coop with paint.
We hope this chicken coops for beginners primer will help you have happier and safer chickens!
Baby Chick Facts in Makanda, Illinois
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Makanda 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 Makanda Illinois chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Makanda, Illinois With the substantial boost in chicken keeping there has been a similarly large increase in the range of fowl paraphernalia for sale. Poultry real estate is an instance in point. It's also a classic instance of the great old bandwagon being jumped on as different would-be chicken real estate professionals market an array of lodging declaring to be the perfect option to your chicken real estate demands. Typically the cost looks appealing, the house looks eye-catching, heck also the clean-cut family members standing there feeding the chickens look appealing. Certainly they recognize a high quality chicken house when they see one? There are lots of cheap and awful coops flooding the marketplace. I recognize this as I've tested a number 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 a pricey pile of fire wood as well as a tiny group of bemused as well as now homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Out Of Pallets in Makanda, Illinois
Generally these mass produced versions are created of quick grown wood - come the first decrease of rainfall they swell, leaving you either fortifying a doorway that won't close, or ripping the doorway furnishings off in a vain attempt to launch the squawking citizens. The first warm and comfortable day indicates the hardwood dries as well as cracks, the felt roofing system bubbles and boils, and also come nightfall the hens choose not to enter. This is not due to their disappointment at the decrease of their once eye-catching home however because the hovel is now a haven for, and possibly abounding, the poultry caretaker's nemesis, red mite. Add the fact that it said on the blurb that it would suit 4 large chickens when that equipping thickness was based on the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and also just what are you left with? A couple of hinges and some kindling. A decent coop for thee to four birds need to cost you approximately ₤ 300 though this could rely on whether you choose for a cost-free standing house or one with a run affixed. Assuming you are ranging your birds in a large area and also the pop opening doorway is big sufficient for the type you maintain, then the major demands of real estate boil down to 3 points which will specify the number of birds your house will hold; perches, nest boxes and also air flow. Many types of chicken will certainly perch when they visit roost during the night, this perch should preferably be 5-8cm broad with smoothed off edges so the foot sits pleasantly on it. The perch needs to be more than the nest box access as chickens will certainly additionally naturally look for the highest point to perch. A perch below that will certainly have the birds roosting in the nest box overnight (which is by the way when they produce one of the most poo) bring about stained eggs the following day. They should not nonetheless be so high off the flooring of your home that leg injuries could occur when the bird gets down in the early morning. Chickens require concerning 20cm of perch each (in small types this is obviously less), plus if greater than one perch is mounted in your house they must be more than 30cm apart. They will certainly hunker up with their next-door neighbors however are not that crazy about roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird ahead. Preferably the house must have a least one nest box for each 3 birds and also these should be off the ground as well as in the darkest area of the house. The house should have ample air flow: without it then condensation will develop every evening, even in the chilliest of weather condition. Realize, air flow works on the concept of warm air leaving with a high void drawing cooler air in from a lower space - it's not a collection of openings on contrary walls of your house as well as at the very same degree, this is just what's referred to as a draught. If you have a house with a run affixed then the points above are still real, yet you should likewise consider the run dimension. The EU maximum lawful equipping density for a free range bird is (as well as let's encounter it, among the inspirations for keeping some hens in the house is perhaps enhanced or much better welfare) 2,500 birds per hectare, that's optimal one bird per 4m squared. Take a close check out some of the deal homes - it could well be your house has the appropriate perches, proper ventilation as well as adequate nest boxes for a sensible number of birds, but will each of the chickens have anything more than an A4 sized piece of ground to spend the day on? Therefore as the saying goes, "you get what you spend for". You might believe you've got hold of a deal, but you and your flock might rue the day you did. Acquisition the ideal house and also it will last for a few decades, if not longer given the proper treatment. In the end your fowl and your fowl keeping experience will certainly be much the much better for it.chick chick
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