Chicken Coops for Sale in Prairie Du Rocher, Illinois
Chicken Coops for Sale in Prairie Du Rocher, 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.
**This post contains Amazon Affiliate Links. That means that purchases made through my site will provide me with a small commission at no additional cost to you. These funds help to keep Homespun Sprout up and running.
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 House Plans in Prairie Du Rocher, Illinois
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Prairie Du Rocher 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 Prairie Du Rocher Illinois chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Prairie Du Rocher, Illinois With the substantial increase in poultry keeping there has actually been a similarly huge increase in the variety of fowl paraphernalia on sale. Fowl housing is an instance in factor. It's additionally a timeless example of the good old bandwagon being jumped on as numerous potential poultry real estate professionals pitch an array of cottage declaring to be the ideal option to your chicken housing requirements. Frequently the cost looks appealing, your house looks attractive, hell even the clean-cut household standing there feeding the chickens look appealing. Definitely they know a top quality chicken house when they see one? There are lots of low-cost as well as unpleasant coops swamping the market. I understand this as I've examined a number of them in the field, and seen a ewe run straight with one when the feed pail appeared. The result was only a pricey heap of fire wood as well as a little flock of bemused and also currently homeless bantams.
Baby Chick For Sale in Prairie Du Rocher, Illinois
More often than not these standardized versions are created of rapid grown up hardwood - come the initial decrease of rain they swell, leaving you either defending a doorway that will not shut, or tearing the doorway furniture off in a vain effort to launch the squawking citizens. The initial cozy day implies the hardwood dries out and cracks, the really felt roofing system bubbles as well as boils, and come nightfall the chickens choose not to enter. This is not because of their disappointment at the decline of their once eye-catching commercial property however since the hovel is currently a haven for, and probably abounding, the fowl caretaker's bane, red mite. Add on that it said on the blurb that it would certainly match 4 huge chickens when that stocking density was based upon the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and also just what are you left with? A number of joints and also some kindling. A suitable coop for thee to four birds must cost you in the region of ₤ 300 though this could depend on whether you choose for a cost-free standing house or one with a run connected. Presuming you are varying your birds in a large space and also the pop opening door allows sufficient for the breed you maintain, after that the primary requirements of real estate boil down to three factors which will certainly define the number of birds the house will hold; perches, nest boxes and air flow. Many breeds of chicken will certainly perch when they visit roost in the evening, this perch ought to ideally be 5-8cm wide with smoothed off sides so the foot sits easily on it. The perch ought to be above the nest box entry as chickens will additionally naturally look for the highest point to perch. A perch below that will have the birds roosting in the nest box overnight (which is by the way when they create the most poo) resulting in soiled eggs the list below day. They should not nonetheless be so high off the flooring of your home that leg injuries could possibly occur when the bird comes down in the early morning. Chickens need about 20cm of perch each (in small types this is clearly much less), plus if greater than one perch is mounted in your house they ought to be more than 30cm apart. They will hunker up with their next-door neighbors yet are not that crazy about roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird ahead. Preferably your house should have a the very least one nest box for every single three birds and also these need to be off the ground and also in the darkest area of the house. The house ought to have appropriate air flow: without it after that condensation will certainly build up every night, even in the coldest of climate. Understand, ventilation deals with the principle of cozy air leaving with a high gap drawing cooler air in from a lower space - it's not a set of holes on contrary wall surfaces of your home as well as at the same degree, this is just what's referred to as a draft. If you have a house with a run connected then the points above are still true, however you need to also consider the run size. The EU optimum legal equipping density for a totally free array bird is (and also allow's encounter it, one of the inspirations for keeping some hens in your home is perhaps boosted or far better well-being) 2,500 birds per hectare, that's optimal one bird per 4m made even. Take a close look at several of the bargain homes - it could well be the house has the appropriate perches, appropriate ventilation and also sufficient nest boxes for a practical number of birds, yet 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 obtain just what you pay for". You may think you've grabbed a deal, however you and also your group can rue the day you did. Purchase the ideal house and also it will last for a few decades, otherwise longer offered the correct therapy. In the long run your fowl as well as your poultry keeping encounter will be a lot the better for it.diy plans
More Posts
Chicken Coops for Sale in Dowell, Illinois
Chicken Coops for Sale in Peotone, Illinois
Chicken Coops for Sale in Elizabeth, Illinois
Chicken Coops for Sale in La Salle, Illinois
Chicken Coops for Sale in Pana, Illinois