Chicken Coops for Sale in Waukegan, Illinois
Chicken Coops for Sale in Waukegan, Illinois
Metal Siding on Chicken Coops
My chicken coops have always had metal roofs, and now I’m trying out metal siding, on the grounds that I want anything I build to last 20 years without maintenance, and the exterior plywood I’ve been using doesn’t deliver that.
[Update: Seven years after writing this blog post, the corrugated metal walls are holding up well. Seven years is long enough for plywood walls to start falling to pieces, but the metal walls are holding up well, with only a bit of rust here and there.]
One of my old pasture houses, with a 15-year-old metal roof and 7-year-old metal siding.
Does Metal Promote Condensation and Wetness?
People will tell you that metal siding sweats, because of condensation. This is true if the inside of the house is warmer than the outside, since moisture from the warm house will condense on the cold walls and ceiling. But it’s not about metal vs. wood, since condensation forms on any kind of roof or wall, no matter what it’s made of. In marginal cases, it’s more visible on metal because it’s 100% non-absorbent.
A Fresh-Air House is a Dry House
But you can dodge the problem with a fresh-air poultry house. If you add enough ventilation, the inside of the house is just as cold as the outside, and you get no condensation. My metal roofs don’t have condensation unless there’s snow on the roof and temperatures are above freezing. The rest of the time, my highly ventilated houses have dry ceilings and walls.
Fresh-Air Poultry Houses, by Prince T. Woods. Reprinted by me!
This is one of the main points of , the chicken-coop book I’ve republished (check out the if you haven’t already). It focuses on the advantage of well-ventilated houses, a concept that still needs to be repeated constantly today. You won’t read anything about metal walls or roofs in this book, since it predates their use, but it’s a treasure trove in other ways.
You can also prevent condensation with insulation, but I don’t do that.
Can you really prevent damp chicken houses through ventilation alone? Well, it works for me, and I live in Oregon, which has a famously wet climate!
Installing Corrugated Sheet Metal Walls
Back to the construction project. In keeping with my other rule of construction (never use a saw when you can buy stuff that’s already the right size), I ignored my existing stock of 10-foot metal roofing and obtained some cheap 8-foot corrugated roofing from Home Depot. My chicken houses are 8×8 feet.
Karen and I banged these sheets onto a couple of sides of a chicken house where the old OSB siding was falling to pieces. We used roofing screws. These are hex drive screws with neoprene washers. We used to use roofing nails, but they pull loose too easily and we hate having roofing panels flapping loose in the breeze! And using power tools instead of a hammer keeps my shoulders and back from seizing up. I bang the screw in a short way with a hammer, then drive it home with a cordless drill.
I’m told that roofing screws have three times the holding power of nails.
These panels went on very quickly, and if they ever rust through (which they will, at the bottom edges anyway, if I allow chicken manure to pile up against them), I can take the screws out and replace them just as easily.
So far, so good. The shiny metal really brightens up the interior of the chicken house, and because it’s non-porous, it provides no place for roost mites to accumulate.
Cheap Roofing is Good Enough
Plain old “ripple metal” (corrugated steel) is less rigid than V-channel roofing, but it’s proven to be stiff enough, even for a house that gets dragged around behind a tractor, which can put all sorts of stresses on it, especially if it gets hung up on holes and bumps along the way. So far, so good. That means that, so far, the cheapest possible corrugated metal has been perfectly adequate.
Watch out for translucent corrugated fiberglass. In my experience, it’s not very strong and becomes increasingly brittle over time. I’m sure it has its uses, but don’t think of it as being structural in the way that plywood and corrugated steel are.
You Don’t Have to Settle for Ugly
Of course, you can build a much prettier house with metal roofing with baked-enamel finishes in designer colors, and you should probably do this if you don’t want a silver house, since it’s hard to get paint to stick to galvanized steel. While I’m always looking for the cheapest, longest-lasting, easiest-to-build designs, there are plenty of other ways of approaching the problem of chicken-coop design.
Related
Baby Chicks in Waukegan, Illinois
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Waukegan 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 Waukegan Illinois chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Waukegan, Illinois With the big increase in chicken keeping there has actually been an equally huge surge in the variety of fowl stuff for sale. Chicken real estate is a proceedings in point. It's additionally a timeless example of the excellent old bandwagon being jumped on as various potential fowl housing experts peddle a range of lodging declaring to be the optimal remedy to your chicken housing requirements. Frequently the rate looks attractive, your house looks eye-catching, heck even the clean-cut family members standing there feeding the chickens look desirable. Certainly they understand a high quality chicken house when they see one? There are lots of low-cost and nasty cages flooding the marketplace. I know this as I've tested a variety of them in the area, as well as seen a ewe run directly via one when the feed bucket showed up. The result was just a pricey heap of fire wood and a small group of bemused as well as currently homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Plans For 20 Chickens in Waukegan, Illinois
More often than not these standardized designs are created of rapid grown up wood - come the first decline of rain they swell, leaving you either barricading a doorway that won't shut, or tearing the doorway furnishings off in a vain effort to release the squawking occupants. The very first warm and comfortable day means the lumber dries and cracks, the really felt roofing bubbles as well as boils, and come nightfall the chickens choose not to go in. This is not as a result of their frustration at the decline of their once desirable residential property yet due to the fact that the hovel is now a haven for, and also most likely crawling with, the fowl caretaker's bane, red mite. Add on the fact that it claimed on the blurb that it would certainly match four big chickens when that equipping density was based on the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and what are you left with? A few joints and also some kindling. A decent coop for thee to 4 birds must cost you around ₤ 300 though this can rely on whether you choose for a free standing house or one with a run attached. Thinking you are ranging your birds in a huge area and also the pop opening door allows sufficient for the type you maintain, after that the main requirements of real estate boil down to three factors which will define the variety of birds your house will certainly hold; perches, nest boxes and ventilation. Many types of chicken will perch when they visit roost in the evening, this perch must preferably be 5-8cm vast with smoothed off sides so the foot sits comfortably on it. The perch needs to be more than the nest box access as chickens will likewise naturally try to find the highest point to perch. A perch lower than that will have the birds roosting in the nest box over night (which is by the way when they create one of the most poo) resulting in stained eggs the following day. They should not however be so high off the floor of the house that leg injuries can occur when the bird gets down in the morning. Chickens require about 20cm of perch each (in little breeds this is obviously much less), plus if greater than one perch is installed in your house they should 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 ahead. Preferably the house should have a the very least one nest box for every single three birds and these should be off the ground and also in the darkest area of your home. Your house ought to have appropriate ventilation: without it after that condensation will certainly develop every evening, also in the chilliest of weather. Realize, ventilation works on the principle of cozy 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 and also at the very same level, this is just what's called a draught. If you have a house with a run affixed after that the factors above are still real, however you ought to also consider the run size. The EU optimum lawful stocking density for a complimentary array bird is (and also let's face it, among the inspirations for keeping some hens at home is potentially enhanced or better well-being) 2,500 birds each hectare, that's optimal one bird each 4m squared. Take a close take a look at some of the bargain houses - it could well be the house has the best perches, proper ventilation and ample nest boxes for a reasonable variety of birds, however will each of the chickens have anything greater than an A4 sized piece of ground to invest the day on? Therefore as the saying goes, "you get what you pay for". You could believe you've got hold of a bargain, however you and also your group can rue the day you did. Acquisition the appropriate house and it will certainly last for a couple of years, otherwise longer given the proper therapy. In the long run your poultry as well as your fowl maintaining encounter will be considerably the far better for it.coop coops
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