Chicken Coops for Sale in Westmont, Illinois
Chicken Coops for Sale in Westmont, Illinois
Our Chicken Coop Design – Front Elevation (Part 2 of 3)
Okay, I lied. I had hoped to finish up writing on our chicken coop design with this post, but I ran out of time and markers…seriously – my gray marker ran out. So today I’m going to focus on the front elevation and next week I’ll wrap it up with the other 3 elevations.
Front Elevation of the Coop
When designing your coop you really need to think through ventilation for a number of reasons: respiratory health of the chickens; drying out the moisture and their manure keeps down the smells and the potential of the hens getting sick. I made ours super-ventilated by covering the entire front of our coop with hardware cloth. We may have gone overboard, but it’s better to err on the side of too much ventilation in a coop than too little…and because Atlanta has a fairly temperate climate, I think we’re good. That said, you do have to consider strong winds – particularly in the colder months. That’s why Britt and I crafted Roman shade-like curtains out of painter’s drop cloths for the front and the windows on the other 3 sides of the coop. It was quite inexpensive and fairly easy to do…particularly if you strategically use the hems already sewn in. These curtains will give our ladies a refuge from the cold winds – protecting the exposed areas of their bodies (combs, wattles, and feet).
Here are a few other things to note about the front elevation of our coop:
- Again, entire area is covered in hardware cloth. I could have used chicken wire on the top (bottom needs hardware cloth to keep out critters), but I had enough hardware cloth and I thought it looked better for the entire area to be consistent.
- The height of the walls are 6.5’…which is plenty high (for me at least) to be able to walk through the door…and there is plenty of height inside, since there is no ceiling (just the rafters and tin roof above).
- 24″ doors were constructed out of pressure-treated wood and painted the same color as the doors of our home.
- To clean things up a bit and to cover up where the pieces of hardware cloth met, I added 1″ trim on the outside of each 2×4 and painted it and the siding of the rest of the coop the same color gray as our house.
- We used gate latches as handles. If you do as well, make sure you make it so that you won’t get locked in when the doors close. To do that, I simply drilled a hole just above the latch and attached a long, thin chain that I threaded through the hole…allowing me to open the latch from inside. Don’t use string or twine…I found that out the hard way. String will wear out and break – leaving you stranded inside. Fortunately when it happened to me, one of my girls was within shouting distance.
- We were running out of hardware cloth when we were finishing the gable, so we simply filled in the middle space with a board and painted it gray. To make sense of this oddly proportioned space and to bring a little bit of character to the coop, I hung a set of antlers from a Mule Deer I shot several years ago with my dad in Wyoming.
So there’s the front elevation. We are really pleased with it…it’s done what we set out to do – make a more than livable space for our chickens (and bunny), while still being attractive. Now we may be a bit too particular, but I really think having an attractive coop in a nice setting has made raising chickens not only sustainable, but more enjoyable. So sure, you could build a coop that is purely functional, but if it looks like a hunk of junk, is that really something you want to see every day…sometimes several times? We thought not.
Next week I’ll wrap things up on our chicken coop design…but until then, please let me know if you have any other questions about our coop or raising chickens. I could perhaps work my answers into the next post.
Take care,
PS: Here are the links to and of Our Chicken Coop Design…and the link to .
Related posts on RYGblog
Baby Chick Enclosure in Westmont, Illinois
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Westmont 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 Westmont Illinois chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Westmont, Illinois With the big rise in chicken maintaining there has been a similarly big increase in the variety of fowl paraphernalia on sale. Chicken housing is an instance in point. It's likewise a timeless instance of the excellent old bandwagon being got on as numerous prospective fowl housing specialists pitch a range of holiday accommodation declaring to be the ideal remedy to your chicken real estate demands. Typically the cost looks appealing, your house looks eye-catching, heck also the clean-cut family standing there feeding the chickens look attractive. Certainly they recognize a high quality chicken house when they see one? There are lots of cheap as well as nasty cages swamping the market. I recognize this as I've examined a variety of them in the field, as well as seen a ewe run directly with one when the feed container appeared. The outcome was just a costly heap of firewood and a tiny flock of bemused and also now homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Reviews in Westmont, Illinois
Usually these mass produced designs are constructed of quick grown timber - come the first drop of rain they swell, leaving you either fortifying a door that will not close, or ripping the doorway furnishings off in a vain effort to release the squawking residents. The very first cozy day suggests the wood dries as well as fractures, the felt roof bubbles and boils, and also come nightfall the chickens refuse to go in. This is not as a result of their frustration at the decrease of their as soon as appealing property however since the hovel is currently a haven for, and also possibly abounding, the fowl keeper's nemesis, red mite. Add on the fact that it stated on the blurb that it would certainly fit 4 huge hens when that stocking thickness was based upon the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and also what are you entrusted? A number of joints and also some kindling. A decent coop for thee to four birds must cost you approximately ₤ 300 though this can depend upon whether you elect for a totally free standing house or one with a run attached. Assuming you are ranging your birds in a big area as well as the pop hole doorway is big enough for the breed you keep, after that the primary needs of housing boil down to 3 points which will certainly specify the number of birds your home will certainly hold; perches, nest boxes and also ventilation. The majority of breeds of chicken will perch when they go to roost in the evening, this perch should ideally be 5-8cm wide with smoothed off edges so the foot rests pleasantly on it. The perch needs to be above the nest box entry as chickens will certainly likewise naturally seek the highest point to perch. A perch below that will have the birds roosting in the nest box over night (which is incidentally when they generate the most poo) leading to soiled eggs the following day. They shouldn't nonetheless be so high off the flooring of your house that leg injuries can take place when the bird gets down in the early morning. Chickens need concerning 20cm of perch each (in little breeds this is undoubtedly much less), plus if more than one perch is installed in your home they ought to be greater than 30cm apart. They will certainly hunker up with their next-door neighbors yet are not that keen on roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird ahead. Preferably your home needs to have a the very least one nest box for each 3 birds and these ought to be off the ground and also in the darkest location of your house. Your home ought to have ample air flow: without it after that condensation will build up every night, even in the coldest of weather condition. Understand, ventilation works with the principle of cozy air leaving through a high space drawing cooler air in from a lower space - it's not a collection of holes on other walls of the house as well as at the same degree, this is exactly what's called a draft. If you have a house with a run connected then the points above are still true, however you should additionally take into consideration the run dimension. The EU optimum lawful equipping density for a cost-free range bird is (and allow's face it, one of the motivations for keeping some hens at home is possibly boosted or better well-being) 2,500 birds each hectare, that's maximum one bird per 4m squared. Take a close look at some of the bargain houses - it could well be your home has the ideal perches, appropriate ventilation as well as ample nest boxes for a practical number of birds, however will each of the chickens have anything more than an A4 sized piece of ground to spend the day on? Therefore as the stating goes, "you get exactly what you pay for". You might think you've got hold of a bargain, however you and also your group could possibly rue the day you did. Acquisition the appropriate house and also it will certainly last for a couple of years, if not longer offered the right treatment. Ultimately your chicken and your chicken keeping experience will be much the much better for it.coops chickens
More Posts
Chicken Coops for Sale in Annawan, Illinois
Chicken Coops for Sale in Altamont, Illinois
Chicken Coops for Sale in Rome, Illinois
Chicken Coops for Sale in Henning, Illinois
Chicken Coops for Sale in Atwood, Illinois