Chicken Coops for Sale in Anderson, Indiana
Chicken Coops for Sale in Anderson, Indiana
The Small Property Chicken Coop
Raising chickens has been one of the most rewarding activities that we’ve done on our homestead. While we don’t raise them for meat due to the city’s limitations, we reap an abundance of benefits from the eggs and the friendship we get from our girls.
In this next installment of , I’ll be sharing how my husband Todd designed and built Lucy and Ethel’s chicken coop using his ingenuity and minimal square footage on our .18 of an acre.
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, I was so excited to finally be able to raise a couple of my own “girls” to gather eggs from and get to know. I’m an animal lover, and seem to be able to make friends with any animal that will allow me, so I knew that these two sweet little chicks and I would be the best of friends. , and since there were only two of them, there was plenty of space for them to grow.
After moving some things around to set up our ‘barn’ area, Todd got to work on the chicken coop. Being a handy guy, he decided that he could design and build one that would be cheaper than a prefab one, as well as be able to fit where we needed it to on our small property homestead.
He chose to use the back of one of our sheds as the back wall, and another of our sheds as the side wall, which would save us some money on hardware cloth. He framed the rest of the coop and door with 2x4s. He also extended the side of the shed so that it would serve as the left wall of the coop.
This is the shed that is being used as the back wall of the coop. You can see on the right side of the shed where the new section was added for the left wall of the coop.
Todd designed the girls’ coop to be multi-level, rather than sprawling. He used plywood and 2x4s for the levels, and built an access ladder to both. The girls had a hard time not slipping on the sleek wood between the “steps” on the ladder, so I added a few strips of to those sections, which worked beautifully.
Here is a current photo of the two levels (please excuse the “lived in” look, I apparently hadn’t taken photos of the two levels when it was new). This is the top level, where we keep the girls’ nesting boxes. The ladder with the comes up the right side of this level, and it’s easy for the girls to hop up to the top of their nesting boxes, where they like to sleep at night. Todd also built a roost for them, which is actually a few inches offset from the edge of the level so when they poop, most of it falls to the ground.
Here is the second level, where the girls usually eat their evening treats, and where I keep their oyster shell and water (water not pictured). You can see how the ladder passes the second level up to the top level, which makes it easy for the girls to hop to the second level at snack time.
We left the bottom level as dirt, and I have been using the , which has worked out well for the most part. We haven’t had any issues with large rodents, and any mice that dare step foot into the coop are met with two hungry beaks.
Todd lined the front of the coop with 1″ hardware cloth and it has worked very well for us; however, I have heard that if you have issues with raccoons, it’s best to go with 1/2″ hardware cloth.
Another Space Saving Coop Idea
A friend of mine, Nora from , and is based on Todd’s multilevel chicken coop design. Their family has around 8-10 girls, so this brooder was a very good fit for them. It can definitely be built outdoors and used as a space-saving chicken coop for 1-3 chickens, or built indoors to use as a brooder for a larger flock.
As you can see, building a chicken coop to fit your small property needs can be a much better prospect than purchasing a prefab chicken coop. While prefab coops are beautiful and promise ease, tailoring your chicken coop to fit in just the right place on your small property can be more affordable, and in the long run, more convenient for your homestead setup. As long as your chicken coop meets , you can build a chicken coop that meets your homestead’s needed requirements as well, which will make everyone happy!
For more great information on raising chickens, please visit Fresh Eggs Daily’s Ultimate Chicken Care Guide.
What size is your property? Do you use space-saving techniques?
Baby Chick Incubator in Anderson, Indiana
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Anderson Indiana" 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 Anderson Indiana chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Anderson, Indiana With the substantial boost in poultry keeping there has actually been a similarly large surge in the array of fowl paraphernalia for sale. Fowl housing is a situation in point. It's also a traditional instance of the good old bandwagon being got on as various prospective fowl real estate experts market a range of accommodation asserting to be the excellent remedy to your chicken real estate demands. Usually the price looks attractive, your diy-chicken-coop-planshome looks attractive, heck also the clean-cut family members standing there feeding the chickens look desirable. Definitely they know a professional chicken house when they see one? There are several inexpensive and nasty coops swamping the market. I understand this as I've checked a number of them in the field, as well as seen a ewe run directly through one when the feed container appeared. The result was nothing but a pricey pile of firewood and also a small group of bemused and now homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop in Anderson, Indiana
More often than not these standardized versions are constructed of rapid grown up hardwood - come the initial decrease of rainfall they swell, leaving you either barricading a door that won't shut, or tearing the door furniture off in a vain attempt to release the squawking residents. The very first cozy day implies the hardwood dries out and fractures, the felt roofing bubbles as well as boils, and also come nightfall the hens choose not to enter. This is not as a result of their dissatisfaction at the decline of their as soon as appealing residential property however due to the fact that the hovel is currently a place for, and most likely abounding, the chicken keeper's nemesis, red mite. Add on that it said on the blurb that it would suit four large hens when that stocking thickness was based on the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and also exactly what are you left with? A couple of hinges as well as some kindling. A respectable coop for thee to four birds should cost you approximately ₤ 300 though this could depend on whether you elect for a totally free standing house or one with a run affixed. Presuming you are ranging your birds in a large room and the pop hole doorway is big enough for the type you maintain, after that the major requirements of real estate boil down to three factors which will certainly define the variety of birds your home will hold; perches, nest boxes and also air flow. A lot of breeds of chicken will certainly perch when they go to roost during the night, this perch ought to preferably be 5-8cm vast with smoothed off edges so the foot sits easily on it. The perch should be more than the nest box entrance as chickens will additionally normally 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 produce one of the most poo) causing stained eggs the list below day. They should not nevertheless be so high off the flooring of the house that leg injuries could possibly occur when the bird gets down in the early morning. Chickens need about 20cm of perch each (in little breeds this is clearly less), plus if more than one perch is set up in your house they ought to be more than 30cm apart. They will certainly hunker up with their neighbors however are not that keen on roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird ahead. Preferably your house needs to have a least one nest box for every 3 birds as well as these must be off the ground and in the darkest area of the house. Your home needs to have ample air flow: without it then condensation will certainly develop every evening, also in the chilliest of climate. Realize, air flow deals with the concept of warm and comfortable air leaving via a high space attracting cooler air in from a lower space - it's not a set of openings on opposite walls of your home as well as at the same level, this is exactly what's known as a draught. If you have a house with a run connected then the points above are still real, yet you need to additionally take into consideration the run size. The EU maximum legal equipping thickness for a totally free variety bird is (and also allow's encounter it, one of the motivations for keeping some chickens in the house is potentially enhanced or much better well-being) 2,500 birds each hectare, that's maximum one bird per 4m squared. Take a close look at some of the deal residences - it could well be your home has the ideal perches, proper air flow and also enough nest boxes for a practical number of birds, however will each of the chickens have anything greater than an A4 sized item of ground to spend the day on? Therefore as the saying goes, "you get exactly what you spend for". You might believe you've grabbed a bargain, yet you as well as your group could rue the day you did. Purchase the appropriate house and it will last for a couple of decades, otherwise longer provided the right therapy. In the end your poultry and your fowl keeping experience will be much the far better for it.plans for sale
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