Chicken Coops for Sale in Columbia City, Indiana
Chicken Coops for Sale in Columbia City, Indiana
Chicken Coops — The Top 5 Requirements
Chicken Coops – What You Need
Happy, healthy chickens need proper housing, but knowing what you need may seem daunting. Don’t let choosing the house for your chickens intimidate you. Meeting the needs of your flock, whether building your own chicken castle or buying ready-made, is easy and should provide for four basic needs.
- Protection from the elements
- Protection from predators
- Place for laying eggs
- A roost at night
The Components of a Chicken Coop
As I wrote in my , chickens have an innate homing instinct, keeping your flock close to home. Our feathered kids are such home bodies that even free ranging, every night before sundown all our chickens are perched in the coop. I always recommend a protected place for your flock to come home and roost for the night, even when free ranging.
You don’t need a poultry castle for your chickens to come home to. come in many shapes, sizes, and designs, from fancy to plain. Believe it or not, your chickens won’t care what the coop looks like as long as it provides the above four basic needs.
With that said, before deciding what type of coop you are going to buy or build, you must determine what coop features are needed that most closely conform to a chicken’s natural behavior. Hopefully I can help you understand what you need in the design of your chicken coop.
The Basics
Let’s start with the basics. All chicken coops need 3 things; a roof, 4 walls, and a doorway for entering and leaving. The design and the materials used for the chicken coop is up to you. As long as it is mostly draft free (you still need healthy ventilation), your choices are endless.
Your coop space is based on the number of chickens you plan to house. A good rule of thumb is 4 square feet of floor space per large chicken and 3 square feet for the smaller bantam breeds. Also consider the ease of cleaning when choosing your coop design; you’ll be glad you did.
Security
Making a chicken coop predator free is the most important part of building a home for your flock. Your coop must be secure from the top, bottom, and all sides. When looking at any pre-made coop or chicken coop building plans, consider all angles for security. Not only should you consider the security of the coop itself, but the security of the yard and run as well.
When choosing the wire for your run and coop, we advise steering clear of standard chicken wire. While it works well for keeping your chickens contained it’s not entirely predator proof. Because the holes in standard chicken wire are large, coyotes, raccoons, and foxes can still reach through the mesh, causing harm to your chickens. Always use a small hole wire like hardware cloth with ½ inch openings.
Another consideration when building the chicken yard or run, is airborne predators like hawks. You must include covering the top of the run as well. Our chicken runs use the same size mesh fencing on the top as the sides.
Finally, there are predators from below, such as rats and mice. These critters are attracted to the feed and droppings and like to burrow under your coop. Protect your chickens by using a coop with a floor built into it or burying small mesh fencing below the coop and extending it about 12 inches out on all sides.
The Outside Run
All coops need a connecting chicken run or pen. Chickens need access to the outside to do all those “chicken things”, like dirt baths, catching bugs, scratching dirt, or just relaxing in the sunshine or shade.
Ideally, your chicken run should have 10 square feet of ground space per full size chicken. The smaller bantam breeds require less, about 7 square feet per chicken. If your chickens free range the majority of the day, you can get by with less space.
Laying Boxes
If you want eggs, you need laying boxes. These can be as fancy or as plain as you like, just as long as they are about 12” x 12” and raised off the ground a few inches. You need one box for every 4 laying hens. Boxes should comfortably fit the chicken and have low enough sides for the hens to step over. Be sure to keep your boxes lined with clean straw or other bedding.
Roosting Perches
All birds roost, including chickens. Your coop needs a roosting bar or something off the ground on which your chickens can perch. We strongly suggest having perches both inside the coop and outside in the run area.
When figuring roosting pole size, provide 5-10” of space per chicken and 10” of space between each pole if you are using more than one. Multiple poles also need grading like ladders so the farthest pole is several inches higher than the next.
There are many shapes, sizes, and styles of chicken coops to choose from. Making the right choice for your needs is important, and all coops need to contain all necessary elements.
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Chicken Coop Run in Columbia City, Indiana
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Columbia City 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 Columbia City Indiana chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Columbia City, Indiana With the substantial boost in poultry keeping there has actually been an equally huge surge in the range of fowl stuff for sale. Chicken real estate is an instance in factor. It's also a timeless example of the excellent old bandwagon being got on as various prospective fowl housing experts peddle a variety of accommodation claiming to be the suitable option to your chicken real estate demands. Commonly the rate looks desirable, your diy-chicken-coop-planshome looks attractive, hell even the clean-cut household standing there feeding the chickens look attractive. Surely they recognize a quality chicken house when they see one? There are many affordable and also nasty cages flooding the market. I know 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 bucket showed up. The result was only an expensive stack of fire wood as well as a little flock of bemused and now homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Plans For 20 Chickens in Columbia City, Indiana
Usually these standardized designs are built of rapid grown hardwood - come the initial decrease of rain they swell, leaving you either blockading a door that will not close, or ripping the doorway furniture off in a vain attempt to release the squawking occupants. The very first warm day implies the timber dries and also fractures, the felt roofing bubbles as well as boils, as well as come nightfall the hens choose not to enter. This is not due to their dissatisfaction at the decline of their as soon as eye-catching residential property however since the hovel is currently a haven for, as well as possibly abounding, the chicken keeper's bane, red mite. Add on the fact that it said on the blurb that it would fit four huge chickens when that stocking density was based on the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and also just what are you left with? A few hinges and also some kindling. A decent coop for thee to 4 birds ought to cost you approximately ₤ 300 though this could depend on whether you elect for a free standing house or one with a run connected. Assuming you are varying your birds in a big space and also the pop opening doorway is big sufficient for the breed you keep, then the main requirements of housing come down to 3 points which will define the number of birds your house will hold; perches, nest boxes and air flow. A lot of breeds of chicken will certainly perch when they go to roost during the night, this perch must preferably be 5-8cm large with smoothed off sides so the foot sits easily on it. The perch needs to be higher than the nest box access as chickens will likewise normally look for the acme to perch. A perch less than that will certainly have the birds roosting in the nest box overnight (which is incidentally when they generate the most poo) resulting in stained eggs the following day. They should not nonetheless be so high off the floor of your house that leg injuries could occur when the bird comes down in the morning. Chickens need concerning 20cm of perch each (in tiny types this is obviously less), plus if more than one perch is set up in your house they ought to be greater than 30cm apart. They will hunker up with their next-door neighbors however are not that crazy about roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird in front. Ideally your home ought to have a the very least one nest box for every three birds and also these need to be off the ground and in the darkest location of the house. Your house ought to have sufficient air flow: without it then condensation will certainly build up every evening, even in the chilliest of climate. Realize, air flow works with the principle of warm air leaving via a high space drawing cooler air in from a reduced gap - it's not a set of holes on opposite walls of the house as well as at the same level, this is just what's called a draught. If you have a house with a run attached then the points above are still real, yet you ought to likewise think about the run dimension. The EU maximum lawful stocking density for a cost-free variety bird is (as well as allow's face it, one of the inspirations for maintaining some chickens at home is possibly boosted or much better well-being) 2,500 birds each hectare, that's optimal one bird per 4m made even. Take a close take a look at some of the deal residences - it could well be your house has the ideal perches, appropriate ventilation and enough nest boxes for a sensible variety 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 saying goes, "you get exactly what you pay for". You might think you've grabbed a bargain, but you as well as your group might rue the day you did. Purchase the appropriate house and it will certainly last for a couple of decades, if not longer offered the appropriate treatment. Ultimately your fowl and your chicken maintaining encounter will be much the better for it.plans build
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