Chicken Coops for Sale in Gentryville, Indiana
Chicken Coops for Sale in Gentryville, Indiana
How much space do chickens need?
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When I first started thinking seriously about keeping chickens in my almost half acre suburban yard it was after seeing this adorable chicken coop on Pinterest. The coop was super adorable with a cute little picket fence in front of it, who wouldn’t fall in love with this??
If you have done any research on chicken coops, you have probably seen it too. It’s adorable, and I always see it on “Top Beautiful Chicken Coops” type posts. I am thankful to this cute little coop for making me realize you don’t need 20 acres to own chickens, and for showing me chicken coops can add to the beauty of your yard, not detract from it. But unless you have a larger area for the chickens to free range in on a daily basis, or you have a very small flock, the chickens would be very cramped. You can read more about the construction of this beautiful coop (and purchase plans to make your own!) on .
I suppose the answer to the space question depends on how happy you want your chickens to be. Hens on commercial egg laying farms are often crammed up to a dozen hens in one cage, with each bird given about 67 square inches of space each – about the size of standard letter size piece of paper. They live their whole lives in that cage with no outdoor access. So technically, that is all they need to live, to survive. That is a life I would never wish on a chicken, and I am sure as a chicken owner you would not want that either. Most sources recommend having 4 square feet of indoor space per standard size bird. If you get they only need about half as much room. I don’t know the dimensions of the coop above, but I would guess it would be appropriate for 5-6 standard birds inside. In addition to the indoor space, most recommend 10 square feet of outdoor space per bird (personally, I don’t think that is enough). So the run for this cute coop is probably appropriate for 1-2 birds. 1-2 chickens is an awfully small flock for the rather large investment of building this beautiful coop! Trevor at told me in addition to the adorable picket fence attached run they have a larger 30′ x 18′ enclosure where their chickens can safely roam. I love to let my girls out of their run to free range around the yard, but I only do it when I can be home to supervise them. As a good neighbor you want to keep your chickens out of your neighbor’s yard (plus, you don’t know if your neighbor is using harmful fertilizers on their lawn – you don’t want your laying hens ingesting chemicals). You also need to keep them safe from predators and out of the road. Letting your chickens run wild around the neighborhood is sure to get you some angry knocks on the door. I work from home, but it is a full time job and I have four school aged kids who need attention and to be driven around to activities, so I don’t have the time to be out there with my chickens everyday for hours on end while they happily scratch through the leaves. So, a secure, large chicken run is necessary for the busy backyard chicken keeper to keep your chickens happy. Happy chickens have room to roam, and happy chickens lay healthy eggs!
Chickens like to be outside. They like to scratch in the dirt, snooze in the sun and dust bathe. For the most part, they go inside to sleep at night, lay their eggs and to escape the elements and that is about it. The more outdoor space you can give your chickens the happier they are. Living in New England, when we have blizzards there are days when I don’t let my chickens outside of their coop at all. Bored, cooped up chickens can resort to fighting. Giving them enough space inside keeps everyone safe & happy, so having adequate indoor space is also important.
Right now, my flock is 8 standard size hens and 4 bantams. The bantams only need half the space, so for this calculation, we’ll just call it 10 standard size birds. My current chicken set up is a 4 ft x 8 ft coop plus an attached 2 ft x 4 ft nest box area. So that is 40 square feet total of indoor space. My enclosed, secure run is 11 ft x 16 ft plus the 40 sq ft that is under the coops is also enclosed for them, so that is 216 square feet of outdoor space. So my chickens have 4 square feet per bird inside, and 21 square feet per bird outside, and I am at my chicken limit (boo!).
Chicken Coop Materials List in Gentryville, Indiana
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Gentryville 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 Gentryville Indiana chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Gentryville, Indiana With the huge increase in chicken keeping there has actually been a just as large surge in the range of chicken materiel on sale. Poultry housing is an instance in point. It's also a traditional instance of the good old bandwagon being jumped on as different potential chicken housing professionals pitch a selection of lodging asserting to be the perfect solution to your chicken housing demands. Usually the rate looks attractive, the house looks eye-catching, heck also the clean-cut household standing there feeding the chickens look eye-catching. Certainly they know a professional chicken house when they see one? There are many cheap and also unpleasant coops swamping the marketplace. I know this as I've checked a number of them in the area, and also seen a ewe run straight via one when the feed pail showed up. The outcome was nothing but a costly pile of fire wood as well as a little group of bemused as well as currently homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Reviews in Gentryville, Indiana
Usually these standardized versions are built of fast grown lumber - come the very first decrease of rainfall they swell, leaving you either barricading a doorway that won't shut, or ripping the doorway furniture off in a vain attempt to release the squawking occupants. The first warm and comfortable day implies the lumber dries as well as cracks, the really felt roof covering bubbles and also boils, and also come nightfall the hens refuse to go in. This is not due to their dissatisfaction at the decrease of their once desirable residential property however since the hovel is currently a haven for, as well as possibly abounding, the fowl keeper's nemesis, red mite. Add the fact that it said on the blurb that it would fit 4 huge chickens when that equipping thickness was based upon the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, as well as exactly what are you entrusted? A few hinges and some kindling. A respectable coop for thee to four birds must cost you approximately ₤ 300 though this can depend on whether you elect for a complimentary standing house or one with a run connected. Presuming you are ranging your birds in a big space and the pop hole door allows enough for the type you maintain, then the primary requirements of real estate come down to three points which will certainly define the variety of birds your house will certainly hold; perches, nest boxes as well as air flow. Most types of chicken will certainly perch when they go to roost during the night, this perch needs to preferably be 5-8cm vast with smoothed off edges so the foot sits easily on it. The perch needs to be more than the nest box entrance as chickens will certainly additionally normally seek the acme to perch. A perch less than that will certainly have the birds roosting in the nest box over night (which is incidentally when they create the most poo) leading to soiled eggs the following day. They should not nevertheless be so high off the floor of your home that leg injuries can happen when the bird gets down in the morning. Chickens require concerning 20cm of perch each (in small types this is undoubtedly much less), plus if greater than one perch is set up in your house they must be greater than 30cm apart. They will hunker up with their neighbors yet are not that crazy about roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird ahead. Ideally your home should have a least one nest box for each three birds as well as these need to be off the ground and also in the darkest location of the house. Your house needs to have appropriate ventilation: without it then condensation will accumulate every night, also in the coldest of weather. Understand, ventilation works with the principle of warm air leaving with a high void drawing cooler air in from a reduced gap - it's not a set of holes on contrary walls of your house and at the exact 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 real, but you should likewise consider the run size. The EU optimum lawful stocking density for a cost-free variety bird is (and also allow's encounter it, among the motivations for maintaining some chickens in your home is potentially enhanced or better well-being) 2,500 birds per hectare, that's optimal one bird per 4m settled. Take a close consider a few of the bargain houses - it could well be your house has the ideal perches, proper air flow and adequate nest boxes for a reasonable variety of birds, yet will each of the chickens have anything greater than an A4 sized item of ground to spend the day on? And so as the claiming goes, "you get what you pay for". You may believe you've grabbed a bargain, however you and also your group might rue the day you did. Purchase the appropriate house as well as it will certainly last for a couple of years, otherwise longer given the correct therapy. In the end your fowl and also your poultry keeping experience will be considerably the much better for it.plan build
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