Chicken Coops for Sale in Griffith, Indiana
Chicken Coops for Sale in Griffith, Indiana
How To Set Up Your Chicken Coop
Often when people buy chickens from us they’ve never owned poultry before therefore I usually find myself explaining the basics of operating a healthy and effective coop. As I grew up on a farm much of it is second nature but many city folk are unsure of just whats involved. The easiest and quickest way to get the message across is to take them on a tour of our back section to see how everything in our coop has be arranged.
The important aspects I talk about are:
Feed …
Because chickens grow so fast I use larger feeders as soon as possible. If you are raising them from day one there are feeders available that have been designed to cover the first couple of weeks. After that one on an adjustable rope works well as its just a matter of raising the height from time to time as the chickens grow. To get the best results it needs to be kept high enough to be accessible but not too low as to allow litter and droppings to be scratched into it. As can be seen in the photo above an off cut of PVC down pipe with holes drilled through it works well as a cheap grit feeder. Commercial feeds normally have grit added however I wonder if its sufficient as our hens regularly go through a 2 kilo bag of crushed oyster shell.
Feeding guide …
Day old to 6 -8 weeks … chick starter crumbles. 8 – 14 weeks … pullet grower or similar. 14 weeks onward … regular chook feed. 18 – 20 weeks or just prior to the commencement of laying … oyster shell grit.
Don’t over do the kitchen scraps as the nutritional value from these is fairly low. If they are fed as a substitute for a properly balance diet egg production will suffer.
Water …
Its important to have a plentiful supply of good clean water at all times. Hens don’t drink much at anyone time but they do drink often and even more so during spring and summer when air temperatures increase. I always leave the coop door open when our hens free range as they can get cool water whenever they need it. Hens drinking dirty contaminated water from containers and puddles is a recipe for disease.
If its not clean enough for you to drink you shouldn’t give it to your hens.
As shown above I prefer to used a fixed water container as the hanging versions leak and spill water when knocked. Its easily removed for cleaning and is installed in such a way to prevent debris getting into it.
Perches …
Chickens have a natural instinct to perch therefore it important to provide good sturdy perches. The ones in our coup are about 5cm square and have the sharp edges taken off to make them more chicken friendly. Tree branches of a similar diameter also work well if they are reasonably straight. The perches shown above are approximately 50cm and 80cm above the floor however I set them at lower levels when I first introduce 3 to 4 week old chicks. They should be fixed securely to the coop walls whilst being easily removable for cleaning.
Even when I have day old chicks under lights I provide perches as its a habit that I want them to learn as soon as possible because it makes my job so much easier. There’s no space on my daily to do list for cleaning dirty nesting boxes and eggs. Perch space per bird should be about 20cm.
Without suitable perches hens will perch on what ever is handy namely nesting boxes, feeders and the like or they will crowd into a corner of a coop. The end result will be a hard mound of droppings which will ultimately end up in feathers on claws then into nesting boxes and subsequently onto eggs. Correctly positioned perches eliminates crowding, flighty hens, dirty eggs and ensures your hens will be more relaxed and manageable.
Like all females of the species they need to be pampered. My other half constantly reminds me that I pay more attention to our Flora’s that I do to her. Its not true of course !!
Nesting boxes …
For me keeping hens is all about egg production therefore when we I invested extra time and effort into creating workable nesting boxes.
- One nesting box for every 4 hens, wonder why sometimes as they all seem to lay in the same box.
- Easily accessible for me from the outside.
- Easily accessible for the hens from the inside.
- Removable for easy cleaning.
- Spacious … 40cm height x 40cm width x 40cm depth or thereabouts.
- Weather proof.
- 10cm lip at the front to keep shavings and eggs in.
When introducing young chickens I keep the boxes closed off until near the time when they will start laying. This is to ensure that they use the perches rather than sleeping in and fouling the boxes. As mentioned previously this means only one thing, dirty eggs.
Deep litter …
We use a deep litter system as it makes for easy maintenance and reduces the need to be continually cleaning chicken manure out of the coop. Simply put the floor is covered with a 10cm layer of untreated wood shavings which is raked over every few days. A more detailed explanation of this concept can be .
Access – easy and straight forward …
- Human sized entry, applicable if you need a large coop.
- Removing old litter is almost effortless, especially when I have to work the camera !
- Predator proof entry- exit.
A user friendly coop ensures that keeping hens doesn’t become just another unwanted chore so build or buy wisely.
Chicken Coop For Sale Near Me in Griffith, Indiana
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Griffith 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 Griffith Indiana chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Griffith, Indiana With the massive boost in chicken keeping there has been an equally huge rise in the variety of fowl materiel on sale. Fowl housing is a situation in point. It's additionally a classic instance of the great old bandwagon being got on as numerous would-be chicken real estate experts market a variety of lodging asserting to be the ideal option to your chicken real estate demands. Typically the cost looks attractive, your diy-chicken-coop-planshome looks eye-catching, heck even the clean-cut family standing there feeding the chickens look appealing. Certainly they know a high quality chicken house when they see one? There are many cheap and awful coops swamping the market. I know 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 pail appeared. The outcome was nothing but a costly heap of fire wood as well as a tiny group of bemused as well as now homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Run Ideas in Griffith, Indiana
Most of the time these mass produced designs are constructed of fast grown up lumber - come the initial drop of rainfall they swell, leaving you either barricading a door that will not close, or ripping the doorway furniture off in a vain effort to launch the squawking inhabitants. The very first cozy day indicates the wood dries as well as fractures, the really felt roof bubbles and also boils, as well as come nightfall the hens choose not to go in. This is not due to their frustration at the decrease of their once attractive residential property however due to the fact that the hovel is currently a place for, and also most likely crawling with, the chicken caretaker's bane, red mite. Add the fact that it claimed on the blurb that it would fit four large chickens when that equipping thickness was based on the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and what are you left with? A number of joints and also some kindling. A decent coop for thee to 4 birds must cost you approximately ₤ 300 though this could rely on whether you choose for a totally free standing house or one with a run attached. Thinking you are ranging your birds in a huge space and also the pop opening doorway is big sufficient for the type you maintain, then the main demands of housing come down to three points which will specify the number of birds your home will certainly hold; perches, nest boxes and also air flow. Many types of chicken will certainly perch when they visit roost during the night, this perch should ideally be 5-8cm wide with smoothed off sides so the foot rests comfortably on it. The perch ought to be more than the nest box access as chickens will certainly also 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 one of the most poo) causing dirtied eggs the following day. They should not nevertheless be so high off the flooring of your house that leg injuries might take place when the bird comes down in the morning. Chickens need regarding 20cm of perch each (in tiny breeds this is obviously less), plus if greater than one perch is installed in the house they must be more than 30cm apart. They will certainly hunker up with their next-door neighbors however are not that crazy about roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird ahead. Ideally your house should have a least one nest box for every single 3 birds and also these need to be off the ground and also in the darkest area of your house. Your house should have adequate air flow: without it after that condensation will certainly develop every night, even in the chilliest of climate. Be aware, ventilation deals with the concept of warm and comfortable air leaving via a high space drawing cooler air in from a reduced gap - it's not a collection of openings on other walls of the house as well as at the same degree, this is what's referred to as a draught. If you have a house with a run connected then the factors above are still real, yet you need to additionally think about the run dimension. The EU optimum lawful stocking thickness for a cost-free range bird is (and also allow's encounter it, among the motivations for maintaining some chickens in your home is potentially improved or better well-being) 2,500 birds per hectare, that's optimal one bird per 4m settled. Take a close consider some of the bargain houses - it could well be your home has the best perches, proper ventilation as well as sufficient nest boxes for an affordable variety of birds, yet will each of the chickens have anything greater than an A4 sized piece of ground to spend the day on? And so as the stating goes, "you obtain just what you pay for". You could think you've got a deal, but you and also your group could rue the day you did. Purchase the best house and also it will last for a few years, if not longer given the right treatment. Ultimately your poultry as well as your fowl maintaining experience will be a lot the better for it.for sale plan
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