Chicken Coops for Sale in Jonesboro, Indiana
Chicken Coops for Sale in Jonesboro, Indiana
Our Finished Chicken Coop
These past few days had us outside enjoying the beautiful weather. One of the jobs I crossed off the list was to clean out our new chicken coop.
Because of our over the past year or so, our family was going through several dozen eggs a week. (I can’t help it – I’m hooked on !)
So last summer we quit “planning” to get our own chickens, and actually did it. The whole family pitched in to build a little abode for our egg-laying beauties. And because we were first-time chicken owners and newbies in all chicken-related topics, we joined and gleaned months worth of ideas, do’s and don’ts, and building plans. (I can’t recommend this site highly enough! If you have the slightest inclination of doing chicken anything, go here and read to your heart’s content.)
It was so helpful to see photos and designs when we were in the planning stages, I thought I’d share pictures of our coop and the hows and whys of what we did.
The chicken coop
Instead of starting from scratch, we bought a small granary from my brother-in-law; about 9’x7′ inside measurements. This gave us about 3 sq. ft. per bird. The coop is nothing fancy really. It isn’t visible from the road and we don’t live in town with neighbors to care about the view from their back window, so we used as much scrap material as possible. Plus we didn’t think the chickens would mind.
So far they haven’t rebelled.
We re-tinned the roof (that’s my honey!) and I got to use the saw sawl to make holes for the windows and vents. You can call me Mrs. Handyman. . .
Inside the chicken coop
Framing the windows and vents was the most time consuming part since the building wasn’t square. We used insulation and vapor barrier for the walls for added moisture protection and warmth because the windchill can get -40 below or more in the winter.
We made the roosting boards parallel and the same height because apparently hens will act like old biddies and fight for the top most board. (Some people’s kids. . .)
We rounded the edges of the roosting boards so it’s easier on the hens’ feet. The boards can be removed for ease of cleaning the poop boards underneath.
Poop boards seemed quite popular among chicken peoples and we’ve quickly learned why. First, chickens poop more when roosting, so the roosting boards are placed above the poop board. This makes clean up as simple as buying a wide sheetrock mudding tool and scraping the droppings into a bucket each day. We then add the droppings to our compost pile.
We originally built a rollaway community nesting box directly underneath the poop board, but the chickens ended up laying eggs everywhere but there. Eventually we added a ‘normal’ set of 12″x12″x12″ nesting boxes and they’re happy campers again.
We decided to use the deep litter method. We spread a bag of wood chips on the floor and because the hens leave most of their droppings on the poop boards, there’s minimal waste on the floor. The chickens like to scratch and fluff the wood chips so it gets stirred up and aerated. This means the coop is less smelly, and there’s only a few minutes of daily cleaning of the boards. If needed, you can add more wood chips throughout the year.
We clean the coop out fully in the spring and fall. So far it’s worked wonderfully.
We nailed a board across the doorway to prevent the rising litter from falling out every time we opened the door.
The feeders are gravity fed. They’re made of PVC pipe with a 90 degree corner and a cap at the end. We like that we can leave for several days at a time and don’t have to worry about having someone come out to do chicken chores for us.
This water stand was Travis’s idea. The hens have a platform to stand on so no matter how high the litter gets, they can reach the water comfortably.
The chicken nipples underneath are another idea shared by BYC that I LOVE. The water doesn’t drip, there is no poop or mud to worry about, and our full grown hens figured it out within 24 hrs. The pails are covered with lids to prevent the water from getting dirty and it lasts for at least a week (we add apple cider vinegar).
When we’re home, we clean them out and give them fresh water every few days.
There’s electricity on the wall above the waterers with a timed light switch. We use bird bath heaters to keep the water from freezing during the winter. We had to add the slanted plywood because the hens were roosting on the pails. (I told you they fought for highest roosting privileges.)
The pop door is a simple design, and it works great. It slides up and down, held in by L shaped boards.
When in the closed position, the hook and eye on the right prevent racoons (or children!) from trying to lift the door from the outside.
We used 1/2″ x 1/2″ hardware cloth to cover the insides of the windows and vents. . .
. . .and plexiglass for the actual windows.
We made sure to have plenty of vents (thanks to sage advice from Pat’s Ventilation Page) and used eyes and rope to open and close them at different heights.
Finally, we added a small lean-to to the side so the hens could come out in the winter. This helps block snow drifts right in front of the pop door, and they can still come out for fresh air and sunshine when they get cabin fever.
It might not win a beauty contest – but there’s something to be said for function-ability Hope this gave you some ideas!
What have you done to your chicken coop? We’d love to hear your ideas and suggestions!
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Chicken Coop Kits Ebay in Jonesboro, Indiana
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Jonesboro 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 Jonesboro Indiana chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Jonesboro, Indiana With the big boost in chicken maintaining there has actually been a similarly huge surge in the range of poultry paraphernalia on sale. Chicken housing is a proceedings in factor. It's also a traditional example of the excellent old bandwagon being jumped on as different prospective chicken real estate specialists pitch a range of lodging asserting to be the excellent remedy to your chicken housing demands. Commonly the cost looks eye-catching, your diy-chicken-coop-planshome looks appealing, heck even the clean-cut family standing there feeding the chickens look eye-catching. Certainly they understand a high quality chicken house when they see one? There are many affordable and also awful cages swamping the market. I understand this as I've examined a variety of them in the area, as well as seen a ewe run straight with one when the feed container showed up. The result was nothing but a costly pile of firewood as well as a little flock of bemused and currently homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Quality in Jonesboro, Indiana
Typically these standardized versions are created of rapid grown wood - come the first decrease of rainfall they swell, leaving you either blockading a doorway that will not shut, or tearing the doorway furnishings off in a vain effort to launch the squawking residents. The very first warm day implies the timber dries out as well as cracks, the felt roofing system bubbles and boils, as well as come nightfall the chickens refuse to go in. This is not because of their dissatisfaction at the decrease of their once desirable residential property but because the hovel is now a place for, as well as probably crawling with, the chicken keeper's bane, red mite. Add the fact that it said on the blurb that it would certainly match 4 big hens when that stocking thickness was based upon the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, as well as what are you left with? A few hinges and some kindling. A good coop for thee to four birds should cost you around ₤ 300 though this could rely on whether you elect for a complimentary standing house or one with a run affixed. Thinking you are varying your birds in a big space and also the pop opening door is big sufficient for the breed you keep, after that the primary requirements of real estate boil down to 3 points which will specify the variety of birds your home will certainly hold; perches, nest boxes and also ventilation. A lot of breeds of chicken will perch when they go to roost at night, this perch ought to preferably be 5-8cm vast with smoothed off edges so the foot sits easily on it. The perch ought to be more than the nest box access as chickens will also normally seek the acme to perch. A perch below that will have the birds roosting in the nest box overnight (which is by the way when they produce one of the most poo) resulting in dirtied eggs the following day. They shouldn't nevertheless be so high off the floor of your house that leg injuries can happen when the bird gets down in the early morning. Chickens need regarding 20cm of perch each (in little breeds this is obviously less), plus if greater than one perch is installed in your house they ought to be greater than 30cm apart. They will hunker up with their neighbors yet are not that keen on roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird ahead. Ideally your home needs to have a the very least one nest box for each three birds and these need to be off the ground as well as in the darkest location of your house. The house needs to have appropriate air flow: without it after that condensation will certainly build up every evening, also in the chilliest of weather condition. Realize, air flow deals with the concept of cozy air leaving with a high space drawing cooler air in from a reduced void - it's not a collection of holes on other wall surfaces of your house and also 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 factors above are still true, but you should also think about the run dimension. The EU maximum legal equipping density for a complimentary range bird is (and let's encounter it, one of the motivations for maintaining some chickens in the house is potentially enhanced or far better well-being) 2,500 birds per hectare, that's optimal one bird each 4m settled. Take a close check out some of the bargain homes - it could well be the house has the right perches, appropriate ventilation and adequate nest boxes for a reasonable variety of birds, however will each of the chickens have anything greater than an A4 sized piece of ground to invest the day on? And so as the stating goes, "you obtain what you spend for". You could assume you've got a deal, however you and also your group could possibly rue the day you did. Acquisition the ideal house and also it will certainly last for a few decades, if not longer given the correct treatment. Ultimately your fowl as well as your poultry maintaining experience will be much the better for it.chick build
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