Chicken Coops for Sale in Liberty, Indiana
Chicken Coops for Sale in Liberty, 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 Facts in Liberty, Indiana
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Liberty 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 Liberty Indiana chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Liberty, Indiana With the substantial rise in poultry maintaining there has been a just as large increase in the range of fowl materiel for sale. Poultry real estate is an instance in point. It's likewise a classic instance of the excellent old bandwagon being got on as various potential fowl real estate experts market a range of holiday accommodation claiming to be the excellent option to your chicken real estate demands. Frequently the price looks appealing, your diy-chicken-coop-planshome looks appealing, heck also the clean-cut family members standing there feeding the chickens look attractive. Certainly they understand a quality chicken house when they see one? There are many economical as well as horrible coops flooding the marketplace. I understand this as I've examined a number of them in the field, as well as seen a ewe run straight with one when the feed bucket appeared. The result was just a pricey pile of fire wood and a small flock of bemused as well as currently homeless bantams.
Baby Chick For Sale in Liberty, Indiana
Typically these standardized models are constructed of fast grown timber - come the first decrease of rainfall they swell, leaving you either fortifying a door that won't shut, or tearing the doorway furniture off in a vain effort to launch the squawking occupants. The initial warm and comfortable day suggests the wood dries and fractures, the felt roofing bubbles as well as boils, and come nightfall the chickens choose not to go in. This is not due to their disappointment at the decrease of their once desirable apartment but due to the fact that the hovel is currently a haven for, and probably abounding, the poultry keeper's bane, red mite. Add on that it said on the blurb that it would certainly match 4 huge chickens when that stocking thickness was based on the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, as well as exactly what are you left with? A number of 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 totally free standing house or one with a run connected. Presuming you are ranging your birds in a huge space and the pop opening doorway is big sufficient for the type you keep, then the primary demands of housing come down to three points which will specify the number of birds your house will hold; perches, nest boxes and ventilation. A lot of types of chicken will certainly perch when they visit roost during the night, this perch ought to preferably be 5-8cm broad with smoothed off sides so the foot rests pleasantly on it. The perch must be above the nest box access as chickens will certainly additionally naturally seek the highest point to perch. A perch below that will certainly have the birds roosting in the nest box overnight (which is by the way when they produce one of the most poo) leading to soiled eggs the following day. They shouldn't nonetheless be so high off the floor of your house that leg injuries can occur when the bird gets down in the morning. Chickens need concerning 20cm of perch each (in little breeds this is clearly much less), plus if greater than one perch is set up in the house they need to be more than 30cm apart. They will hunker up with their neighbors but are not that crazy about roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird ahead. Preferably your house needs to have a the very least one nest box for every 3 birds and also these should be off the ground and in the darkest area of the house. Your home ought to have appropriate air flow: without it after that condensation will certainly accumulate every night, also in the chilliest of weather condition. Know, ventilation works on the principle of warm air leaving via a high gap drawing cooler air in from a reduced void - it's not a set of holes on contrary wall surfaces of your home and also at the same level, this is what's referred to as a draught. If you have a house with a run connected after that the factors above are still real, but you must likewise take into consideration the run dimension. The EU maximum lawful equipping density for a cost-free array bird is (as well as allow's encounter it, one of the inspirations for maintaining some hens in the house is potentially enhanced or far better well-being) 2,500 birds per hectare, that's maximum one bird per 4m made even. Take a close check out a few of the bargain homes - it could well be the house has the best perches, appropriate air flow and also ample nest boxes for an affordable number of birds, but will each of the chickens have anything more than an A4 sized item of ground to invest the day on? Therefore as the claiming goes, "you get just what you pay for". You might think you've got hold of a bargain, but you and also your flock could possibly rue the day you did. Acquisition the best house and it will certainly last for a few years, if not longer offered the appropriate therapy. Ultimately your chicken and your chicken maintaining encounter will certainly be a lot the better for it.coop chickens
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