Chicken Coops for Sale in Newtown, Indiana
Chicken Coops for Sale in Newtown, 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 Door in Newtown, Indiana
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Newtown 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 Newtown Indiana chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Newtown, Indiana With the big rise in chicken maintaining there has actually been an equally large rise in the array of chicken materiel on sale. Poultry real estate is a proceedings in point. It's additionally a traditional example of the good old bandwagon being got on as numerous potential fowl housing experts market an array of holiday accommodation asserting to be the suitable option to your chicken housing requirements. Commonly the cost looks appealing, your diy-chicken-coop-planshome looks attractive, hell even the clean-cut household standing there feeding the chickens look desirable. Surely they recognize a professional chicken house when they see one? There are lots of affordable as well as horrible coops swamping the market. I know this as I've checked a variety of them in the area, and seen a ewe run straight through one when the feed container appeared. The outcome was only a costly heap of fire wood and also a tiny flock of bemused as well as now homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Run Plans in Newtown, Indiana
Generally these standardized versions are created of rapid grown up lumber - come the first drop of rain they swell, leaving you either defending a door that won't shut, or ripping the doorway furniture off in a vain attempt to launch the squawking inhabitants. The initial warm day suggests the wood dries out and cracks, the really felt roof bubbles and also boils, and come nightfall the hens choose not to enter. This is not because of their frustration at the decline of their when attractive residential property yet considering that the hovel is currently a haven for, as well as probably crawling with, the poultry keeper's nemesis, red mite. Add on the fact that it claimed on the blurb that it would fit 4 big hens when that equipping thickness was based upon the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and also just what are you entrusted? A couple of hinges and also some kindling. A suitable coop for thee to four birds should cost you approximately ₤ 300 though this can depend on whether you elect for a complimentary standing house or one with a run connected. Assuming you are ranging your birds in a large room and the pop opening door allows enough for the type you maintain, after that the major needs of housing come down to 3 points which will specify the number of birds the house will hold; perches, nest boxes and also ventilation. Many breeds of chicken will certainly perch when they visit roost during the night, this perch ought to 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 entry as chickens will likewise normally seek the acme to perch. A perch lower than that will have the birds roosting in the nest box overnight (which is by the way when they create one of the most poo) resulting in soiled eggs the list below day. They should not however be so high off the flooring of your home that leg injuries can occur when the bird comes down in the morning. Chickens need concerning 20cm of perch each (in little types this is certainly less), plus if more than one perch is installed in your house they ought to be more than 30cm apart. They will certainly hunker up with their next-door neighbors yet are not that keen on roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird in front. Preferably your house should have a least one nest box for every three birds and these ought to be off the ground and in the darkest area of your home. Your home should have ample ventilation: without it then condensation will certainly develop every night, also in the coldest of weather. Know, ventilation deals with the concept of cozy air leaving through a high void drawing cooler air in from a lower void - it's not a collection of holes on opposite walls of your house as well as at the same degree, this is what's called a draught. If you have a house with a run connected after that the factors above are still true, yet you ought to additionally think about the run dimension. The EU maximum lawful equipping thickness for a cost-free array bird is (as well as allow's face it, among the motivations for keeping some hens in your home is potentially boosted or better welfare) 2,500 birds each hectare, that's maximum one bird per 4m settled. Take a close look at a few of the deal homes - it could well be your home has the appropriate perches, appropriate ventilation and enough nest boxes for a reasonable variety of birds, however will each of the chickens have anything more than an A4 sized item of ground to spend the day on? Therefore as the stating goes, "you get what you spend for". You might think you've grabbed a bargain, however you and also your flock can rue the day you did. Purchase the ideal house as well as it will last for a couple of decades, if not longer provided the proper treatment. In the end your chicken and also your fowl keeping experience will be considerably the better for it.plans coop
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