Chicken Coops for Sale in Westphalia, Indiana
Chicken Coops for Sale in Westphalia, Indiana
The Chicken Coop Is Done…Enough.
The builder of our chicken coop turned it over to us with just a few final details left to handle: painting, notably, and any sort of facade-bling we wanted to add.
We painted Coop 2.0 gray because that was the only color exterior paint we had on hand (you may recall me saying that exact same thing about Coop 1.0.; it’s the same bucket of paint). We had this idea to build a cute little mock picket fence on the outside. Maybe one day…for now, the coop is done enough.
We based our coop on the design. We customized our coop to make it larger, and changed many of the finish differences, but otherwise took quite a bit from the plans we downloaded.
Want the tour? Okay, here ya go.
The footprint of the coop and run is 8 feet deep and 12 feet wide. It was designed to make maximum use of standard dimension lumber with a minimum of cutting (we figured the size when the plan was still to built it ourselves, and we’re not experts at the precision cutting). The enclosed coop is 8 feet deep and 4 feet wide. This size should fit all the chickens we will ever think of keeping on our suburban lot – 6 hens being our goal.
The height of the coop and run (not including sloped roof) is a little under 7 feet. The top of the coop and run is fully enclosed with hardware cloth (freaking expensive 1/2-inch metal mesh that keeps out rats and raccoons). Above the hardware cloth is a sloped roof made from angle cut 2x12s and translucent corrugated roofing panels.
The coop itself sports a few roosting bar options, and we are collecting nicely sized natural branches, rake handles, and anything else that seems like something the chickens might like, to add additional roosting places in the coop and run area. So far they aren’t complaining.
The girls have a three-compartment nesting box with a highly pitched roof to discourage nesting, and hence pooping, above the eggs. Each compartment is around 12″ x 14″. When we moved them from the brooder to the coop, they all (yes, all six of them) swarmed into a single nesting box. They still seem to enjoy sleeping pig-pile style.
The interior panel of the coop swings completely open and is held up by gas struts our builder pulled off of a Cadillac from the junk yard. Seriously, Caddy hood struts. And yes, we did tip our builder.
The floor of the coop is lined with a piece of vinyl flooring remnant to prevent poop juices from soaking into the OSB floor of the coop. I’ve forgotten which of the Northwest Edible Life Facebook fans recommended this to me, but we thought it was genius. (If you are the brilliant suggester behind this tip, please stand up and take credit!)
The interior door has a window cut-out so we can watch Chicken TV while the girls are in the coop. This was a truly last minute addition to the design but we’re so glad we have it.
The girls have a moderately sloped ramp which they navigate easily.
Because our coop is fully covered and enclosed with hardware cloth, we feel fairly confident about leaving our feed supplies in the coop itself. We store the feed in big food-safe plastic buckets on metal shelving. This has made the daily feeding of the chicks really simple and easy.
So that’s the coop! This chickens seem plenty happy. What do you think?
Chicken Coop Supplies in Westphalia, Indiana
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Westphalia 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 Westphalia Indiana chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Westphalia, Indiana With the substantial increase in chicken keeping there has been an equally huge surge in the variety of poultry paraphernalia for sale. Fowl real estate is a situation in point. It's also a traditional example of the excellent old bandwagon being got on as numerous prospective poultry real estate experts pitch an array of accommodation asserting to be the excellent option to your chicken real estate demands. Typically the cost looks desirable, the house looks desirable, hell even the clean-cut family members standing there feeding the chickens look eye-catching. Surely they recognize a quality chicken house when they see one? There are many inexpensive and nasty cages swamping the marketplace. I recognize this as I've checked a variety of them in the field, and seen a ewe run directly through one when the feed pail showed up. The result was only an expensive pile of firewood as well as a tiny flock of bemused as well as currently homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Pallets in Westphalia, Indiana
Generally these mass produced versions are built of rapid grown wood - come the very first drop of rainfall they swell, leaving you either barricading a door that won't close, or ripping the doorway furniture off in a vain attempt to release the squawking citizens. The very first warm and comfortable day suggests the lumber dries as well as fractures, the felt roof bubbles and boils, as well as come nightfall the chickens choose not to go in. This is not because of their disappointment at the decrease of their as soon as eye-catching home yet due to the fact that the hovel is currently a sanctuary for, as well as most likely abounding, the poultry keeper's nemesis, red mite. Add on the fact that it stated on the blurb that it would certainly match four big chickens when that equipping density was based on the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and what are you entrusted? A couple of hinges and also some kindling. A suitable coop for thee to 4 birds ought to cost you around ₤ 300 though this can rely on whether you choose for a complimentary standing house or one with a run connected. Presuming you are varying your birds in a big room and the pop hole door allows sufficient for the type you maintain, after that the main demands of real estate boil down to 3 points which will certainly specify the number of birds your house will certainly hold; perches, nest boxes and air flow. Many breeds of chicken will perch when they go to roost at night, this perch needs to ideally be 5-8cm broad with smoothed off edges so the foot sits conveniently on it. The perch should be higher than the nest box entry as chickens will certainly additionally normally look for the highest point to perch. A perch less than that will have the birds roosting in the nest box overnight (which is by the way when they create the most poo) causing stained eggs the following day. They should not nevertheless be so high off the flooring of your home that leg injuries might occur when the bird comes down in the early morning. Chickens need concerning 20cm of perch each (in tiny breeds this is obviously less), plus if more than one perch is installed in the house they ought to be more than 30cm apart. They will certainly hunker up with their neighbors however are not that crazy about roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird in front. Ideally the house ought to have a the very least one nest box for each three birds as well as these need to be off the ground and also in the darkest area of your house. Your home must have adequate air flow: without it after that condensation will certainly develop every evening, also in the chilliest of climate. Know, ventilation deals with the principle of warm air leaving with a high void drawing cooler air in from a reduced gap - it's not a collection of openings on opposite wall surfaces of your house and at the exact same degree, this is what's called a draft. If you have a house with a run affixed after that the points above are still true, yet you ought to additionally think about the run dimension. The EU optimum legal stocking density for a complimentary range bird is (as well as allow's face it, among the motivations for maintaining some chickens in your home is potentially boosted or better well-being) 2,500 birds per hectare, that's optimal one bird each 4m settled. Take a close take a look at several of the deal houses - it could well be your house has the appropriate perches, appropriate air flow as well as enough nest boxes for a practical variety of birds, but will each of the chickens have anything greater than an A4 sized piece of ground to invest the day on? Therefore as the saying goes, "you get just what you pay for". You might assume you've got hold of a bargain, yet you as well as your flock could rue the day you did. Acquisition the right house as well as it will certainly last for a couple of years, if not longer offered the appropriate therapy. In the long run your fowl as well as your fowl keeping experience will certainly be much the far better for it.build plans
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