Chicken Coops for Sale in Wilkinson, Indiana
Chicken Coops for Sale in Wilkinson, 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?
Chicken Coop House in Wilkinson, Indiana
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Wilkinson 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 Wilkinson Indiana chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Wilkinson, Indiana With the substantial increase in chicken maintaining there has been an equally huge rise in the array of fowl materiel on sale. Chicken real estate is a case in point. It's additionally a traditional instance of the great old bandwagon being got on as different potential chicken housing professionals market an array of cottage asserting to be the perfect solution to your chicken real estate demands. Frequently the price looks attractive, your house looks attractive, heck even the clean-cut household standing there feeding the chickens look attractive. Surely they understand a top quality chicken house when they see one? There are several low-cost as well as unpleasant coops flooding the market. I recognize this as I've checked a variety of them in the field, as well as seen a ewe run straight via one when the feed container showed up. The result was nothing but a costly stack of fire wood and also a tiny group of bemused and also now homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop On Trailer in Wilkinson, Indiana
Generally these standardized models are built of fast grown up lumber - come the first decrease of rainfall they swell, leaving you either blockading a doorway that will not close, or tearing the doorway furnishings off in a vain attempt to launch the squawking occupants. The first warm and comfortable day means the lumber dries as well as fractures, the felt roof bubbles as well as boils, and come nightfall the chickens choose not to enter. This is not as a result of their disappointment at the decrease of their once attractive apartment yet since the hovel is now a place for, as well as probably abounding, the poultry caretaker's nemesis, red mite. Add that it said on the blurb that it would suit 4 large hens when that stocking density was based upon the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and just what are you entrusted? A few hinges as well as some kindling. A decent coop for thee to 4 birds need to cost you in the region of ₤ 300 though this could rely on whether you elect for a free standing house or one with a run affixed. Thinking you are ranging your birds in a large area as well as the pop hole doorway allows sufficient for the breed you keep, after that the major requirements of housing come down to three points which will certainly specify the number of birds the house will hold; perches, nest boxes as well as ventilation. Many breeds of chicken will perch when they visit roost during the night, this perch must ideally be 5-8cm large with smoothed off edges so the foot rests easily on it. The perch needs to be above the nest box entrance as chickens will likewise normally look for the acme to perch. A perch less than 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) resulting in stained eggs the list below day. They should not nonetheless be so high off the flooring of your house that leg injuries might occur when the bird comes down in the morning. Chickens need regarding 20cm of perch each (in tiny breeds this is obviously much less), plus if greater than one perch is mounted in your home they must be greater than 30cm apart. They will certainly hunker up with their neighbors but are not that crazy about roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird ahead. Preferably your home ought to have a least one nest box for each 3 birds as well as these ought to be off the ground as well as in the darkest area of the house. Your house should have sufficient ventilation: without it after that condensation will certainly develop every night, even in the coldest of weather condition. Know, ventilation works with the principle of cozy air leaving with a high void attracting cooler air in from a reduced void - it's not a collection of openings on other wall surfaces of your home and also at the exact same degree, this is exactly what's referred to as a draught. If you have a house with a run connected then the points above are still real, yet you ought to likewise consider the run size. The EU optimum legal equipping thickness for a totally free array bird is (and allow's encounter it, one of the inspirations for keeping some chickens at home is potentially improved or far better welfare) 2,500 birds each hectare, that's optimal one bird each 4m squared. Take a close look at several of the deal homes - it could well be the house has the ideal perches, proper ventilation and adequate nest boxes for a reasonable number of birds, yet will each of the chickens have anything greater than an A4 sized item of ground to invest the day on? Therefore as the stating goes, "you obtain what you pay for". You may believe you've grabbed a deal, but you as well as your group could rue the day you did. Acquisition the ideal house and also it will certainly last for a few years, otherwise longer offered the right treatment. Eventually your poultry and also your poultry maintaining encounter will be much the far better for it.plan for sale
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