Chicken Coops for Sale in Grafton, Iowa
Chicken Coops for Sale in Grafton, Iowa
Our Chicken Coop Design – Front Elevation (Part 2 of 3)
Okay, I lied. I had hoped to finish up writing on our chicken coop design with this post, but I ran out of time and markers…seriously – my gray marker ran out. So today I’m going to focus on the front elevation and next week I’ll wrap it up with the other 3 elevations.
Front Elevation of the Coop
When designing your coop you really need to think through ventilation for a number of reasons: respiratory health of the chickens; drying out the moisture and their manure keeps down the smells and the potential of the hens getting sick. I made ours super-ventilated by covering the entire front of our coop with hardware cloth. We may have gone overboard, but it’s better to err on the side of too much ventilation in a coop than too little…and because Atlanta has a fairly temperate climate, I think we’re good. That said, you do have to consider strong winds – particularly in the colder months. That’s why Britt and I crafted Roman shade-like curtains out of painter’s drop cloths for the front and the windows on the other 3 sides of the coop. It was quite inexpensive and fairly easy to do…particularly if you strategically use the hems already sewn in. These curtains will give our ladies a refuge from the cold winds – protecting the exposed areas of their bodies (combs, wattles, and feet).
Here are a few other things to note about the front elevation of our coop:
- Again, entire area is covered in hardware cloth. I could have used chicken wire on the top (bottom needs hardware cloth to keep out critters), but I had enough hardware cloth and I thought it looked better for the entire area to be consistent.
- The height of the walls are 6.5’…which is plenty high (for me at least) to be able to walk through the door…and there is plenty of height inside, since there is no ceiling (just the rafters and tin roof above).
- 24″ doors were constructed out of pressure-treated wood and painted the same color as the doors of our home.
- To clean things up a bit and to cover up where the pieces of hardware cloth met, I added 1″ trim on the outside of each 2×4 and painted it and the siding of the rest of the coop the same color gray as our house.
- We used gate latches as handles. If you do as well, make sure you make it so that you won’t get locked in when the doors close. To do that, I simply drilled a hole just above the latch and attached a long, thin chain that I threaded through the hole…allowing me to open the latch from inside. Don’t use string or twine…I found that out the hard way. String will wear out and break – leaving you stranded inside. Fortunately when it happened to me, one of my girls was within shouting distance.
- We were running out of hardware cloth when we were finishing the gable, so we simply filled in the middle space with a board and painted it gray. To make sense of this oddly proportioned space and to bring a little bit of character to the coop, I hung a set of antlers from a Mule Deer I shot several years ago with my dad in Wyoming.
So there’s the front elevation. We are really pleased with it…it’s done what we set out to do – make a more than livable space for our chickens (and bunny), while still being attractive. Now we may be a bit too particular, but I really think having an attractive coop in a nice setting has made raising chickens not only sustainable, but more enjoyable. So sure, you could build a coop that is purely functional, but if it looks like a hunk of junk, is that really something you want to see every day…sometimes several times? We thought not.
Next week I’ll wrap things up on our chicken coop design…but until then, please let me know if you have any other questions about our coop or raising chickens. I could perhaps work my answers into the next post.
Take care,
PS: Here are the links to and of Our Chicken Coop Design…and the link to .
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Chicken Coop Quality in Grafton, Iowa
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Grafton Iowa" 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 Grafton Iowa chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Grafton, Iowa With the big increase in poultry maintaining there has been an equally huge surge in the array of poultry materiel on sale. Fowl real estate is a case in factor. It's also a traditional example of the great old bandwagon being jumped on as numerous would-be chicken housing professionals peddle a variety of lodging asserting to be the suitable remedy to your chicken real estate requirements. Usually the cost looks attractive, the house looks appealing, heck even the clean-cut family members standing there feeding the chickens look attractive. Undoubtedly they understand a high quality chicken house when they see one? There are several economical and also awful coops flooding the market. I know this as I've checked a number of them in the area, as well as seen a ewe run straight via one when the feed pail showed up. The result was only a pricey pile of firewood and a little group of bemused and currently homeless bantams.
Baby Chick Care in Grafton, Iowa
More often than not these standardized models are built of rapid grown up hardwood - come the initial decrease of rainfall they swell, leaving you either defending a doorway that won't shut, or tearing the door furnishings off in a vain attempt to release the squawking citizens. The first warm and comfortable day means the timber dries out and cracks, the really felt roofing system bubbles and boils, as well as come nightfall the chickens refuse to enter. This is not due to their dissatisfaction at the decline of their when appealing home but considering that the hovel is currently a place for, and possibly crawling with, the chicken caretaker's nemesis, red mite. Add on that it claimed on the blurb that it would certainly fit four big hens when that equipping density was based on the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and just what are you entrusted? A number of joints as well as some kindling. A good coop for thee to four birds should cost you approximately ₤ 300 though this could rely on whether you choose for a cost-free standing house or one with a run connected. Assuming you are varying your birds in a big space and the pop opening door allows sufficient for the breed you keep, after that the main needs of real estate come down to 3 factors which will certainly specify the number of birds the house will hold; perches, nest boxes and also ventilation. The majority of types of chicken will certainly perch when they visit roost at night, this perch should preferably be 5-8cm vast with smoothed off sides so the foot sits easily on it. The perch ought to be above the nest box access as chickens will additionally naturally try to find the acme to perch. A perch below that will have the birds roosting in the nest box overnight (which is incidentally when they generate the most poo) causing dirtied eggs the list below day. They shouldn't nonetheless be so high off the flooring of your home that leg injuries could possibly happen when the bird gets down in the morning. Chickens require about 20cm of perch each (in little breeds this is undoubtedly much less), plus if more than one perch is mounted in your house they should 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. Preferably your house ought to have a least one nest box for every single three birds as well as these must be off the ground and in the darkest area of your house. Your home ought to have ample air flow: without it then condensation will certainly develop every night, even in the coldest of weather condition. Be aware, ventilation works with the principle of cozy air leaving with a high void drawing cooler air in from a reduced gap - it's not a collection of openings on other wall surfaces of your home as well as at the very same degree, this is exactly what's called a draught. If you have a house with a run connected after that the points above are still real, but you need to likewise take into consideration the run dimension. The EU optimum legal stocking density for a free variety bird is (and allow's encounter it, among the motivations for maintaining some hens in the house is potentially improved or much better welfare) 2,500 birds per hectare, that's optimal one bird each 4m squared. Take a close check out some of the bargain residences - it could well be the house has the best perches, correct ventilation and also ample nest boxes for a sensible number of birds, but will each of the chickens have anything greater than an A4 sized piece of ground to spend the day on? And so as the stating goes, "you get exactly what you pay for". You could believe you've got hold of a bargain, however you and also your group might rue the day you did. Acquisition the best house and also it will certainly last for a few years, otherwise longer given the right therapy. In the end your fowl as well as your fowl maintaining encounter will certainly be much the much better for it.plans coop
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