Chicken Coops for Sale in Ida Grove, Iowa
Chicken Coops for Sale in Ida Grove, Iowa
Transform Your Little Tikes Playhouse into a Chicken Coop
When I started pestering my husband about chickens (again), I knew I was fighting an uphill battle. He did not want to spend a bunch of money and time on the construction of a suitable coop. We’d already been down the road of improper chicken housing before, and it wasn’t a road that either of us wanted to travel again. But I really, REALLY wanted to give chicken keeping another try. And I thought that with a little bit of forethought, we could eliminate the challenges we ran into before. For starters, the birds would need enough space. And the coop would need to be easy to clean. And most importantly, the coop would need to be secure. Nothing like coming home to find your chickens walking along the 6′ high wall that surrounds your yard! But to construct this type of set up from scratch would cost quite a bit of money in materials, not to mention all the time and sweat it would take for the hubs to actually BUILD the thing.
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So then I started scouring the internet trying to find the best deal on a “coop in a box”. I had my eye on but the price tag was a bit hefty. (It’s actually on sale for 58% off right now if you happen to be in the market for a pre-fabricated coop!) Not only was the hubs not excited about building a chicken coop, he also wasn’t excited about the idea of another “thing” in the yard. Our yard was already overrun with toys, bikes, gardening tools, a composter, and our very well-loved Little Tikes Playhouse. So as I sat in the yard one spring evening watching the kids play with everything BUT the playhouse, I got to thinking… Why couldn’t we just turn the playhouse into a chicken coop?!?! I didn’t tell hubs about the idea right away. Instead, I began looking at the structure of the playhouse to see if my idea would even work. Guys, I swear, this thing was MADE to become a chicken coop! It had everything we needed! The house is large enough for me to walk inside to rake it out, it has plenty of space for a nesting box, waterer, food, and a roosting bar. And it even came with a little cut out section near the floor (picture a doggy door) so the chickens could access the run we built behind it! I sketched out an idea of the modifications that we would need to make, and I presented my idea to the hubs. Guess what? He went for it! It was PERFECT. The structure was already built. We wouldn’t have to add another “thing” to our already tiny yard, and the best part? It’s totally incognito. No one would EVER suspect chickens were living in the playhouse! That night, I ordered our chicks! So how did we transform the playhouse? Well, let’s take a tour, shall we?
The first thing we did was cover all the openings with garden wire. Hubs had a roll of this laying around from some other project. He used drywall screws to attach the wire to the windows. The coop actually stayed like this for a while. While the chicks were still small, it was best for them to be confined to a smaller space, so not having a run wasn’t an issue.
Next the hubs built the run. You can see the “doggy door” in the bottom left corner…this is how the chickens get in and out of the house. The run is a pretty simple A-frame structure made out of 1″x 1″ pine pieces. The frame was made in sections and the wire was screwed on to each section as it was assembled. The top of the run lifts up so I can climb in and rake out the poo. I just prop it open with an upside down rake and jump on in.
The corners are all secured with these nifty . And the whole top piece is attached to the frame with some thin chains that act as a hinge. Here is a picture of the chains.
The brown plastic covering you see on this window is actually the cover to our sand and water table. The hubs cut it to fit over the largest window to break some of the wind in the winter. He used more drywall screws to attach it to the house.
Inside the coop, we attached a roosting bar (made out of an old broom handle) to the side of the house using a simple scrap of wood to attach it.
Here is a look at one side of the roosting bar. The other side just sits on the “mantle” inside the house.
My favorite part about the coop is the nesting box. Hubs attached a recycling bin to the wall using a couple brackets. It’s the PERFECT size for a comfy chicken laying box. And it’s up high so there’s a little privacy. We did cut it down a bit…chickens are not very bright creatures…they were afraid to go inside when the lip of the box was up higher.
The is hung from the ceiling by a thin chain (to keep the birds from standing on it), and the just sits on the floor. The set up is working BRILLIANTLY for us. The birds are happy and laying an egg per chicken per day (even though it’s winter), and it is all super easy to care for. The best part is that we were able to make this transformation for a whopping $46. I can’t say enough about how awesome chicken are…I’m pretty sure my kiddos would agree! Think you might transform your little tikes playhouse into a chicken coop?
Here is the complete list of materials and tools we used to make our playhouse into a chicken coop. Our chickens have been living in the coop for 8 months, and it’s still holding up great!
Hardware
- , to secure wire to playhouse
- to secure wire to wood frame
- to hang feeder from inside coop
Tools
- – for cutting the wire
- (for pounding staples)
- for cutting 1 1/2″ pieces of wood
Chicken Coop Supplies in Ida Grove, Iowa
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Ida Grove 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 Ida Grove Iowa chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Ida Grove, Iowa With the significant increase in chicken maintaining there has actually been a similarly large rise in the range of fowl paraphernalia on sale. Fowl housing is a proceedings in factor. It's additionally a timeless instance of the excellent old bandwagon being jumped on as various potential fowl real estate professionals peddle an array of lodging asserting to be the ideal option to your chicken real estate demands. Commonly the rate looks appealing, the house looks desirable, hell even the clean-cut family members standing there feeding the chickens look eye-catching. Definitely they know a professional chicken house when they see one? There are many low-cost and awful coops flooding the marketplace. I know this as I've examined a number of them in the area, and seen a ewe run directly through one when the feed bucket appeared. The outcome was just a costly heap of fire wood and also a little group of bemused and currently homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Small in Ida Grove, Iowa
Generally these standardized designs are constructed of quick grown hardwood - come the very first decline of rainfall they swell, leaving you either blockading a door that won't close, or tearing the doorway furnishings off in a vain effort to release the squawking citizens. The first warm and comfortable day indicates the wood dries and also cracks, the felt roofing system bubbles as well as boils, and come nightfall the hens refuse to enter. This is not because of their disappointment at the decrease of their once eye-catching commercial property but since the hovel is currently a sanctuary for, and also probably crawling with, the fowl caretaker's bane, red mite. Add on that it said on the blurb that it would fit 4 big chickens when that equipping density was based upon the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, as well as exactly what are you left with? A couple of hinges and some kindling. A respectable coop for thee to four birds ought to cost you in the region of ₤ 300 though this can rely on whether you elect for a complimentary standing house or one with a run affixed. Presuming you are varying your birds in a big space and the pop hole door is big sufficient for the breed you keep, then the primary demands of housing come down to 3 points which will specify the variety of birds your home will hold; perches, nest boxes and ventilation. A lot of types of chicken will certainly perch when they go to roost in the evening, this perch must preferably be 5-8cm vast with smoothed off sides so the foot rests pleasantly on it. The perch should be higher than the nest box entrance as chickens will also normally seek 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 generate the most poo) leading to stained eggs the following day. They shouldn't however be so high off the floor of your home that leg injuries could take place when the bird comes down in the morning. Chickens need concerning 20cm of perch each (in small breeds this is clearly less), plus if more than one perch is set up in your house they must be more than 30cm apart. They will certainly hunker up with their next-door neighbors however are not that keen on roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird in front. Ideally your home ought to have a least one nest box for every single 3 birds and these must be off the ground as well as in the darkest location of your house. The house needs to have appropriate ventilation: without it after that condensation will build up every evening, even in the coldest of weather. Be aware, air flow deals with the concept of cozy air leaving with a high void drawing cooler air in from a lower gap - it's not a set of openings on contrary walls of your house and at the exact same level, this is exactly what's referred to as a draught. If you have a house with a run attached after that the factors above are still true, yet you ought to additionally think about the run size. The EU maximum legal stocking density for a totally free variety bird is (and allow's encounter it, one of the motivations for keeping some hens in your home is potentially boosted or better welfare) 2,500 birds per hectare, that's maximum one bird each 4m squared. Take a close consider some of the bargain houses - it could well be your house has the appropriate perches, correct air flow and enough nest boxes for a sensible variety of birds, however will each of the chickens have anything more than an A4 sized piece of ground to spend the day on? And so as the saying goes, "you get exactly what you spend for". You may think you've grabbed a deal, however you as well as your flock could rue the day you did. Acquisition the right house and it will last for a few years, if not longer given the right therapy. Eventually your poultry as well as your chicken keeping experience will be considerably the much better for it.plan chick
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