Chicken Coops for Sale in Saint Lucas, Iowa
Chicken Coops for Sale in Saint Lucas, Iowa
Tropical Chicken Coop Construction – Ch.1
Tropical Chicken Coop Construction – Ch.1
I have been helping our friends build a chicken coop so that they can start raising there own hens and producing their own eggs. The week before I helped them build a compost pile so that they could start composting their yard waist on a larger scale, now we move into coop development. After researching different designs and methods for building a coop I decided to go with one that would fit well in the tropics. Much like San Diego, you don’t have to worry about a freeze or the chickens getting to cold, however you do need to be concerned with other natural elements like predators, tropical rain storms, gusty winds and too much heat. Taking this into consideration I designed a coop that would protect the hens from the elements, yet be opened up enough to allow a breeze and shade for the hens to grow in.
Chicken Coop Design
Chicken Coop Plans
The structure of the coop is 4x8x8. It is 4 ft wide by 8ft long and 8ft high at its highest point. The floor of the hen house is three feet off of the ground. There is a thatched roof covering the length of the coop to keep out the rain and sun. The roofs highest point is at 8ft (in the center) dropping down to 6ft on the front side, and 7ft on the back side. This allows for a consistent air flow throughout the coop
Chicken Coop Plans (Side Views)
I designed the coop on paper, worked out the measurements and then we started putting it together after we picked up the supplies. As expected we made a few adjustments as we began to put the coop together to fit the surroundings a little better. One thing that I didn’t keep in mind was the slope that we would be working on, this eventually elevated the ‘run’ side a little more giving the hens an extra 6 inches to play around in.
Chicken Coop Supplies (So Far)
- 3 4×8′ 1/2″ pieces of plywood
- 20 2x4x8′ studs
- 12 2x2x8′ studs
- 1 6x2x8′ stud
- 2 4×8′ roofing sheets
- 1 4×50′ roll of chicken wire
- 1 box 3.5″ screws
- 1 box 2″ screws
- 6 hinges
- 3 latches
- 4 cinder blocks
Chicken Coop Structure
Putting up the Frame
After we picked a location by the mango tree, the first thing that we did was put together the frame. This would be our skeleton if you will, everything else would be built off of the frame. As mentioned before the frame of the structure is 4ft wide by 8ft long. We put 6ft posts on the front side, 7ft posts on the back side, and two 8ft posts on the ends (for the roof). Notice the cinder blocks used to give us a level playing field, not the prettiest look, this is something that we will fix up as we finish the project.
Chicken Coop Construction
Putting Up the Walls
After we got the frame up we started to work on the hen house itself, this is where then hens will go to lay their many eggs in the future. We closed off the floor and the back wall first because these are permanent, no doors or latches needed. In this picture you can see that we also added a few more frame pieces for the roof, this was because of the type of roofing that we decided to go with. You will be able to see why when we finish.
Hen House Layout
Building the Hen House
Once we put in the permanent walls and floor we began building the doors that would allow us access into the hen house for cleaning and feeding. This front door section will open up giving us plenty of room to work around the hen house.
Nesting Boxes
The Nesting Boxes
The Nesting Boxes came next on our plans. We decided to do two rows of boxes 4 boxes deep. This gives us a total of 8 nesting boxes. Each box is 12″x12″12″. We started the bottom row 6 inches off of the floor and the next row 12 inches above that. We left a 3″ over hang to give the hens something to climb up to before entering their boxes. We also put a 4.5 inch lip on the front of the boxes making the entrance to the boxes 7.5″x12″. We did this to give the hens more protection and less room to move around. This should prevent them or the other hens from eating their eggs once they began producing.
Entrance for Eggs
Behind the nesting boxes, on the outside of the hen house we installed two barn style doors to give us easy access to all of the boxes, thus giving us easy access to the eggs down the road. This will also make it easier for cleaning an maintenance when the time comes.
Hen House Entrance
Hen House Entrance
This last image is of the entrance into the hen house, this was the last thing that we finished up to this point. We still have the roof, chicken wire enclosure and last minute adjustments. As you can see the Tropical Chicken Coop is coming along just fine. We are almost there but not quite yet. Once we get some more time to work on it we should be able to wrap up this project and move the hens in. Eggs are on their way!
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Chicken Coop Plans Pdf in Saint Lucas, Iowa
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Saint Lucas 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 Saint Lucas Iowa chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Saint Lucas, Iowa With the massive boost in poultry maintaining there has been an equally huge rise in the variety of fowl paraphernalia on sale. Fowl real estate is a case in point. It's additionally a traditional example of the great old bandwagon being got on as numerous potential chicken housing professionals pitch a range of holiday accommodation asserting to be the ideal option to your chicken housing requirements. Commonly the rate looks appealing, the house looks appealing, hell also the clean-cut family members standing there feeding the chickens look eye-catching. Definitely they recognize a top quality chicken house when they see one? There are numerous low-cost as well as nasty coops swamping the marketplace. I know this as I've examined a variety of them in the area, as well as seen a ewe run straight with one when the feed bucket showed up. The outcome was only an expensive heap of fire wood as well as a tiny group of bemused as well as now homeless bantams.
Baby Yellow Chick For Sale in Saint Lucas, Iowa
Most of the time these mass produced models are constructed of rapid grown wood - come the first decline of rain they swell, leaving you either defending a doorway that will not close, or ripping the doorway furniture off in a vain effort to release the squawking inhabitants. The initial cozy day implies the timber dries out and splits, the really felt roof bubbles and also boils, and also come nightfall the chickens refuse to go in. This is not because of their frustration at the decline of their once eye-catching commercial property however since the hovel is currently a place for, as well as probably crawling with, the chicken keeper's nemesis, red mite. Add on the fact that it stated on the blurb that it would fit 4 huge chickens when that equipping thickness was based on the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and exactly what are you entrusted? A couple of hinges as well as some kindling. A decent coop for thee to 4 birds should cost you approximately ₤ 300 though this can depend upon whether you choose for a free standing house or one with a run attached. Presuming you are ranging your birds in a large space and also the pop hole doorway allows sufficient for the breed you maintain, after that the primary demands of real estate boil down to three points which will specify the number of birds your home will certainly hold; perches, nest boxes and ventilation. A lot of types of chicken will perch when they visit roost in the evening, this perch should ideally be 5-8cm large with smoothed off edges so the foot sits conveniently on it. The perch must be higher than the nest box entrance as chickens will additionally normally look for the highest point to perch. A perch less than that will have the birds roosting in the nest box over night (which is incidentally when they create one of the most poo) causing soiled eggs the list below day. They shouldn't nevertheless be so high off the flooring of your home that leg injuries can take place when the bird comes down in the early morning. Chickens require concerning 20cm of perch each (in little breeds this is obviously less), plus if greater than one perch is set up in the house they must be more than 30cm apart. They will hunker up with their neighbors but are not that crazy about roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird ahead. Preferably your house must have a the very least one nest box for each 3 birds as well as these ought to be off the ground and also in the darkest location of the house. Your home must have sufficient ventilation: without it after that condensation will certainly build up every evening, even in the coldest of climate. Be aware, ventilation works on the concept of cozy air leaving with a high space attracting cooler air in from a lower gap - it's not a set of holes on opposite wall surfaces of your house and also at the same degree, this is just what's called a draft. If you have a house with a run connected then the factors above are still true, however you ought to also think about the run dimension. The EU maximum lawful equipping density for a totally free range bird is (as well as let's encounter it, among the motivations for keeping some hens at home is potentially enhanced or much better well-being) 2,500 birds per hectare, that's optimal one bird each 4m settled. Take a close check out several of the bargain homes - it could well be your home has the appropriate perches, right ventilation and ample nest boxes for a reasonable variety of birds, but will each of the chickens have anything more than an A4 sized item of ground to invest the day on? And so as the stating goes, "you get exactly what you spend for". You could assume you've got a deal, but you as well as your group can rue the day you did. Purchase the appropriate house and it will certainly last for a couple of years, otherwise longer provided the right treatment. In the long run your chicken and your fowl maintaining experience will be much the better for it.chick chickens
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