Chicken Coops for Sale in Washta, Iowa
Chicken Coops for Sale in Washta, Iowa
Chicken Coop Rehab Addict
Do you watch Rehab Addict on the DIY channel? It’s a show about a young woman who rehabilitates old homes to their former glory. Except for the fact that she is young, tiny, cute, and rehabs houses, we are like twins! I am old, not tiny nor cute, and I am addicted to rehabbing chicken coops. Other than that, twins.
I have been rebuilding, redesigning, reconfiguring, repurposing, redecorating, and rehabilitating chicken coops since before I got chickens. It seems like I never quite get it right. There is always something that doesn’t work at all or could be improved upon. So I tinker.
The coops we bought when we moved to this property, although well built, were a complete miss-step. We ended up closing in the fronts, insulating them, and adding ventilation out the backs. I thought they were working well until the chickens decided that the nest boxes were much more comfortable for sleeping than the roosts. I won’t even go into the problems that caused. I had to close off the nest boxes in a couple of coops, forcing the hens to lay eggs on the floor, which created a whole new set of problems.
So, it was back to the drawing board. I knew that once I got them back up on the roosts at night, they would most likely stay there. With the exception of silkies, all my chicken breeds have preferred roosting, the higher the better. The nest box squatters are mostly juveniles and some old lazy girls. The problem with yanking them out of the nest boxes and putting them on the roosts at night, is that my roosts ran side to side. There were 2 to 3 roosts in each coop. My roosts are not attached to the coop walls, rather they are supported by these 2×4 hangers. The boards can be lifted out for coop cleaning and egg collection.
Because my coops had open fronts, we were not able to install the roosts front to back so we had to put them side to side.
That means we could not walk inside the coops without taking the roosts down. Michael could squeeze under, but my old body doesn’t bend that way.
Then we decided to insulate the coops and close in the fronts for temperature control and noise abatement. Now I had a solid wood surface to attach my hangers and roosts! I could deal with the problem of non-roosting birds!
I can walk in, yank them out of the nest boxes and put them on a roost!
Here is Judge Judy inspecting my work on Coop#3, our largest coop. She is one nosy girl for sure!
The first night was a bit chaotic. Some of the birds were too afraid go inside, choosing to roost on the plumbing, outside in the cold. They were swiftly scooped up and put inside, on a roost.
Some chose to sleep on the floor. I put them on roosts as well.
Some got yanked out of nest boxes and put on roosts.
Today we finished retrofitting the final two coops. Of the 53 chickens who inhabit five coops, 10 were not on roosts tonight. I got everybody in the right place quite easily. I love finally having the roosts running the direction that makes it more convenient for us! We also gained several additional feet of roosting space. Note to self: This doesn’t mean getting more chickens.
With the roosts moved, I now had to figure out where to put the feeders to keep them from getting pooped on. With the fronts closed the feeders now fit perfectly on a hook on the inside of the doors! When the doors are closed they are the right height for the chickens to reach. They are also easier to fill now. I don’t have to climb in the coops with buckets of feed.
So, the moral of the story is, keep working on your chicken coop until you get it right. Oh, I just noticed how sloppy the inside of that door looks. Maybe we should paint the insides of the coops and hang curtains?
It’s what Nicole would do if she had chickens.
You also might enjoy...
-
…
-
…
-
…
Chicken Coop Ideas in Washta, Iowa
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Washta 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 Washta Iowa chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Washta, Iowa With the huge increase in chicken keeping there has been a just as huge surge in the array of fowl materiel on sale. Chicken real estate is a proceedings in factor. It's additionally a timeless instance of the excellent old bandwagon being got on as various prospective poultry real estate specialists market a selection of lodging asserting to be the ideal remedy to your chicken real estate needs. Commonly the price looks appealing, your house looks appealing, hell also the clean-cut household standing there feeding the chickens look attractive. Undoubtedly they recognize a professional chicken house when they see one? There are lots of affordable and awful cages swamping the market. I understand this as I've tested a number of them in the field, and seen a ewe run directly through one when the feed bucket showed up. The result was just a costly stack of firewood and a little group of bemused as well as currently homeless bantams.
Baby Chick For Sale in Washta, Iowa
Typically these mass produced designs are created of quick grown up wood - come the first decrease of rain they swell, leaving you either barricading a door that will not close, or ripping the door furniture off in a vain attempt to release the squawking occupants. The very first warm and comfortable day means the timber dries and splits, the felt roofing bubbles and boils, as well as come nightfall the hens refuse to enter. This is not because of their dissatisfaction at the decrease of their once desirable commercial property yet because the hovel is now a sanctuary for, and possibly crawling with, the poultry keeper's bane, red mite. Add on the fact that it stated on the blurb that it would certainly match four large chickens when that stocking density was based on the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, as well as what are you left with? A few hinges and some kindling. A suitable coop for thee to 4 birds should cost you in the region of ₤ 300 though this could rely on whether you choose for a free standing house or one with a run attached. Thinking you are varying your birds in a large space and also the pop opening doorway is big enough for the type you maintain, then the major needs of housing boil down to 3 factors which will specify the number of birds your house will certainly hold; perches, nest boxes and also ventilation. The majority of breeds of chicken will perch when they visit roost at night, this perch must ideally be 5-8cm large with smoothed off sides so the foot sits pleasantly on it. The perch must be above the nest box entrance as chickens will certainly additionally normally look for the acme to perch. A perch lower than that will certainly have the birds roosting in the nest box overnight (which is incidentally when they produce one of the most poo) leading to dirtied eggs the list below day. They should not nonetheless be so high off the floor of the house that leg injuries can take place when the bird gets down in the morning. Chickens need concerning 20cm of perch each (in little breeds this is certainly much less), plus if more than one perch is set up in your house they need to be more than 30cm apart. They will hunker up with their next-door neighbors however are not that crazy about roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird ahead. Preferably the house should have a least one nest box for each three birds and these need to be off the ground as well as in the darkest location of your home. Your home must have ample ventilation: without it then condensation will certainly build up every evening, also in the chilliest of climate. Realize, air flow deals with the concept of cozy air leaving with a high void attracting cooler air in from a lower void - it's not a set of holes on contrary wall surfaces of your home and also at the same degree, this is exactly what's called a draught. If you have a house with a run affixed after that the points above are still real, however you ought to likewise think about the run size. The EU maximum lawful equipping thickness for a free array bird is (and also allow's face it, one of the motivations for maintaining some hens in the house is potentially boosted or better welfare) 2,500 birds per hectare, that's optimal one bird per 4m settled. Take a close take a look at some of the deal homes - it could well be the house has the ideal perches, right air flow as well as sufficient nest boxes for an affordable variety of birds, yet will each of the chickens have anything more than an A4 sized piece of ground to invest the day on? Therefore as the stating goes, "you get just what you spend for". You could believe you've got a bargain, yet you and also your flock could rue the day you did. Purchase the appropriate house and it will certainly last for a few years, otherwise longer given the correct treatment. Eventually your fowl as well as your fowl maintaining encounter will be considerably the far better for it.coop coops
More Posts
Chicken Coops for Sale in Peterson, Iowa
Chicken Coops for Sale in Middle Amana, Iowa
Chicken Coops for Sale in Rock Valley, Iowa
Chicken Coops for Sale in Peosta, Iowa
Chicken Coops for Sale in Delaware, Iowa