Chicken Coops for Sale in Crestline, Kansas
Chicken Coops for Sale in Crestline, Kansas
Cleaning the Chicken Coop; Fall Chores
Pallets leaned against Coop act as a wind break in Winter.
One of the chores I like to save for beautiful Fall weather is cleaning out the coop. I know that before I got chickens, I really wanted to see other people’s coops and how exactly they did things. So here is a look at my coop and the regular maintenance I have to do to keep my girls happy.
My coop is basically a chicken tractor made permanent. See how I built my chicken coop . It is only good to protect my egg laying divas during the night. I have to get up in the morning to let them out. Trust me they let me know if I am late. Late is after 8 am, so it is not like they start wailing at 5 o’clock in the morning or anything. They have a kind of wail that they only make when they want out. It is the strangest sound, kind of like a long drawn out moooooom , where are youuuuuuu? You have to hear it to understand.
Shoveling out the “raised bed” that my coop rests on.
To clean out my coop I have get someone to help me lift the coop off of the raised bed it is resting on. I have handles on either end, but it is too heavy for me to lift by myself. Thankfully my strong boys help me. Shoveling out all the old bedding and putting in new wood shavings is not too hard of a task, considering you only have to do it about 3 times per year. I empty out the nest boxes and add new hay to freshen things up. I heard for the first time the other day that it is a good idea to add crushed dried herbs to the nest boxes to make them more appealing to your hens. I tried crushed basil this time. Yes, hens are a constant source of amusement. They always want to lay eggs where everyone else is laying. I just have 2 nest boxes for my 10 hens. I call them nest boxes but they are a little unconventional. One is an old basket, the other is an old drawer. This time of year as we transition into winter the light wanes as the days grow shorter. You will notice your egg production reducing quite a bit. This is why commercial growers put a light on their chickens 24 hours a day; to keep their egg production up. Here at the homestead we try to work with nature instead of against it. That means more kale, less eggs. This is also the time that the rabbits really start producing well. While one thing lessens another takes it’s place. This probably wouldn’t work up north but I lean pallets against the coop to provide a wind break. A lot of people ask me if I need to provide a heat source for my girls when temps fall below freezing. The answer is no. It is important to make sure their water is unfrozen. Other than that chickens really do better in the Winter here than the heat of the Summer.
My hens checking out the new fresh nest box.
After the coop is all cleaned out it is time to add new wood chips. I get what is called a “Country Boy” which is farmer speak for a big packed bag of wood shavings. I get mine from my local feed store in Garland. When I first started chickens I used Fall leaves gathered from the curb. I like the shavings better because the compost turns out better, but oak leaves work out well as chicken bedding too. It is hard to see in the picture but the bottom of the coop against the ground is wire screen(yard cloth) to keep digging critters out.
My hens get very curious about all the changes taking place and come to check it all out. I put the old bedding into a bin and drag it to my compost. Thankfully I don’t have to go too far. I keep my compost in my chicken yard so that my hens can stir my compost and so that they can get the minerals they need to keep their egg shells hard. I put the cracked egg shells in the compost where my hens can gobble them up therefore getting the calcium they need to keep their egg shells firm. I also put other left over kitchen scraps in the compost for them to enjoy. Speaking of compost, a lot of people ask me about mine. Let me just say that trying to heat up a compost pile without manure of some sort is NOT easy. To heat up a compost pile without manure add fresh grass clippings. However right about the time fall leaves are readily abundant, grass clippings are NOT readily available. If you have read my posts at all you are probably sensing a theme; get an animal or a source of manure for your garden. Chickens or rabbits, even worms; your garden will thank you with beautiful veggies.
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Chicken Coop Kits For Sale in Crestline, Kansas
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Crestline Kansas" 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 Crestline Kansas chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Crestline, Kansas With the substantial increase in chicken maintaining there has actually been an equally huge increase in the range of chicken paraphernalia on sale. Chicken real estate is a situation in factor. It's additionally a classic example of the good old bandwagon being got on as numerous potential fowl housing specialists peddle a range of accommodation asserting to be the suitable solution to your chicken real estate demands. Typically the cost looks desirable, the house looks desirable, hell also the clean-cut household standing there feeding the chickens look desirable. Undoubtedly they know a high quality chicken house when they see one? There are lots of economical and nasty cages swamping the market. I understand this as I've examined a number of them in the field, as well as seen a ewe run straight through one when the feed pail showed up. The outcome was nothing but a costly heap of firewood and a little flock of bemused and currently homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Reviews in Crestline, Kansas
Usually these standardized models are created of rapid grown wood - come the first drop of rain they swell, leaving you either fortifying a door that won't shut, or ripping the doorway furniture off in a vain effort to launch the squawking residents. The first warm and comfortable day implies the wood dries and fractures, the felt roofing system bubbles as well as boils, and also come nightfall the hens refuse to go in. This is not as a result of their frustration at the decline of their when eye-catching commercial property yet since the hovel is currently a place for, as well as most likely abounding, the chicken caretaker's nemesis, red mite. Add that it said on the blurb that it would fit four big chickens when that stocking thickness 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 also some kindling. A good coop for thee to four birds should cost you approximately ₤ 300 though this could depend on whether you choose for a cost-free standing house or one with a run affixed. Assuming you are varying your birds in a big room and the pop hole doorway is big enough for the type you maintain, after that the major requirements of housing come down to three points which will specify the number of birds your house will hold; perches, nest boxes as well as ventilation. Most types of chicken will certainly perch when they visit roost during the night, this perch should preferably be 5-8cm broad with smoothed off sides so the foot rests easily on it. The perch should be higher than the nest box entry as chickens will additionally normally look for the acme to perch. A perch lower than that will have the birds roosting in the nest box over night (which is by the way when they generate one of the most poo) resulting in dirtied eggs the following day. They should not nevertheless be so high off the flooring of the house that leg injuries could take place when the bird gets down in the morning. Chickens need concerning 20cm of perch each (in small breeds this is clearly much less), plus if greater than one perch is set up in your home they ought to be more than 30cm apart. They will certainly hunker up with their neighbors however are not that crazy about roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird in front. Ideally your house ought to have a least one nest box for every three birds and these should be off the ground and also in the darkest location of your home. Your house needs to have ample ventilation: without it then condensation will certainly develop every night, also in the chilliest of climate. Understand, air flow works with the principle of warm air leaving via a high void attracting cooler air in from a reduced space - it's not a set of holes on opposite walls of the house as well as at the very same degree, this is just what's referred to as a draft. If you have a house with a run connected then the factors above are still real, yet you should likewise think about the run size. The EU maximum legal stocking thickness for a cost-free array bird is (and allow's face it, among the inspirations for keeping some hens at home is potentially improved or much better welfare) 2,500 birds per hectare, that's optimal one bird each 4m made even. Take a close check out a few of the deal houses - it could well be the house has the ideal perches, proper ventilation and sufficient nest boxes for a reasonable number of birds, however will each of the chickens have anything more than an A4 sized item of ground to invest the day on? Therefore as the stating goes, "you obtain exactly what you pay for". You might assume you've grabbed a deal, but you and your group could rue the day you did. Purchase the appropriate house and it will certainly last for a couple of years, if not longer offered the proper therapy. Ultimately your poultry and your poultry keeping experience will be much the better for it.coops coop
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