Chicken Coops for Sale in Jennings, Kansas
Chicken Coops for Sale in Jennings, Kansas
Preparing Your Coop/Flock For Winter – Part 1: Roof Structure
Last week I posted a list of items that you may want to consider doing to make sure you and your flock are ready for the colder winter months. I’m going to try address one or two of these topics every Wednesday so that if you are going to work on them over the weekend you have time to plan.
Again I know it’s hard to even think of winter when the temperatures are in the 90’s in many parts of the country, but the cold weather will be on us before you know. Its much easier to take the time now to button up any issues, then trying to do it in the dead of winter. Many of you will not deal with snow and ice (lucky you!) but many of these topics effect all of us backyard chicken keepers and have a detrimental effect on the overall health of your coop…As I always say if what I post pertains to you and helps, great, if not just forget about it and move on…
Coop Roof Structure:
The roof of your coop is the first line of defense against the elements. A sound roof will not only prevent water penetration but will help in keeping your coop warm during the winter. As we all know heat rises (check our second floor of the house out in the summer!) and a solid roof can help trap some of this heat keeping the inside of the coop warmer. The important thing to remember is that you do not want to trap all of the heat by cutting off ventilation. Heat develops moisture and condensation so it’s important to have a balance. Ventilation is an important aspect of the coop, without it moisture builds, ammonia fumes become overpowering and your birds health will suffer. There is a huge difference between ventilation and a draft, we will be discussing “drafts” in a later post.
Having controllable ventilation at the peak of the roof structure will help to maintain a healthy coop. This can easily be accomplished with some screen covered holes on the side walls of the peak and using a piece of plywood to control how much of an opening you want. There are some much more elaborate systems out there but they all accomplish the same thing, controllable ventilation. If you don’t have ventilation at the peak you may want to consider it. There is a reason why so many homes have ventilation at the eves and peaks, it helps to control moisture in the home during the winter as well keeping the home cooler in the summer months.
Ensuring that your roof is leak free is also very important. That little leak you have been dealing with all summer may become a big issue during the winter when you get the “freeze/thaw effects”. During the day as snow and ice melt, water can leak into the the roof structure. At night this water freezes and expands resulting in a larger and larger leak as the days go by. There are many products out there that can help seal up these leaks but be careful some have toxic fumes that could be harmful to your flock. Sometimes just using a new shingle on asphalt roofs does the trick. Metal roofs typically leak at the seams or nail heads, a good quality sealer should handle these areas. Just remember most of the time the leak you see dripping on the underside of the roof came from a hole or crack above where you see the dripping. When water leaks in, gravity causes the water to run to the lowest point. It may take some investigation to find where the leak is actually coming from but a good starting point is to start above the spot you see the leak dripping.
If the wood on your coop roof is rotted it should be replaced. Rotted wood normally contains a large amount of moisture. The moisture in this wood adds moisture to the coop (remember, it’s a bad thing). “Freeze/Thaw” effects can take place on this rotted wood causing it to deteriorate even quicker. Snow loads can add significant weight to the top of the coop and a unstable structure runs the risk of collapse. I can only imagine how difficult it would be dealing with a roof collapse in the dead of winter! If the snow and ice get to heavy for the roof on your coop, you should remove it. When removing it be careful not to damage the roof shingles or other covering! Stand on a steady surface with both feet firmly planted on the ground or step when attempting to remove snow and ice.
A roof leak also adds unwanted moisture to you coop by letting water in and keeping the litter wet. The interior of a coop has enough moisture from bird droppings and the moisture a chicken itself gives off by breathing, you don’t need or want the added moisture from a leak. If the litter in the coop becomes wet from any source during the winter you should remove it and replace it with fresh as quickly as possible. Placing a bucket under the leak to catch the drip is not a good fix. When water drips into the bucket it can splash a fine mist a considerable distance. This mist keeps the litter wet and the air inside the coop too moist.
A well ventilated, leak free, structurally sound roof on your coop is a extremely important part in maintaining the overall health of your coop. This is not an area that you want to just “make do” and cut corners. There are many materials that you can use for a roof. Some, like scrap metal roofing or end cut pieces of tar paper and shingles can be found at a local building site (ask first, you don’t want the end up in jail!) or a recycling center. I would avoid using a tarp, although these are good in an emergency should you find a leak. And never use pressure treated wood which can give off toxic fumes in a enclosed area like a coop. If your roof membrane is water tight there is no need for pressure treated plywood or lumber as a deck surface.
By addressing the coops roof now you can prevent dealing with the effects of a wet environment in the dead cold of the winter months…Hope this helps….
FrankThe Chicken Fountain™
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Chicken Coop Plans For 20 Chickens in Jennings, Kansas
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Jennings 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 Jennings Kansas chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Jennings, Kansas With the massive boost in poultry keeping there has actually been a just as big increase in the range of poultry stuff on sale. Poultry housing is an instance in point. It's likewise a traditional example of the good old bandwagon being jumped on as various potential fowl real estate experts peddle a selection of accommodation claiming to be the suitable option to your chicken real estate requirements. Frequently the price looks appealing, your diy-chicken-coop-planshome looks appealing, hell even the clean-cut family members standing there feeding the chickens look desirable. Undoubtedly they understand a quality chicken house when they see one? There are several affordable as well as awful cages flooding the marketplace. I recognize this as I've examined a variety of them in the field, as well as seen a ewe run directly with one when the feed container showed up. The outcome was only an expensive pile of firewood as well as a little flock of bemused and also currently homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop For Sale Near Me in Jennings, Kansas
More often than not these mass produced designs are built of fast grown up timber - come the initial decline of rain they swell, leaving you either blockading a door that will not close, or tearing the door furniture off in a vain effort to launch the squawking residents. The first warm day means the timber dries out and also splits, the felt roof covering bubbles and boils, and also come nightfall the hens choose not to enter. This is not because of their dissatisfaction at the decline of their once eye-catching building yet since the hovel is currently a place for, and possibly crawling with, the chicken caretaker's nemesis, red mite. Add the fact that it stated on the blurb that it would suit four huge chickens when that stocking thickness was based on 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 suitable coop for thee to 4 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 connected. Thinking you are varying your birds in a big room and the pop opening door is big enough for the breed you maintain, after that the main requirements of housing come down to 3 points which will certainly define the variety of birds the house will certainly hold; perches, nest boxes and also air flow. The majority of breeds of chicken will perch when they go to roost in the evening, this perch should ideally be 5-8cm broad with smoothed off sides so the foot sits easily on it. The perch ought to be more than the nest box entrance as chickens will certainly also naturally try to find 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 create the most poo) leading to soiled eggs the list below day. They shouldn't however be so high off the flooring of the house that leg injuries can occur when the bird comes down in the early morning. Chickens require about 20cm of perch each (in small types this is obviously much less), plus if more than one perch is mounted in the house they must be greater than 30cm apart. They will certainly hunker up with their neighbors however are not that keen on roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird in front. Ideally your home needs to have a least one nest box for every 3 birds as well as these must be off the ground and in the darkest location of your house. Your house needs to have ample ventilation: without it then condensation will certainly accumulate every night, also in the chilliest of weather. Understand, air flow works with the concept of cozy air leaving through a high void attracting cooler air in from a reduced space - it's not a set of holes on other wall surfaces of your house and at the same degree, this is what's known as a draft. If you have a house with a run connected after that the factors above are still true, however you must likewise consider the run dimension. The EU maximum legal stocking density for a cost-free array bird is (and let's encounter it, among the motivations for maintaining some chickens at home is potentially enhanced or much better welfare) 2,500 birds per hectare, that's maximum one bird per 4m made even. Take a close check out some of the bargain homes - it could well be your home has the best perches, proper ventilation and adequate nest boxes for a practical variety of birds, but will each of the chickens have anything greater than an A4 sized item of ground to spend the day on? And so as the claiming goes, "you get exactly what you spend for". You could think you've got hold of a deal, yet you as well as your flock could rue the day you did. Acquisition the appropriate house and it will certainly last for a couple of decades, otherwise longer provided the proper therapy. Ultimately your fowl and also your chicken keeping encounter will certainly be a lot the much better for it.build chickens
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