Chicken Coops for Sale in Bighill, Kentucky
Chicken Coops for Sale in Bighill, Kentucky
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 Setup in Bighill, Kentucky
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Bighill Kentucky" 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 Bighill Kentucky chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Bighill, Kentucky With the massive increase in chicken maintaining there has actually been a just as large rise in the variety of poultry materiel for sale. Poultry housing is a proceedings in factor. It's also a classic example of the excellent old bandwagon being got on as various prospective chicken housing professionals market a variety of cottage claiming to be the excellent option to your chicken housing needs. Frequently the price looks eye-catching, the house looks eye-catching, hell also the clean-cut family members standing there feeding the chickens look desirable. Definitely they recognize a quality chicken house when they see one? There are lots of cheap as well as awful cages swamping the market. I know this as I've examined a number of them in the field, and seen a ewe run directly via one when the feed container appeared. The outcome was just an expensive heap of fire wood as well as a little flock of bemused and now homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Small in Bighill, Kentucky
Most of the time these standardized versions are built of quick grown up wood - come the initial drop of rain they swell, leaving you either barricading a door that won't close, or tearing the doorway furnishings off in a vain effort to release the squawking residents. The first cozy day indicates the wood dries out as well as cracks, the felt roofing bubbles and boils, as well as come nightfall the chickens choose not to go in. This is not due to their dissatisfaction at the decline of their when appealing building however since the hovel is now a place for, and also possibly abounding, the poultry caretaker's nemesis, red mite. Add the fact that it claimed on the blurb that it would certainly suit 4 huge chickens when that equipping density was based on the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and also what are you entrusted? A few hinges and also some kindling. A decent coop for thee to four birds must cost you in the region of ₤ 300 though this could depend on whether you choose for a totally free standing house or one with a run connected. Thinking you are ranging your birds in a large room as well as the pop opening door is big sufficient for the type you keep, then the major demands of housing boil down to three points which will certainly define the variety of birds the house will hold; perches, nest boxes as well as ventilation. Most types of chicken will perch when they go to roost at night, this perch needs to ideally be 5-8cm broad with smoothed off sides so the foot rests conveniently on it. The perch should be above the nest box access as chickens will also naturally seek the acme to perch. A perch lower than that will certainly have the birds roosting in the nest box overnight (which is by the way when they create the most poo) causing soiled eggs the list below day. They should not however be so high off the floor of the house that leg injuries could occur when the bird comes down in the morning. Chickens need regarding 20cm of perch each (in small breeds this is obviously less), plus if greater than one perch is installed in your house they should be more than 30cm apart. They will certainly hunker up with their neighbors yet are not that keen on roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird ahead. Preferably your house should have a the very least one nest box for every three birds and also these should be off the ground and also in the darkest area of your home. The house must have adequate air flow: without it then condensation will accumulate every evening, also in the coldest of weather. Be aware, air flow works with the principle of warm air leaving through a high void drawing cooler air in from a reduced space - it's not a set of openings on opposite walls of your home and also at the exact same level, this is exactly what's referred to as a draught. If you have a house with a run attached then the factors above are still real, yet you must additionally consider the run dimension. The EU optimum legal stocking thickness for a totally free variety bird is (and let's encounter it, among the motivations for maintaining some chickens in the house is perhaps boosted or better well-being) 2,500 birds each hectare, that's maximum one bird each 4m squared. Take a close take a look at several of the deal houses - it could well be the house has the best perches, appropriate ventilation and adequate nest boxes for a reasonable number of birds, however will each of the chickens have anything more than an A4 sized piece of ground to invest the day on? And so as the claiming goes, "you get just what you pay for". You may believe you've got hold of a bargain, but you and also your flock might rue the day you did. Purchase the best house as well as it will certainly last for a couple of years, otherwise longer offered the proper treatment. In the long run your fowl and also your fowl maintaining encounter will certainly be a lot the much better for it.build chicken
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