Chicken Coops for Sale in Hazel Green, Kentucky
Chicken Coops for Sale in Hazel Green, Kentucky
Metal Siding on Chicken Coops
My chicken coops have always had metal roofs, and now I’m trying out metal siding, on the grounds that I want anything I build to last 20 years without maintenance, and the exterior plywood I’ve been using doesn’t deliver that.
[Update: Seven years after writing this blog post, the corrugated metal walls are holding up well. Seven years is long enough for plywood walls to start falling to pieces, but the metal walls are holding up well, with only a bit of rust here and there.]
One of my old pasture houses, with a 15-year-old metal roof and 7-year-old metal siding.
Does Metal Promote Condensation and Wetness?
People will tell you that metal siding sweats, because of condensation. This is true if the inside of the house is warmer than the outside, since moisture from the warm house will condense on the cold walls and ceiling. But it’s not about metal vs. wood, since condensation forms on any kind of roof or wall, no matter what it’s made of. In marginal cases, it’s more visible on metal because it’s 100% non-absorbent.
A Fresh-Air House is a Dry House
But you can dodge the problem with a fresh-air poultry house. If you add enough ventilation, the inside of the house is just as cold as the outside, and you get no condensation. My metal roofs don’t have condensation unless there’s snow on the roof and temperatures are above freezing. The rest of the time, my highly ventilated houses have dry ceilings and walls.
Fresh-Air Poultry Houses, by Prince T. Woods. Reprinted by me!
This is one of the main points of , the chicken-coop book I’ve republished (check out the if you haven’t already). It focuses on the advantage of well-ventilated houses, a concept that still needs to be repeated constantly today. You won’t read anything about metal walls or roofs in this book, since it predates their use, but it’s a treasure trove in other ways.
You can also prevent condensation with insulation, but I don’t do that.
Can you really prevent damp chicken houses through ventilation alone? Well, it works for me, and I live in Oregon, which has a famously wet climate!
Installing Corrugated Sheet Metal Walls
Back to the construction project. In keeping with my other rule of construction (never use a saw when you can buy stuff that’s already the right size), I ignored my existing stock of 10-foot metal roofing and obtained some cheap 8-foot corrugated roofing from Home Depot. My chicken houses are 8×8 feet.
Karen and I banged these sheets onto a couple of sides of a chicken house where the old OSB siding was falling to pieces. We used roofing screws. These are hex drive screws with neoprene washers. We used to use roofing nails, but they pull loose too easily and we hate having roofing panels flapping loose in the breeze! And using power tools instead of a hammer keeps my shoulders and back from seizing up. I bang the screw in a short way with a hammer, then drive it home with a cordless drill.
I’m told that roofing screws have three times the holding power of nails.
These panels went on very quickly, and if they ever rust through (which they will, at the bottom edges anyway, if I allow chicken manure to pile up against them), I can take the screws out and replace them just as easily.
So far, so good. The shiny metal really brightens up the interior of the chicken house, and because it’s non-porous, it provides no place for roost mites to accumulate.
Cheap Roofing is Good Enough
Plain old “ripple metal” (corrugated steel) is less rigid than V-channel roofing, but it’s proven to be stiff enough, even for a house that gets dragged around behind a tractor, which can put all sorts of stresses on it, especially if it gets hung up on holes and bumps along the way. So far, so good. That means that, so far, the cheapest possible corrugated metal has been perfectly adequate.
Watch out for translucent corrugated fiberglass. In my experience, it’s not very strong and becomes increasingly brittle over time. I’m sure it has its uses, but don’t think of it as being structural in the way that plywood and corrugated steel are.
You Don’t Have to Settle for Ugly
Of course, you can build a much prettier house with metal roofing with baked-enamel finishes in designer colors, and you should probably do this if you don’t want a silver house, since it’s hard to get paint to stick to galvanized steel. While I’m always looking for the cheapest, longest-lasting, easiest-to-build designs, there are plenty of other ways of approaching the problem of chicken-coop design.
Related
Chicken Coop Accessories in Hazel Green, Kentucky
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Hazel Green 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 Hazel Green Kentucky chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Hazel Green, Kentucky With the substantial increase in chicken keeping there has been a similarly large rise in the array of fowl paraphernalia on sale. Chicken real estate is a proceedings in point. It's also a traditional instance of the excellent old bandwagon being got on as numerous would-be chicken real estate specialists pitch a variety of cottage asserting to be the suitable solution to your chicken real estate needs. Commonly the rate looks attractive, your diy-chicken-coop-planshome looks desirable, hell also the clean-cut family members standing there feeding the chickens look eye-catching. Definitely they understand a professional chicken house when they see one? There are numerous inexpensive and also nasty coops swamping the market. I understand this as I've examined a variety of them in the field, as well as seen a ewe run straight through one when the feed bucket appeared. The result was only a costly heap of fire wood and also a little flock of bemused and currently homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Free Plans in Hazel Green, Kentucky
Most of the time these standardized designs are built of quick grown wood - come the very first decrease of rain they swell, leaving you either blockading a doorway that won't shut, or tearing the doorway furnishings off in a vain attempt to launch the squawking residents. The initial cozy day means the lumber dries out as well as cracks, the felt roofing bubbles and also boils, as well as come nightfall the chickens choose not to enter. This is not due to their frustration at the decrease of their when desirable property yet because the hovel is now a haven for, as well as probably crawling with, the chicken keeper's bane, red mite. Add on that it claimed on the blurb that it would suit four big hens when that equipping density was based on the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and just what are you entrusted? A number of hinges and some kindling. A decent coop for thee to 4 birds must cost you approximately ₤ 300 though this can depend on whether you elect for a cost-free standing house or one with a run affixed. Thinking you are varying your birds in a huge room as well as the pop hole doorway allows sufficient for the type you keep, after that the major needs of housing come down to three factors which will define the number of birds your house will certainly hold; perches, nest boxes and ventilation. Many types of chicken will perch when they go to roost in the evening, this perch needs to ideally be 5-8cm broad with smoothed off edges so the foot sits comfortably on it. The perch must be higher than the nest box entry as chickens will likewise normally seek the acme to perch. A perch less than that will certainly have the birds roosting in the nest box over night (which is incidentally when they create the most poo) causing soiled eggs the following day. They shouldn't nevertheless be so high off the flooring of your home that leg injuries could occur when the bird gets down in the early morning. Chickens need regarding 20cm of perch each (in small breeds this is certainly less), plus if greater than one perch is installed in your house they should be greater than 30cm apart. They will hunker up with their next-door neighbors but are not that crazy about roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird ahead. Ideally your house needs to have a least one nest box for every single three birds and these ought to be off the ground and also in the darkest area of the house. Your home needs to have ample air flow: without it then condensation will develop every night, even in the chilliest of weather. Realize, air flow works with the concept of warm air leaving via a high gap attracting cooler air in from a lower space - it's not a set of openings on contrary wall surfaces of your house and also at the same degree, this is just what's known as a draught. If you have a house with a run connected after that the factors above are still true, yet you should likewise consider the run dimension. The EU optimum lawful stocking density for a cost-free range bird is (as well as allow's face it, among the inspirations for maintaining some chickens at home is perhaps boosted or far better welfare) 2,500 birds per hectare, that's maximum one bird each 4m squared. Take a close check out a few of the deal residences - it could well be the house has the ideal perches, appropriate air flow and enough nest boxes for a practical number of birds, yet will each of the chickens have anything more than an A4 sized item of ground to spend the day on? And so as the saying goes, "you get what you pay for". You could think you've grabbed a deal, yet you as well as your group could rue the day you did. Purchase the ideal house as well as it will last for a few years, if not longer provided the right therapy. Eventually your poultry as well as your fowl maintaining encounter will be much the far better for it.plan diy
More Posts
Chicken Coops for Sale in Adolphus, Kentucky
Chicken Coops for Sale in Grayson, Kentucky
Chicken Coops for Sale in Dorton, Kentucky
Chicken Coops for Sale in Custer, Kentucky
Chicken Coops for Sale in Chappell, Kentucky