Chicken Coops for Sale in Irvine, Kentucky
Chicken Coops for Sale in Irvine, Kentucky
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™
Share this:
Like this:
Baby Chick Incubator in Irvine, Kentucky
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Irvine 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 Irvine Kentucky chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Irvine, Kentucky With the significant rise in poultry maintaining there has actually been a similarly large rise in the variety of poultry paraphernalia on sale. Poultry real estate is a proceedings in point. It's likewise a classic instance of the excellent old bandwagon being got on as numerous prospective poultry real estate professionals market a range of accommodation declaring to be the excellent remedy to your chicken real estate demands. Frequently the cost looks desirable, your house looks desirable, hell also the clean-cut family standing there feeding the chickens look desirable. Undoubtedly they understand a quality chicken house when they see one? There are lots of low-cost and nasty cages swamping the marketplace. I know this as I've checked a variety of them in the area, as well as seen a ewe run straight with one when the feed container showed up. The result was nothing but a costly pile of fire wood and a tiny group of bemused and also currently homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Out Of Pallets in Irvine, Kentucky
Most of the time these standardized models are built of fast grown up hardwood - come the first decline of rain they swell, leaving you either blockading a doorway that won't shut, or tearing the door furniture off in a vain effort to release the squawking occupants. The first cozy day indicates the lumber dries out and cracks, the really felt roofing bubbles and also boils, as well as come nightfall the chickens choose not to go in. This is not because of their dissatisfaction at the decrease of their as soon as desirable residential property however because the hovel is currently a sanctuary for, and also most likely crawling with, the fowl keeper's nemesis, red mite. Add on that it claimed on the blurb that it would certainly match 4 huge hens when that equipping thickness was based upon the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and what are you left with? A few hinges and also some kindling. A good coop for thee to four birds must cost you in the region of ₤ 300 though this could rely on whether you choose for a cost-free standing house or one with a run attached. Assuming you are varying your birds in a large space and also the pop hole door is big sufficient for the type you keep, after that the major needs of real estate boil down to 3 points which will certainly define the variety of birds your home will hold; perches, nest boxes and also air flow. A lot of breeds of chicken will perch when they go to roost in the evening, this perch needs to preferably be 5-8cm wide with smoothed off sides so the foot rests comfortably on it. The perch should be more than the nest box access as chickens will certainly also naturally try to find 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 one of the most poo) causing soiled eggs the following day. They should not nonetheless be so high off the flooring of your house that leg injuries might take place when the bird gets down in the morning. Chickens require about 20cm of perch each (in little breeds this is certainly much less), plus if greater than one perch is mounted in your home 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. Ideally your house must have a least one nest box for each three birds as well as these must be off the ground and also in the darkest location of your house. Your home must have adequate ventilation: without it after that condensation will certainly accumulate every night, even in the coldest of climate. Be aware, air flow deals with the principle of warm and comfortable air leaving via a high void drawing cooler air in from a reduced space - it's not a set of holes on contrary walls of your house as well as at the exact same level, this is what's called a draught. If you have a house with a run connected after that the points above are still true, but you must also consider the run dimension. The EU optimum lawful equipping density for a cost-free array bird is (as well as allow's face it, one of the motivations for keeping some chickens in your home is perhaps boosted or far better well-being) 2,500 birds per hectare, that's maximum one bird each 4m settled. Take a close take a look at a few of the deal residences - it could well be the house has the ideal perches, correct ventilation and enough nest boxes for an affordable number of birds, however will each of the chickens have anything greater than an A4 sized piece of ground to spend the day on? Therefore as the claiming goes, "you obtain just what you pay for". You may assume you've got a deal, yet you and your group could rue the day you did. Acquisition the appropriate house and also it will certainly last for a couple of decades, if not longer offered the proper therapy. In the end your poultry and also your fowl keeping experience will be considerably the better for it.build build
More Posts
Chicken Coops for Sale in Glencoe, Kentucky
Chicken Coops for Sale in Bardstown, Kentucky
Chicken Coops for Sale in Athol, Kentucky
Chicken Coops for Sale in Emmalena, Kentucky
Chicken Coops for Sale in Eddyville, Kentucky