Chicken Coops for Sale in Pewee Valley, Kentucky
Chicken Coops for Sale in Pewee Valley, Kentucky
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 Small in Pewee Valley, Kentucky
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Pewee Valley 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 Pewee Valley Kentucky chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Pewee Valley, Kentucky With the massive rise in poultry keeping there has been an equally huge surge in the variety of chicken paraphernalia on sale. Fowl housing is a proceedings in point. It's likewise a timeless instance of the good old bandwagon being jumped on as different prospective poultry real estate specialists market a selection of holiday accommodation claiming to be the ideal remedy to your chicken real estate requirements. Frequently the cost looks appealing, your diy-chicken-coop-planshome looks eye-catching, hell also the clean-cut household standing there feeding the chickens look desirable. Surely they know a professional chicken house when they see one? There are lots of affordable and awful cages swamping the marketplace. I understand this as I've checked a number of them in the area, and also seen a ewe run directly with one when the feed container appeared. The result was nothing but a pricey stack of fire wood and also a little flock of bemused as well as now homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Plans For 20 Chickens in Pewee Valley, Kentucky
Usually these standardized versions are created of fast grown wood - come the very first decline of rainfall they swell, leaving you either defending a door that won't shut, or ripping the doorway furniture off in a vain effort to launch the squawking inhabitants. The first cozy day means the hardwood dries out and also fractures, the felt roofing system bubbles and also boils, and come nightfall the hens refuse to enter. This is not due to their disappointment at the decline of their as soon as appealing apartment however since the hovel is currently a sanctuary for, as well as most likely crawling with, the chicken keeper's nemesis, red mite. Add on that it claimed on the blurb that it would match 4 big hens when that equipping thickness was based upon the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and exactly what are you entrusted? A couple of hinges as well as some kindling. A suitable coop for thee to four birds should cost you around ₤ 300 though this can depend on whether you elect for a complimentary standing house or one with a run connected. Presuming you are varying your birds in a large room as well as the pop opening doorway allows enough for the type you keep, then the major demands of real estate come down to three factors which will certainly specify the variety of birds the house will certainly hold; perches, nest boxes and air flow. A lot of types of chicken will perch when they go to roost in the evening, this perch must preferably be 5-8cm wide with smoothed off sides so the foot rests comfortably on it. The perch needs to be more than the nest box entry as chickens will certainly additionally normally look for the acme to perch. A perch lower than that will have the birds roosting in the nest box overnight (which is by the way when they produce the most poo) causing stained eggs the following day. They should not nevertheless be so high off the floor of your house that leg injuries might happen when the bird comes down in the morning. Chickens require regarding 20cm of perch each (in tiny breeds this is obviously less), plus if greater than one perch is installed in your house they need to be more than 30cm apart. They will certainly hunker up with their next-door neighbors yet are not that crazy about roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird in front. Preferably your house ought to have a least one nest box for every 3 birds as well as these must be off the ground and also in the darkest area of the house. Your home should have ample ventilation: without it then condensation will certainly build up every night, also in the chilliest of weather. Realize, ventilation works with the principle of warm air leaving via a high space drawing cooler air in from a reduced space - it's not a set of holes on contrary wall surfaces of your home as well as at the exact same level, this is just what's known as a draught. If you have a house with a run affixed after that the factors above are still true, but you must also consider the run dimension. The EU optimum lawful stocking thickness for a totally free array bird is (and let's encounter it, among the motivations for keeping some hens at home is possibly enhanced or better well-being) 2,500 birds each hectare, that's maximum one bird per 4m squared. Take a close consider some of the bargain houses - it could well be your home has the ideal perches, correct ventilation and also enough nest boxes for an affordable variety of birds, yet will each of the chickens have anything greater than an A4 sized piece of ground to invest the day on? And so as the claiming goes, "you obtain exactly what you spend for". You may think you've got a bargain, yet you and your flock can rue the day you did. Acquisition the appropriate house and it will certainly last for a couple of decades, if not longer provided the correct treatment. In the end your chicken and also your poultry keeping experience will be a lot the far better for it.plan chickens
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