Chicken Coops for Sale in Teaberry, Kentucky
Chicken Coops for Sale in Teaberry, Kentucky
Our Finished Chicken Coop
These past few days had us outside enjoying the beautiful weather. One of the jobs I crossed off the list was to clean out our new chicken coop.
Because of our over the past year or so, our family was going through several dozen eggs a week. (I can’t help it – I’m hooked on !)
So last summer we quit “planning” to get our own chickens, and actually did it. The whole family pitched in to build a little abode for our egg-laying beauties. And because we were first-time chicken owners and newbies in all chicken-related topics, we joined and gleaned months worth of ideas, do’s and don’ts, and building plans. (I can’t recommend this site highly enough! If you have the slightest inclination of doing chicken anything, go here and read to your heart’s content.)
It was so helpful to see photos and designs when we were in the planning stages, I thought I’d share pictures of our coop and the hows and whys of what we did.
The chicken coop
Instead of starting from scratch, we bought a small granary from my brother-in-law; about 9’x7′ inside measurements. This gave us about 3 sq. ft. per bird. The coop is nothing fancy really. It isn’t visible from the road and we don’t live in town with neighbors to care about the view from their back window, so we used as much scrap material as possible. Plus we didn’t think the chickens would mind.
So far they haven’t rebelled.
We re-tinned the roof (that’s my honey!) and I got to use the saw sawl to make holes for the windows and vents. You can call me Mrs. Handyman. . .
Inside the chicken coop
Framing the windows and vents was the most time consuming part since the building wasn’t square. We used insulation and vapor barrier for the walls for added moisture protection and warmth because the windchill can get -40 below or more in the winter.
We made the roosting boards parallel and the same height because apparently hens will act like old biddies and fight for the top most board. (Some people’s kids. . .)
We rounded the edges of the roosting boards so it’s easier on the hens’ feet. The boards can be removed for ease of cleaning the poop boards underneath.
Poop boards seemed quite popular among chicken peoples and we’ve quickly learned why. First, chickens poop more when roosting, so the roosting boards are placed above the poop board. This makes clean up as simple as buying a wide sheetrock mudding tool and scraping the droppings into a bucket each day. We then add the droppings to our compost pile.
We originally built a rollaway community nesting box directly underneath the poop board, but the chickens ended up laying eggs everywhere but there. Eventually we added a ‘normal’ set of 12″x12″x12″ nesting boxes and they’re happy campers again.
We decided to use the deep litter method. We spread a bag of wood chips on the floor and because the hens leave most of their droppings on the poop boards, there’s minimal waste on the floor. The chickens like to scratch and fluff the wood chips so it gets stirred up and aerated. This means the coop is less smelly, and there’s only a few minutes of daily cleaning of the boards. If needed, you can add more wood chips throughout the year.
We clean the coop out fully in the spring and fall. So far it’s worked wonderfully.
We nailed a board across the doorway to prevent the rising litter from falling out every time we opened the door.
The feeders are gravity fed. They’re made of PVC pipe with a 90 degree corner and a cap at the end. We like that we can leave for several days at a time and don’t have to worry about having someone come out to do chicken chores for us.
This water stand was Travis’s idea. The hens have a platform to stand on so no matter how high the litter gets, they can reach the water comfortably.
The chicken nipples underneath are another idea shared by BYC that I LOVE. The water doesn’t drip, there is no poop or mud to worry about, and our full grown hens figured it out within 24 hrs. The pails are covered with lids to prevent the water from getting dirty and it lasts for at least a week (we add apple cider vinegar).
When we’re home, we clean them out and give them fresh water every few days.
There’s electricity on the wall above the waterers with a timed light switch. We use bird bath heaters to keep the water from freezing during the winter. We had to add the slanted plywood because the hens were roosting on the pails. (I told you they fought for highest roosting privileges.)
The pop door is a simple design, and it works great. It slides up and down, held in by L shaped boards.
When in the closed position, the hook and eye on the right prevent racoons (or children!) from trying to lift the door from the outside.
We used 1/2″ x 1/2″ hardware cloth to cover the insides of the windows and vents. . .
. . .and plexiglass for the actual windows.
We made sure to have plenty of vents (thanks to sage advice from Pat’s Ventilation Page) and used eyes and rope to open and close them at different heights.
Finally, we added a small lean-to to the side so the hens could come out in the winter. This helps block snow drifts right in front of the pop door, and they can still come out for fresh air and sunshine when they get cabin fever.
It might not win a beauty contest – but there’s something to be said for function-ability Hope this gave you some ideas!
What have you done to your chicken coop? We’d love to hear your ideas and suggestions!
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Chicken Coop Run Plans in Teaberry, Kentucky
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Teaberry 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 Teaberry Kentucky chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Teaberry, Kentucky With the substantial increase in poultry keeping there has actually been a similarly big rise in the variety of chicken materiel on sale. Fowl real estate is a proceedings in factor. It's additionally a classic instance of the great old bandwagon being jumped on as various potential fowl housing experts pitch a variety of lodging declaring to be the perfect option to your chicken housing requirements. Usually the cost looks appealing, the house looks attractive, hell even the clean-cut family standing there feeding the chickens look desirable. Definitely they understand a quality chicken house when they see one? There are several economical as well as horrible coops swamping the market. I understand this as I've examined a variety of them in the field, and seen a ewe run directly through one when the feed container showed up. The result was just an expensive pile of firewood and also a small flock of bemused and now homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop For 10 Chickens in Teaberry, Kentucky
Usually these standardized designs are created of fast grown up lumber - come the very first drop of rainfall they swell, leaving you either barricading a doorway that won't close, or tearing the door furniture off in a vain effort to release the squawking inhabitants. The first warm day implies the wood dries and also cracks, the really felt roof bubbles and also boils, as well as come nightfall the hens refuse to go in. This is not as a result of their frustration at the decline of their once attractive residential property but due to the fact that the hovel is now a place for, and most likely crawling with, the chicken caretaker's bane, red mite. Add on that it claimed on the blurb that it would match four huge chickens when that equipping thickness was based on the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and also what are you entrusted? A few joints and some kindling. A suitable coop for thee to four birds must cost you in the region of ₤ 300 though this can depend upon whether you choose for a totally free standing house or one with a run connected. Thinking you are ranging your birds in a large space as well as the pop hole door allows sufficient for the type you maintain, then the major needs of housing boil down to three factors which will define the variety of birds your house will hold; perches, nest boxes as well as ventilation. A lot of breeds of chicken will certainly perch when they go to roost at night, this perch must preferably be 5-8cm vast with smoothed off edges so the foot rests comfortably on it. The perch should be above the nest box access as chickens will certainly also normally look for the acme to perch. A perch lower than that will certainly have the birds roosting in the nest box over night (which is incidentally when they generate one of the most poo) bring about soiled eggs the following day. They should not nevertheless be so high off the flooring of the house that leg injuries could happen when the bird comes down in the morning. Chickens require about 20cm of perch each (in small types this is undoubtedly much less), plus if greater than one perch is installed in your house they need to be greater than 30cm apart. They will hunker up with their neighbors but are not that keen on roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird ahead. Preferably your home ought to have a least one nest box for every single 3 birds and these need to be off the ground and in the darkest area of the house. Your home must have ample air flow: without it then condensation will certainly accumulate every night, even in the chilliest of weather. Know, air flow works on the concept of warm air leaving with a high gap attracting cooler air in from a lower gap - it's not a collection of openings on opposite walls of your home and also at the same level, this is just what's called a draft. If you have a house with a run attached after that the factors above are still real, but you should likewise take into consideration the run size. The EU optimum legal stocking density for a totally free variety bird is (and also allow's face it, among the inspirations for keeping some hens at home is possibly enhanced or much better welfare) 2,500 birds each hectare, that's optimal one bird per 4m made even. Take a close look at several of the deal residences - it could well be the house has the ideal perches, correct ventilation and also adequate nest boxes for a reasonable variety of birds, yet will each of the chickens have anything more than an A4 sized item of ground to invest the day on? Therefore as the stating goes, "you obtain what you pay for". You could assume you've got a deal, however you and also your flock might rue the day you did. Purchase the ideal house and also it will last for a few years, if not longer given the proper treatment. In the end your chicken as well as your chicken maintaining experience will be much the much better for it.chick chicken
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