Chicken Coops for Sale in Jonesport, Maine
Chicken Coops for Sale in Jonesport, Maine
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 Adelaide in Jonesport, Maine
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Jonesport Maine" 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 Jonesport Maine chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Jonesport, Maine With the huge rise in poultry keeping there has actually been a just as large rise in the variety of chicken stuff on sale. Chicken real estate is a situation in point. It's additionally a traditional example of the excellent old bandwagon being jumped on as numerous would-be poultry real estate specialists market an array of holiday accommodation asserting to be the excellent option to your chicken housing requirements. Typically the cost looks attractive, your diy-chicken-coop-planshome looks desirable, hell also the clean-cut family standing there feeding the chickens look attractive. Surely they understand a professional chicken house when they see one? There are numerous affordable as well as awful coops swamping the market. I know this as I've checked a variety of them in the field, and seen a ewe run straight through one when the feed bucket showed up. The outcome was nothing but an expensive heap of fire wood and a little flock of bemused and also currently homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Setup in Jonesport, Maine
More often than not these mass produced models are constructed of fast grown lumber - come the initial drop of rain they swell, leaving you either fortifying a doorway that won't close, or tearing the doorway furnishings off in a vain effort to release the squawking citizens. The very first warm day means the lumber dries out and also splits, the felt roof bubbles as well as boils, and also come nightfall the hens refuse to go in. This is not as a result of their disappointment at the decrease of their when attractive apartment yet since the hovel is currently a haven for, as well as probably abounding, the chicken keeper's nemesis, red mite. Add that it stated on the blurb that it would certainly fit 4 large chickens when that stocking density was based upon the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, as well as just what are you entrusted? A number of hinges as well as some kindling. A respectable coop for thee to four birds must cost you around ₤ 300 though this can depend upon whether you choose for a cost-free standing house or one with a run connected. Thinking you are varying your birds in a big room and the pop hole doorway is big enough for the type you keep, then the primary requirements of housing come down to three points which will certainly define the variety of birds your home will certainly hold; perches, nest boxes and also ventilation. Most breeds of chicken will perch when they go to roost at night, this perch should preferably be 5-8cm vast with smoothed off sides so the foot rests pleasantly on it. The perch ought to be above the nest box access as chickens will certainly additionally normally seek the highest point to perch. A perch less than that will have the birds roosting in the nest box over night (which is by the way when they generate one of the most poo) leading to dirtied eggs the following day. They should not nevertheless be so high off the flooring of the house that leg injuries can happen when the bird gets down in the early morning. Chickens require regarding 20cm of perch each (in little types this is undoubtedly much less), plus if greater than one perch is installed in your home they must be more 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 in front. Preferably your home must have a the very least one nest box for every three birds and also these should be off the ground as well as in the darkest area of your house. The house needs to have ample air flow: without it then condensation will certainly build up every night, also in the coldest of weather condition. Realize, ventilation deals with the principle of warm and comfortable air leaving through a high space attracting cooler air in from a reduced space - it's not a collection of openings on opposite walls of your home and also at the very same degree, this is just what's called a draft. If you have a house with a run connected after that the points above are still real, however you must also consider the run dimension. The EU maximum legal equipping thickness for a cost-free array bird is (as well as allow's encounter it, among the motivations for keeping some chickens in the house is perhaps enhanced or better welfare) 2,500 birds per hectare, that's maximum one bird each 4m squared. Take a close consider some of the bargain homes - it could well be your home has the appropriate 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 item of ground to spend the day on? Therefore as the stating goes, "you obtain what you spend for". You could think you've got hold of a deal, however you and your flock could rue the day you did. Purchase the appropriate house and also it will certainly last for a few decades, otherwise longer given the appropriate treatment. Ultimately your fowl and your chicken maintaining experience will be a lot the far better for it.diy chickens
More Posts
Chicken Coops for Sale in Aurora, Maine
Chicken Coops for Sale in Bethel, Maine
Chicken Coops for Sale in East Parsonfield, Maine
Chicken Coops for Sale in Addison, Maine
Chicken Coops for Sale in Holden, Maine