Chicken Coops for Sale in Berkley, Massachusetts
Chicken Coops for Sale in Berkley, Massachusetts
How to build a Chicken Coop for under $50
How to build a Chicken Coop for under $50
Why Raise Chickens?
Really, the question you should ask is “Why not raise chickens?” Raising chickens can be a really rewarding experience. These amazing animals eat a small amount of feed a day, and yet produce one egg about every day of the year. (Out of 365 days a year, they lay about 335 eggs.) They take a couple days off here and there, but for the most part they are great layers. Having complete control over the food you feed your family is also really rewarding. Knowing our chickens eat non-GMO, Organic feed, and are allowed to free-range on our acre yard somehow just makes the eggs taste better. There are many benefits to free-ranging your chickens. First of all, they don’t develop diseases because they are out in the fresh air and not living in their poop. Second, they eat a LOT more bugs and let me tell you, you WANT your chickens to eat bugs. Not only does it help keep your bug(& scorpion) population down, it also increases the amount of Omega-3’s per egg. There are just some things that nature does better! The added bonus of letting your chickens eat bugs is that they will eat less of your store-bought feed which helps bring down your overall cost.
FYI, chickens that are locked up in small spaces are SUPER mean to each other. Like cannibal mean. By cannibal, I mean they will literally eat each other. Seriously. They will gang up on the weakest and peck at it incessantly until it dies and then eat it. It’s all Mean Girls up in there, I’m telling you. So, definitely free-range, okay?
How Much does it Cost to keep Chickens
If you buy “regular” chicken feed, it will only cost you about $11.00 for a 50 lb. bag. Pretty good deal, huh? Well, not really. “Regular” feed is chock full of GMOs (genetically modified organisms) which are KNOWN for making chickens sick. Genetically modified organisms are also called Roundup Ready. GMO’s require massive amounts of pesticides, herbicides & fungicides. Yum. “Regular” feed is also usually pre-packaged with antibiotics. Wasn’t that nice of the feed company? Gosh, they are so nice to give our chickens anti-biotics after making them sick with GMOs. So thoughtful. When all’s said and done and your chickens stop going diarrhea, it will only cost you 82 cents a dozen. Organic, Non-GMO feed is about $24.00 for a 50 lb. bag but the benefits are amazing. Our feed is full of clean grains, as they should be, with no pesticides in them or on them. We also supplement their diet with dinner table scraps. It costs us about $1.75 a dozen. At the store, you can expect to pay $5.99 a dozen for ORGANIC, FREE-RANGE eggs. A Plan is Hatched (I’m freakin’ hilarious) The chicken coop I’m about to show you is one for FREE-RANGE chickens. This means your chickens should only be in the coop to eat feed, lay eggs, and roost/sleep at night. For the rest of the day they should be allowed in a yard so they can stay nice and healthy. I can’t take full credit for this idea. Okay, I can’t take ANY credit for this idea. Kevin and I were talking about how to get rid of our old crib. We couldn’t really give it away to Goodwill because it has that old school drop side that has totally been recalled now for safety issues. Then Kevin mentioned on how that sliding door would come in handy for a chicken coop. YES! Totally! I’ve been wanting to build a new chicken coop, and this thing was pretty much built for me! Well, I took Kevin’s idea and ran with it. I first drew a picture of how I wanted it to look. Yes, I’m a very visual person. (Lydia said it was the best drawing of a crib she’s EVER seen, so that means it’s pretty dang good.) The crib. Ah, crib you’ve served us well. You’ve kept our sweet little babes safe and sound as they have sweetly slumbered. Well, except for that one time when the drop side malfunctioned and Ethan tumbled out when he was 8 mo. old. But let’s forget about that one issue. You have been a great crib and we’re thankful for all your service. Aaannd now you will be a pooping ground for our chickens, mmkay? Ta-da! Here’s the coop all finished! It was SUPER easy. We lined two sides with chicken wire, two sides with wains coating, slapped a roof on that mutha’ and called it a day. Okay, okay. It took a little longer than that. I had to paint it, which actually takes way more spray paint than you’d think. I was actually embarrassed at how many times I kept underestimating the amount of spray paint I needed. It was becoming a problem, how bad I was at estimating my spray paint needs. I kept going back to the store and I totally felt like the checkout lady was thinking, “Really? MORE spray paint?” And I, feeling stupid for being the worst spray paint estimator ever, imagined yelling, “Yes, it’s for my chickens, OKAY?!!” The drop side comes down just enough to gather eggs and fill the feeder. I totally cut these pieces myself. I also cut the table I was using but we won’t dwell on that. Sorry Kevin! You’re still “not mad”, right??? A chicken coops not a chicken coop ’till you put an actual picture of a chicken on it, right? I thought so. It has a simple roof made of wains coating and trim. Underneath is a simple frame of 1x2s. Did I mention it was simple? Super cute, right? And cheap, which makes the Mr. Husband happy.
P.S. My friend Claire from wrote an excellent guide on (and raising chickens in the winter in general). I highly recommend it!
Do you own chickens? Have you ever thought of raising chickens? You should! And you should totally use your old crib because, well, it’s super cheap and super cool.
Chicken Coop Enclosures in Berkley, Massachusetts
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Berkley Massachusetts" 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 Berkley Massachusetts chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Berkley, Massachusetts With the big rise in poultry maintaining there has actually been a similarly big increase in the variety of chicken paraphernalia for sale. Chicken real estate is a situation in factor. It's additionally a timeless example of the good old bandwagon being got on as different prospective fowl real estate specialists pitch an array of holiday accommodation asserting to be the perfect solution to your chicken housing requirements. Frequently the cost looks attractive, the house looks desirable, hell even the clean-cut family members standing there feeding the chickens look desirable. Surely they know a quality chicken house when they see one? There are several low-cost as well as nasty cages swamping the marketplace. I know this as I've tested a variety of them in the area, as well as seen a ewe run straight with one when the feed bucket appeared. The outcome was nothing but an expensive pile of firewood as well as a small flock of bemused and now homeless bantams.
Baby Yellow Chick in Berkley, Massachusetts
Generally these standardized models are created of rapid grown lumber - come the very first decline of rainfall they swell, leaving you either defending a door that won't close, or tearing the door furnishings off in a vain effort to launch the squawking inhabitants. The first warm and comfortable day implies the timber dries out and also fractures, the felt roof bubbles and boils, and come nightfall the chickens choose not to go in. This is not due to their frustration at the decrease of their when appealing building however since the hovel is now a haven for, and also most likely crawling with, the fowl keeper's bane, red mite. Add on that it stated on the blurb that it would certainly match 4 big hens when that equipping density was based on the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, as well as just what are you entrusted? A couple of joints and some kindling. A decent coop for thee to four birds need to cost you in the region of ₤ 300 though this could depend upon whether you elect for a free standing house or one with a run attached. Assuming you are ranging your birds in a large space and also the pop opening doorway is big enough for the type you keep, then the primary requirements of housing boil down to three points which will specify the variety of birds your home will certainly hold; perches, nest boxes and also ventilation. Most types of chicken will certainly perch when they visit roost during the night, this perch ought to preferably be 5-8cm vast with smoothed off sides so the foot sits comfortably on it. The perch ought to be more than the nest box access as chickens will likewise naturally look for the highest point to perch. A perch below that will have the birds roosting in the nest box overnight (which is incidentally when they produce the most poo) causing soiled eggs the list below day. They shouldn't nonetheless be so high off the flooring of your home that leg injuries might happen when the bird gets down in the early morning. Chickens require about 20cm of perch each (in small breeds this is certainly much less), plus if more than one perch is installed in the house they need to be greater 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 in front. Preferably your house needs to have a least one nest box for every three birds and also these should be off the ground as well as in the darkest area of the house. The house should have sufficient ventilation: without it after that condensation will develop every night, even in the chilliest of weather condition. Be aware, ventilation works on the concept of cozy air leaving via a high space drawing cooler air in from a reduced void - it's not a collection of openings on opposite wall surfaces of the house and at the exact same level, this is exactly what's called a draft. If you have a house with a run affixed then the factors above are still real, however you ought to additionally take into consideration the run dimension. The EU optimum legal stocking thickness for a free range bird is (and allow's encounter it, one of the inspirations for keeping some chickens at home is possibly boosted or far better welfare) 2,500 birds per hectare, that's maximum one bird per 4m settled. Take a close consider several of the deal residences - it could well be the house has the ideal perches, proper air flow and ample nest boxes for a sensible variety of birds, but will each of the chickens have anything more than an A4 sized item of ground to invest the day on? And so as the stating goes, "you get what you pay for". You might think you've got hold of a deal, but you and also your flock could rue the day you did. Acquisition the ideal house and also it will last for a couple of decades, otherwise longer provided the correct therapy. In the long run your poultry and your chicken maintaining experience will certainly be much the better for it.chickens build
More Posts
Chicken Coops for Sale in Amherst, Massachusetts
Chicken Coops for Sale in Bellingham, Massachusetts
Chicken Coops for Sale in Babson Park, Massachusetts
Chicken Coops for Sale in Auburn, Massachusetts
Chicken Coops for Sale in Ashby, Massachusetts