Chicken Coops for Sale in Danvers, Massachusetts
Chicken Coops for Sale in Danvers, Massachusetts
Our Chicken Coop Design – Front Elevation (Part 2 of 3)
Okay, I lied. I had hoped to finish up writing on our chicken coop design with this post, but I ran out of time and markers…seriously – my gray marker ran out. So today I’m going to focus on the front elevation and next week I’ll wrap it up with the other 3 elevations.
Front Elevation of the Coop
When designing your coop you really need to think through ventilation for a number of reasons: respiratory health of the chickens; drying out the moisture and their manure keeps down the smells and the potential of the hens getting sick. I made ours super-ventilated by covering the entire front of our coop with hardware cloth. We may have gone overboard, but it’s better to err on the side of too much ventilation in a coop than too little…and because Atlanta has a fairly temperate climate, I think we’re good. That said, you do have to consider strong winds – particularly in the colder months. That’s why Britt and I crafted Roman shade-like curtains out of painter’s drop cloths for the front and the windows on the other 3 sides of the coop. It was quite inexpensive and fairly easy to do…particularly if you strategically use the hems already sewn in. These curtains will give our ladies a refuge from the cold winds – protecting the exposed areas of their bodies (combs, wattles, and feet).
Here are a few other things to note about the front elevation of our coop:
- Again, entire area is covered in hardware cloth. I could have used chicken wire on the top (bottom needs hardware cloth to keep out critters), but I had enough hardware cloth and I thought it looked better for the entire area to be consistent.
- The height of the walls are 6.5’…which is plenty high (for me at least) to be able to walk through the door…and there is plenty of height inside, since there is no ceiling (just the rafters and tin roof above).
- 24″ doors were constructed out of pressure-treated wood and painted the same color as the doors of our home.
- To clean things up a bit and to cover up where the pieces of hardware cloth met, I added 1″ trim on the outside of each 2×4 and painted it and the siding of the rest of the coop the same color gray as our house.
- We used gate latches as handles. If you do as well, make sure you make it so that you won’t get locked in when the doors close. To do that, I simply drilled a hole just above the latch and attached a long, thin chain that I threaded through the hole…allowing me to open the latch from inside. Don’t use string or twine…I found that out the hard way. String will wear out and break – leaving you stranded inside. Fortunately when it happened to me, one of my girls was within shouting distance.
- We were running out of hardware cloth when we were finishing the gable, so we simply filled in the middle space with a board and painted it gray. To make sense of this oddly proportioned space and to bring a little bit of character to the coop, I hung a set of antlers from a Mule Deer I shot several years ago with my dad in Wyoming.
So there’s the front elevation. We are really pleased with it…it’s done what we set out to do – make a more than livable space for our chickens (and bunny), while still being attractive. Now we may be a bit too particular, but I really think having an attractive coop in a nice setting has made raising chickens not only sustainable, but more enjoyable. So sure, you could build a coop that is purely functional, but if it looks like a hunk of junk, is that really something you want to see every day…sometimes several times? We thought not.
Next week I’ll wrap things up on our chicken coop design…but until then, please let me know if you have any other questions about our coop or raising chickens. I could perhaps work my answers into the next post.
Take care,
PS: Here are the links to and of Our Chicken Coop Design…and the link to .
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Baby Chick For Sale in Danvers, Massachusetts
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Danvers 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 Danvers Massachusetts chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Danvers, Massachusetts With the massive boost in chicken maintaining there has actually been a just as big increase in the variety of chicken stuff on sale. Chicken real estate is a case in factor. It's additionally a timeless example of the great old bandwagon being jumped on as different would-be chicken real estate professionals peddle an array of cottage asserting to be the suitable remedy to your chicken real estate needs. Commonly the rate looks appealing, your diy-chicken-coop-planshome looks desirable, heck even the clean-cut family members standing there feeding the chickens look eye-catching. Definitely they know a top quality chicken house when they see one? There are several low-cost as well as nasty coops swamping the marketplace. I understand this as I've tested a number of them in the field, and seen a ewe run straight with one when the feed pail showed up. The outcome was only a pricey heap of fire wood as well as a tiny flock of bemused as well as now homeless bantams.
Baby Chick For Sale in Danvers, Massachusetts
Typically these mass produced models are built of fast grown lumber - come the very first decrease of rain they swell, leaving you either fortifying a door that won't shut, or tearing the doorway furnishings off in a vain attempt to launch the squawking citizens. The initial cozy day means the timber dries out as well as splits, the really felt roof bubbles as well as boils, and come nightfall the hens choose not to enter. This is not because of their frustration at the decline of their once eye-catching home but due to the fact that the hovel is now a haven for, as well as probably abounding, the fowl keeper's bane, red mite. Add the fact that it said on the blurb that it would certainly fit four large chickens when that equipping density was based upon the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and also just what are you left with? A number of hinges as well as some kindling. A respectable coop for thee to 4 birds need to cost you in the region of ₤ 300 though this could rely on whether you elect for a totally free standing house or one with a run connected. Thinking you are varying your birds in a big room as well as the pop hole doorway allows enough for the type you maintain, then the major requirements of housing come down to 3 points which will certainly define the variety of birds your home will certainly hold; perches, nest boxes and ventilation. Many types of chicken will certainly perch when they go to roost in the evening, this perch needs to ideally be 5-8cm large with smoothed off sides so the foot rests comfortably on it. The perch must be higher than the nest box entry as chickens will likewise naturally look for the acme to perch. A perch lower than that will certainly have the birds roosting in the nest box overnight (which is by the way when they create the most poo) bring about stained eggs the list below day. They shouldn't nonetheless be so high off the flooring of the house that leg injuries might happen when the bird comes down in the early morning. Chickens require regarding 20cm of perch each (in tiny breeds this is clearly less), plus if greater than one perch is set up in your house they ought to be greater than 30cm apart. They will certainly hunker up with their neighbors however are not that crazy about roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird ahead. Ideally the house must have a least one nest box for every 3 birds and also these must be off the ground and also in the darkest area of the house. The house should have sufficient ventilation: without it after that condensation will certainly build up every night, also in the chilliest of climate. Realize, ventilation works on the concept of cozy air leaving via a high void attracting cooler air in from a lower gap - it's not a collection of openings on opposite walls of your house and at the same degree, this is just what's known as a draught. If you have a house with a run connected after that the factors above are still true, however you need to likewise take into consideration the run size. The EU maximum lawful equipping thickness for a cost-free variety bird is (and also let's encounter it, among the motivations for maintaining some hens in the house is perhaps boosted or far better welfare) 2,500 birds each hectare, that's optimal one bird per 4m made even. Take a close check out a few of the deal residences - it could well be your house has the appropriate perches, proper air flow and sufficient 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? Therefore as the stating goes, "you obtain what you pay for". You could believe you've got a bargain, yet you as well as your group could possibly rue the day you did. Acquisition the ideal house and also it will certainly last for a couple of decades, otherwise longer offered the right therapy. In the end your poultry and also your chicken keeping experience will certainly be a lot the better for it.for sale plans
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