Chicken Coops for Sale in Hadley, Massachusetts
Chicken Coops for Sale in Hadley, Massachusetts
Transform Your Little Tikes Playhouse into a Chicken Coop
When I started pestering my husband about chickens (again), I knew I was fighting an uphill battle. He did not want to spend a bunch of money and time on the construction of a suitable coop. We’d already been down the road of improper chicken housing before, and it wasn’t a road that either of us wanted to travel again. But I really, REALLY wanted to give chicken keeping another try. And I thought that with a little bit of forethought, we could eliminate the challenges we ran into before. For starters, the birds would need enough space. And the coop would need to be easy to clean. And most importantly, the coop would need to be secure. Nothing like coming home to find your chickens walking along the 6′ high wall that surrounds your yard! But to construct this type of set up from scratch would cost quite a bit of money in materials, not to mention all the time and sweat it would take for the hubs to actually BUILD the thing.
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So then I started scouring the internet trying to find the best deal on a “coop in a box”. I had my eye on but the price tag was a bit hefty. (It’s actually on sale for 58% off right now if you happen to be in the market for a pre-fabricated coop!) Not only was the hubs not excited about building a chicken coop, he also wasn’t excited about the idea of another “thing” in the yard. Our yard was already overrun with toys, bikes, gardening tools, a composter, and our very well-loved Little Tikes Playhouse. So as I sat in the yard one spring evening watching the kids play with everything BUT the playhouse, I got to thinking… Why couldn’t we just turn the playhouse into a chicken coop?!?! I didn’t tell hubs about the idea right away. Instead, I began looking at the structure of the playhouse to see if my idea would even work. Guys, I swear, this thing was MADE to become a chicken coop! It had everything we needed! The house is large enough for me to walk inside to rake it out, it has plenty of space for a nesting box, waterer, food, and a roosting bar. And it even came with a little cut out section near the floor (picture a doggy door) so the chickens could access the run we built behind it! I sketched out an idea of the modifications that we would need to make, and I presented my idea to the hubs. Guess what? He went for it! It was PERFECT. The structure was already built. We wouldn’t have to add another “thing” to our already tiny yard, and the best part? It’s totally incognito. No one would EVER suspect chickens were living in the playhouse! That night, I ordered our chicks! So how did we transform the playhouse? Well, let’s take a tour, shall we?
The first thing we did was cover all the openings with garden wire. Hubs had a roll of this laying around from some other project. He used drywall screws to attach the wire to the windows. The coop actually stayed like this for a while. While the chicks were still small, it was best for them to be confined to a smaller space, so not having a run wasn’t an issue.
Next the hubs built the run. You can see the “doggy door” in the bottom left corner…this is how the chickens get in and out of the house. The run is a pretty simple A-frame structure made out of 1″x 1″ pine pieces. The frame was made in sections and the wire was screwed on to each section as it was assembled. The top of the run lifts up so I can climb in and rake out the poo. I just prop it open with an upside down rake and jump on in.
The corners are all secured with these nifty . And the whole top piece is attached to the frame with some thin chains that act as a hinge. Here is a picture of the chains.
The brown plastic covering you see on this window is actually the cover to our sand and water table. The hubs cut it to fit over the largest window to break some of the wind in the winter. He used more drywall screws to attach it to the house.
Inside the coop, we attached a roosting bar (made out of an old broom handle) to the side of the house using a simple scrap of wood to attach it.
Here is a look at one side of the roosting bar. The other side just sits on the “mantle” inside the house.
My favorite part about the coop is the nesting box. Hubs attached a recycling bin to the wall using a couple brackets. It’s the PERFECT size for a comfy chicken laying box. And it’s up high so there’s a little privacy. We did cut it down a bit…chickens are not very bright creatures…they were afraid to go inside when the lip of the box was up higher.
The is hung from the ceiling by a thin chain (to keep the birds from standing on it), and the just sits on the floor. The set up is working BRILLIANTLY for us. The birds are happy and laying an egg per chicken per day (even though it’s winter), and it is all super easy to care for. The best part is that we were able to make this transformation for a whopping $46. I can’t say enough about how awesome chicken are…I’m pretty sure my kiddos would agree! Think you might transform your little tikes playhouse into a chicken coop?
Here is the complete list of materials and tools we used to make our playhouse into a chicken coop. Our chickens have been living in the coop for 8 months, and it’s still holding up great!
Hardware
- , to secure wire to playhouse
- to secure wire to wood frame
- to hang feeder from inside coop
Tools
- – for cutting the wire
- (for pounding staples)
- for cutting 1 1/2″ pieces of wood
Baby Chicks Hatching in Hadley, Massachusetts
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Hadley 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 Hadley Massachusetts chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Hadley, Massachusetts With the substantial rise in poultry keeping there has actually been a similarly large surge in the array of poultry paraphernalia for sale. Fowl housing is an instance in factor. It's additionally a traditional example of the good old bandwagon being got on as numerous would-be chicken real estate experts peddle an array of holiday accommodation claiming to be the optimal remedy to your chicken real estate demands. Typically the cost looks desirable, the house looks desirable, heck even the clean-cut family standing there feeding the chickens look appealing. Surely they know a high quality chicken house when they see one? There are numerous cheap and awful cages swamping the marketplace. I recognize this as I've tested a variety of them in the area, as well as seen a ewe run directly through one when the feed pail appeared. The result was only a costly heap of firewood as well as a little flock of bemused and also now homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Basics in Hadley, Massachusetts
Generally these mass produced designs are constructed of rapid grown up wood - come the first decrease of rain they swell, leaving you either fortifying a door that will not close, or ripping the doorway furnishings off in a vain effort to launch the squawking inhabitants. The initial cozy day implies the timber dries and fractures, the felt roof bubbles as well as boils, and also come nightfall the chickens refuse to enter. This is not due to their dissatisfaction at the decrease of their once desirable commercial property yet considering that the hovel is now a place for, and probably crawling with, the fowl keeper's nemesis, red mite. Add on the fact that it claimed on the blurb that it would fit 4 large hens when that equipping thickness was based on the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, as well as exactly what are you entrusted? A number of hinges and some kindling. A respectable coop for thee to 4 birds ought to cost you approximately ₤ 300 though this could depend on whether you elect for a totally free standing house or one with a run connected. Presuming you are ranging your birds in a big room as well as the pop opening doorway allows enough for the breed you maintain, then the main needs of real estate come down to 3 points which will specify the variety of birds your home will certainly hold; perches, nest boxes as well as ventilation. Many breeds of chicken will perch when they go to roost during the night, this perch must ideally be 5-8cm broad with smoothed off edges so the foot sits comfortably on it. The perch should be higher than the nest box entrance as chickens will certainly additionally 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 by the way when they generate the most poo) causing stained eggs the following day. They should not however be so high off the flooring of your home that leg injuries might take place when the bird gets down in the morning. Chickens require concerning 20cm of perch each (in small types this is obviously less), plus if greater than one perch is mounted in the house they should be greater than 30cm apart. They will hunker up with their neighbors but are not that crazy about roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird ahead. Ideally the house ought to have a the very least one nest box for each 3 birds and these should be off the ground as well as in the darkest area of your house. Your house should have adequate ventilation: without it then condensation will certainly accumulate every night, also in the chilliest of climate. Know, air flow works with the principle of warm air leaving with a high space attracting cooler air in from a lower gap - it's not a collection of holes on opposite walls of your home as well as at the exact same level, this is what's called a draught. If you have a house with a run attached after that the points above are still real, yet you must additionally take into consideration the run size. The EU optimum legal stocking density for a cost-free array bird is (and allow's face it, among the inspirations for maintaining some hens in your home is possibly boosted or far better welfare) 2,500 birds per hectare, that's maximum one bird per 4m squared. Take a close look at several of the deal residences - it could well be the house has the right perches, proper ventilation and also adequate nest boxes for a sensible variety of birds, yet will each of the chickens have anything more than an A4 sized piece of ground to invest the day on? And so as the stating goes, "you get just what you pay for". You could think you've got a bargain, however you and your group might rue the day you did. Purchase the right house and it will last for a couple of decades, otherwise longer offered the proper treatment. Ultimately your chicken and your poultry maintaining experience will be considerably the better for it.chickens build
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