Chicken Coops for Sale in Monument Beach, Massachusetts
Chicken Coops for Sale in Monument Beach, Massachusetts
Chicken coops for beginners – a primer!
Your chickens will need a safe dry and well ventilated place to roost at night or to be in bad weather. So here is a chicken coops for beginners primer!
Just cute chicks!
Chicken coops for beginners – things to consider!
We have had a variety of coops since we first started with chickens. We have had old wooden crates converted to a basic house through to our latest construction. We have learned much from each design and have tried to build a better coop for both the chickens and us each time we have had to reconstruct. The only reoccurring theme is that we have tried to use as many recycled items as we could….more to save costs than any other noble reason.
To get some inspiration, have a look at .
The chickens in the new coop
Here are the things that we now consider when we are designing our coops.
Safe Is the coop secure from other animals trying to get in? Here in the NE of the USA we worry about foxes, coyotes, raccoons etc. So it needs to be a design that can’t be broken into, ripped open, lifted up or turned over. In Australia I would be also trying to keep out snakes. Out coop lets in a chipmunk and a squirrel – they get a free feed but don’t do any other damage.
Airy Even in our cold climate, we have a well ventilated coop. Chickens seem to cope extremely well in the cold (ours did great in three months of very bitter winter when it did not get above freezing). So they don’t need a coop that is centrally heated. So good ventilation without being breezy on the birds is perfect.
Chickens on ice!
You don’t need it be be insulated and have central heating. On the really cold days and nights when the thermometer reading was way below freezing we run a red heating lamp to provide a little comfort.
Dry Damp chickens are not happy chickens…and will probably end up as sick chickens. Your coop needs to always be dry. So it has to be up off the ground, a roof to stop rain and/or snow dripping in and a way to open it up in case it does get damp inside. We have stopped providing drinking water in our coop unless its winter (with a water warmer) because the chickens just made a wet mess!
Roosting poles
Chickens need to be able to roost on a perch to sleep, just like all birds do at night (ok …emus don’t). Your chickens needs to have an old broom handle, tree branch or other item to settle on inside the coop. We have four feet of old curtain rod and all six adult birds are very happy. When we get more chickens (the coop could take another dozen) we will install more perches.The new coop’s roosting pole.
Nesting boxes Your girls will appreciate a place to lay their eggs. Some people like to build nesting boxes inside the coop. We found that having nesting boxes that have easy access for humans to collect eggs are great, however our free ranging girls like to lay in a spot in our barn rather than the nesting boxes. Inside our coop the nesting boxes are cut down plastic buckets and these are only used if we are late in letting them out and one girl just can’t wait.
The plastic nesting boxes
Easy to clean We use the deep litter method – which is just code for laying a deep pile of old hay onto the floor of the coop. We clean it out every few months and find that it works great. On past coops it was quite a chore to get into the coop and clean it. With our current design we made a flap on one wall so we have great access for cleaning. We also made the coop tall and added two cut down doors so we can get inside both from the outside and from inside the barn in winter.
Front of the coop – see the lower flap we can open to clean it out – now its a 5 min job!
Chicken coops for beginners – why do it!
Building the coop can be a great family affair. We collected materials from our dump for a few months and then built the structure as a lean-to off the barn. That way we could have a door to the inside of the barn so during winter the chickens could use the barn to roam around if they did not want to venture out into the snow. We also have a door on the outside of the coop and a window on the south side – so it gets loads of light and is easy to clean and air out.
The coop framed up
Coop finished
So far this chicken coop has been perfect! Easy for us to get into. Easy to clean. But most of all, the chickens seem happy to call it home! Using recycled materials has kept our costs low as well!
Jen and Madie ‘fancy up’ the coop with paint.
We hope this chicken coops for beginners primer will help you have happier and safer chickens!
Chicken Coop Ideas in Monument Beach, Massachusetts
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Monument Beach 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 Monument Beach Massachusetts chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Monument Beach, Massachusetts With the significant rise in chicken keeping there has actually been a similarly huge surge in the range of poultry materiel on sale. Fowl housing is a situation in point. It's likewise a classic instance of the great old bandwagon being got on as different prospective fowl housing experts market a range of accommodation asserting to be the perfect solution to your chicken housing demands. Usually the price looks desirable, your house looks appealing, hell also the clean-cut family members standing there feeding the chickens look eye-catching. Undoubtedly they understand a high quality chicken house when they see one? There are numerous economical and nasty cages flooding the market. I understand this as I've examined a number of them in the area, as well as seen a ewe run straight via one when the feed container showed up. The outcome was nothing but an expensive pile of firewood as well as a little group of bemused as well as now homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Tips in Monument Beach, Massachusetts
Most of the time these standardized versions are built of fast grown timber - come the very first decline of rain they swell, leaving you either barricading a door that will not shut, or tearing the door furnishings off in a vain attempt to release the squawking citizens. The first warm day means the lumber dries out and splits, the really felt roof bubbles and also boils, and come nightfall the chickens refuse to go in. This is not due to their dissatisfaction at the decline of their once desirable residential property but considering that the hovel is currently a sanctuary for, and possibly crawling with, the fowl keeper's nemesis, red mite. Add on the fact that it said on the blurb that it would certainly suit four big chickens when that stocking thickness was based on the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and also just what are you left with? A number of joints as well as some kindling. A respectable coop for thee to 4 birds ought to cost you approximately ₤ 300 though this can depend on whether you choose for a totally free standing house or one with a run attached. Assuming you are ranging your birds in a big room and also the pop hole doorway is big sufficient for the type you keep, after that the major demands of housing come down to 3 points which will specify the number of birds the house will certainly hold; perches, nest boxes and air flow. Many types of chicken will certainly perch when they go to roost during the night, this perch should ideally be 5-8cm broad with smoothed off edges so the foot rests comfortably on it. The perch needs to be higher than the nest box entrance as chickens will certainly additionally normally try to find the highest point 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 create the most poo) leading to dirtied eggs the list below day. They shouldn't nevertheless be so high off the flooring of your house that leg injuries can take place when the bird gets down in the early morning. Chickens require regarding 20cm of perch each (in small types this is obviously much less), plus if greater 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 but are not that crazy about roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird ahead. Preferably the house should have a least one nest box for every three birds and these should be off the ground as well as in the darkest location of your house. Your home should have ample air flow: without it then condensation will build up every evening, also in the coldest of climate. Realize, air flow works with the concept of warm air leaving through a high gap drawing cooler air in from a lower gap - it's not a set of openings on other wall surfaces of your home as well as at the same degree, this is just what's referred to as a draft. If you have a house with a run connected then the factors above are still real, however you should additionally consider the run dimension. The EU optimum legal equipping thickness for a cost-free variety bird is (and let's face it, one of the motivations for keeping some chickens in the house is possibly improved or better welfare) 2,500 birds each hectare, that's optimal one bird each 4m settled. Take a close consider some of the bargain houses - it could well be your home has the appropriate perches, right ventilation and adequate nest boxes for a reasonable variety of birds, however will each of the chickens have anything greater than an A4 sized piece of ground to spend the day on? And so as the stating goes, "you obtain just what you spend for". You could believe you've got a bargain, but you as well as your group could possibly rue the day you did. Purchase the appropriate house as well as it will last for a couple of decades, otherwise longer offered the appropriate treatment. Eventually your poultry as well as your fowl keeping experience will certainly be much the far better for it.chick build
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