Chicken Coops for Sale in Wenham, Massachusetts
Chicken Coops for Sale in Wenham, Massachusetts
Our Finished Chicken Coop
These past few days had us outside enjoying the beautiful weather. One of the jobs I crossed off the list was to clean out our new chicken coop.
Because of our over the past year or so, our family was going through several dozen eggs a week. (I can’t help it – I’m hooked on !)
So last summer we quit “planning” to get our own chickens, and actually did it. The whole family pitched in to build a little abode for our egg-laying beauties. And because we were first-time chicken owners and newbies in all chicken-related topics, we joined and gleaned months worth of ideas, do’s and don’ts, and building plans. (I can’t recommend this site highly enough! If you have the slightest inclination of doing chicken anything, go here and read to your heart’s content.)
It was so helpful to see photos and designs when we were in the planning stages, I thought I’d share pictures of our coop and the hows and whys of what we did.
The chicken coop
Instead of starting from scratch, we bought a small granary from my brother-in-law; about 9’x7′ inside measurements. This gave us about 3 sq. ft. per bird. The coop is nothing fancy really. It isn’t visible from the road and we don’t live in town with neighbors to care about the view from their back window, so we used as much scrap material as possible. Plus we didn’t think the chickens would mind.
So far they haven’t rebelled.
We re-tinned the roof (that’s my honey!) and I got to use the saw sawl to make holes for the windows and vents. You can call me Mrs. Handyman. . .
Inside the chicken coop
Framing the windows and vents was the most time consuming part since the building wasn’t square. We used insulation and vapor barrier for the walls for added moisture protection and warmth because the windchill can get -40 below or more in the winter.
We made the roosting boards parallel and the same height because apparently hens will act like old biddies and fight for the top most board. (Some people’s kids. . .)
We rounded the edges of the roosting boards so it’s easier on the hens’ feet. The boards can be removed for ease of cleaning the poop boards underneath.
Poop boards seemed quite popular among chicken peoples and we’ve quickly learned why. First, chickens poop more when roosting, so the roosting boards are placed above the poop board. This makes clean up as simple as buying a wide sheetrock mudding tool and scraping the droppings into a bucket each day. We then add the droppings to our compost pile.
We originally built a rollaway community nesting box directly underneath the poop board, but the chickens ended up laying eggs everywhere but there. Eventually we added a ‘normal’ set of 12″x12″x12″ nesting boxes and they’re happy campers again.
We decided to use the deep litter method. We spread a bag of wood chips on the floor and because the hens leave most of their droppings on the poop boards, there’s minimal waste on the floor. The chickens like to scratch and fluff the wood chips so it gets stirred up and aerated. This means the coop is less smelly, and there’s only a few minutes of daily cleaning of the boards. If needed, you can add more wood chips throughout the year.
We clean the coop out fully in the spring and fall. So far it’s worked wonderfully.
We nailed a board across the doorway to prevent the rising litter from falling out every time we opened the door.
The feeders are gravity fed. They’re made of PVC pipe with a 90 degree corner and a cap at the end. We like that we can leave for several days at a time and don’t have to worry about having someone come out to do chicken chores for us.
This water stand was Travis’s idea. The hens have a platform to stand on so no matter how high the litter gets, they can reach the water comfortably.
The chicken nipples underneath are another idea shared by BYC that I LOVE. The water doesn’t drip, there is no poop or mud to worry about, and our full grown hens figured it out within 24 hrs. The pails are covered with lids to prevent the water from getting dirty and it lasts for at least a week (we add apple cider vinegar).
When we’re home, we clean them out and give them fresh water every few days.
There’s electricity on the wall above the waterers with a timed light switch. We use bird bath heaters to keep the water from freezing during the winter. We had to add the slanted plywood because the hens were roosting on the pails. (I told you they fought for highest roosting privileges.)
The pop door is a simple design, and it works great. It slides up and down, held in by L shaped boards.
When in the closed position, the hook and eye on the right prevent racoons (or children!) from trying to lift the door from the outside.
We used 1/2″ x 1/2″ hardware cloth to cover the insides of the windows and vents. . .
. . .and plexiglass for the actual windows.
We made sure to have plenty of vents (thanks to sage advice from Pat’s Ventilation Page) and used eyes and rope to open and close them at different heights.
Finally, we added a small lean-to to the side so the hens could come out in the winter. This helps block snow drifts right in front of the pop door, and they can still come out for fresh air and sunshine when they get cabin fever.
It might not win a beauty contest – but there’s something to be said for function-ability Hope this gave you some ideas!
What have you done to your chicken coop? We’d love to hear your ideas and suggestions!
shared with: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Related Posts
Latest posts by Paula ()
- - March 22, 2016
- - January 28, 2016
- - January 22, 2016
Chicken Coop Accessories in Wenham, Massachusetts
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Wenham 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 Wenham Massachusetts chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Wenham, Massachusetts With the huge rise in poultry maintaining there has been a just as large increase in the variety of chicken materiel on sale. Fowl real estate is a proceedings in point. It's also a timeless example of the excellent old bandwagon being jumped on as various would-be fowl real estate professionals peddle a range of cottage declaring to be the perfect option to your chicken housing demands. Typically the price looks appealing, your diy-chicken-coop-planshome looks attractive, hell even the clean-cut household standing there feeding the chickens look eye-catching. Undoubtedly they recognize a high quality chicken house when they see one? There are several cheap as well as unpleasant coops flooding the market. I understand this as I've checked a number of them in the area, and also seen a ewe run straight via one when the feed container showed up. The outcome was just an expensive heap of fire wood and also a small group of bemused as well as now homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop And Run in Wenham, Massachusetts
Usually these standardized models are built of quick grown up wood - come the initial decline of rain they swell, leaving you either defending a door that won't shut, or tearing the door furnishings off in a vain effort to release the squawking occupants. The first cozy day implies the wood dries out and also cracks, the felt roof bubbles and boils, as well as come nightfall the chickens refuse to go in. This is not as a result of their dissatisfaction at the decline of their as soon as desirable commercial property however due to the fact that the hovel is currently a haven for, and also possibly crawling with, the poultry keeper's bane, red mite. Add on the fact that it said on the blurb that it would fit 4 large chickens when that equipping thickness was based upon the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and also exactly what are you left with? A few hinges and some kindling. A good coop for thee to 4 birds should cost you approximately ₤ 300 though this can rely on whether you choose for a complimentary standing house or one with a run attached. Presuming you are ranging your birds in a big room and the pop hole doorway is big sufficient for the breed you keep, then the primary needs of housing boil down to 3 points which will certainly define the variety of birds your home will hold; perches, nest boxes and air flow. The majority of breeds of chicken will certainly perch when they visit roost at night, this perch should ideally be 5-8cm wide with smoothed off edges so the foot rests conveniently on it. The perch ought to be more than the nest box entry as chickens will certainly additionally naturally try to find the highest point to perch. A perch less than that will have the birds roosting in the nest box over night (which is incidentally when they create the most poo) resulting in dirtied eggs the list below day. They shouldn't nevertheless be so high off the flooring of your home that leg injuries might happen when the bird gets down in the early morning. Chickens need concerning 20cm of perch each (in tiny breeds this is undoubtedly less), plus if greater than one perch is mounted in the house they must be more than 30cm apart. They will hunker up with their neighbors however are not that keen on roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird in front. Ideally your house needs to have a the very least one nest box for every 3 birds and also these should be off the ground and also in the darkest location of the house. Your home should have appropriate ventilation: without it after that condensation will certainly accumulate every night, even in the chilliest of climate. Know, ventilation works on the principle of cozy air leaving through a high space attracting cooler air in from a reduced space - it's not a set of holes on other walls of the house and also at the exact same degree, this is just what's called a draught. If you have a house with a run connected after that the points above are still real, yet you need to additionally take into consideration the run size. The EU maximum lawful equipping density for a cost-free variety bird is (and allow's encounter it, one of the inspirations for maintaining some chickens at home is possibly improved or better welfare) 2,500 birds each hectare, that's optimal one bird per 4m squared. Take a close consider some of the bargain residences - it could well be your house has the ideal perches, right ventilation and also sufficient nest boxes for a reasonable variety of birds, yet will each of the chickens have anything more than an A4 sized item of ground to invest the day on? And so as the claiming goes, "you get just what you spend for". You may think you've got hold of a deal, but you as well as your group can rue the day you did. Purchase the ideal house as well as it will certainly last for a few years, if not longer offered the proper therapy. In the end your poultry and also your poultry keeping experience will certainly be considerably the far better for it.coop plan
More Posts
Chicken Coops for Sale in Southbridge, Massachusetts
Chicken Coops for Sale in Belchertown, Massachusetts
Chicken Coops for Sale in Orleans, Massachusetts
Chicken Coops for Sale in Hopedale, Massachusetts
Chicken Coops for Sale in Carlisle, Massachusetts