Chicken Coops for Sale in Chippewa Lake, Michigan
Chicken Coops for Sale in Chippewa Lake, Michigan
The Small Property Chicken Coop
Raising chickens has been one of the most rewarding activities that we’ve done on our homestead. While we don’t raise them for meat due to the city’s limitations, we reap an abundance of benefits from the eggs and the friendship we get from our girls.
In this next installment of , I’ll be sharing how my husband Todd designed and built Lucy and Ethel’s chicken coop using his ingenuity and minimal square footage on our .18 of an acre.
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, I was so excited to finally be able to raise a couple of my own “girls” to gather eggs from and get to know. I’m an animal lover, and seem to be able to make friends with any animal that will allow me, so I knew that these two sweet little chicks and I would be the best of friends. , and since there were only two of them, there was plenty of space for them to grow.
After moving some things around to set up our ‘barn’ area, Todd got to work on the chicken coop. Being a handy guy, he decided that he could design and build one that would be cheaper than a prefab one, as well as be able to fit where we needed it to on our small property homestead.
He chose to use the back of one of our sheds as the back wall, and another of our sheds as the side wall, which would save us some money on hardware cloth. He framed the rest of the coop and door with 2x4s. He also extended the side of the shed so that it would serve as the left wall of the coop.
This is the shed that is being used as the back wall of the coop. You can see on the right side of the shed where the new section was added for the left wall of the coop.
Todd designed the girls’ coop to be multi-level, rather than sprawling. He used plywood and 2x4s for the levels, and built an access ladder to both. The girls had a hard time not slipping on the sleek wood between the “steps” on the ladder, so I added a few strips of to those sections, which worked beautifully.
Here is a current photo of the two levels (please excuse the “lived in” look, I apparently hadn’t taken photos of the two levels when it was new). This is the top level, where we keep the girls’ nesting boxes. The ladder with the comes up the right side of this level, and it’s easy for the girls to hop up to the top of their nesting boxes, where they like to sleep at night. Todd also built a roost for them, which is actually a few inches offset from the edge of the level so when they poop, most of it falls to the ground.
Here is the second level, where the girls usually eat their evening treats, and where I keep their oyster shell and water (water not pictured). You can see how the ladder passes the second level up to the top level, which makes it easy for the girls to hop to the second level at snack time.
We left the bottom level as dirt, and I have been using the , which has worked out well for the most part. We haven’t had any issues with large rodents, and any mice that dare step foot into the coop are met with two hungry beaks.
Todd lined the front of the coop with 1″ hardware cloth and it has worked very well for us; however, I have heard that if you have issues with raccoons, it’s best to go with 1/2″ hardware cloth.
Another Space Saving Coop Idea
A friend of mine, Nora from , and is based on Todd’s multilevel chicken coop design. Their family has around 8-10 girls, so this brooder was a very good fit for them. It can definitely be built outdoors and used as a space-saving chicken coop for 1-3 chickens, or built indoors to use as a brooder for a larger flock.
As you can see, building a chicken coop to fit your small property needs can be a much better prospect than purchasing a prefab chicken coop. While prefab coops are beautiful and promise ease, tailoring your chicken coop to fit in just the right place on your small property can be more affordable, and in the long run, more convenient for your homestead setup. As long as your chicken coop meets , you can build a chicken coop that meets your homestead’s needed requirements as well, which will make everyone happy!
For more great information on raising chickens, please visit Fresh Eggs Daily’s Ultimate Chicken Care Guide.
What size is your property? Do you use space-saving techniques?
Chicken Coop For 4 Chickens in Chippewa Lake, Michigan
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Chippewa Lake Michigan" 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 Chippewa Lake Michigan chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Chippewa Lake, Michigan With the huge boost in chicken keeping there has actually been an equally large increase in the array of poultry stuff for sale. Fowl real estate is an instance in factor. It's additionally a timeless example of the good old bandwagon being jumped on as various prospective fowl housing specialists market an array of cottage asserting to be the suitable option to your chicken real estate demands. Often the price looks attractive, the house looks attractive, hell even the clean-cut household standing there feeding the chickens look desirable. Definitely they recognize a high quality chicken house when they see one? There are lots of economical and awful cages swamping the marketplace. I recognize this as I've examined a number of them in the field, and also seen a ewe run directly with one when the feed bucket appeared. The outcome was just an expensive stack of firewood and also a tiny group of bemused as well as currently homeless bantams.
Baby Chick Facts in Chippewa Lake, Michigan
Generally these mass produced versions are constructed of fast grown up lumber - come the first drop of rain they swell, leaving you either defending a door that won't shut, or ripping the door furnishings off in a vain effort to release the squawking citizens. The very first warm and comfortable day implies the lumber dries out as well as cracks, the really felt roofing bubbles as well as boils, and also come nightfall the hens refuse to enter. This is not due to their disappointment at the decrease of their when desirable apartment however due to the fact that the hovel is now a haven for, as well as probably crawling with, the poultry keeper's bane, red mite. Add on that it stated on the blurb that it would certainly fit 4 large hens when that equipping thickness was based upon the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and also exactly what are you entrusted? A few hinges and also some kindling. A respectable coop for thee to 4 birds should cost you around ₤ 300 though this could depend upon whether you choose for a cost-free standing house or one with a run attached. Assuming you are ranging your birds in a large space as well as the pop opening doorway allows sufficient for the breed you maintain, then the main requirements of real estate boil down to three points which will certainly specify the number of birds your home will hold; perches, nest boxes and air flow. Most types of chicken will perch when they go to roost in the evening, this perch needs to ideally be 5-8cm broad with smoothed off sides so the foot rests pleasantly on it. The perch ought to be more than the nest box access as chickens will additionally naturally try to find the highest point to perch. A perch lower than that will certainly have the birds roosting in the nest box overnight (which is incidentally when they create the most poo) resulting in stained eggs the following day. They should not nonetheless be so high off the flooring of your home that leg injuries could possibly take place when the bird gets down in the morning. Chickens need concerning 20cm of perch each (in small types this is undoubtedly less), plus if greater than one perch is mounted in your home they need to be greater 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 ahead. Preferably your house should have a least one nest box for each three birds as well as these must be off the ground and in the darkest area of your home. Your home must have ample ventilation: without it after that condensation will certainly accumulate every night, also in the chilliest of climate. Understand, ventilation works with the principle of warm air leaving with a high space drawing cooler air in from a lower gap - it's not a collection of openings on contrary wall surfaces of your home and also at the exact same level, this is exactly what's referred to as a draft. If you have a house with a run attached then the factors above are still real, but you ought to also take into consideration the run dimension. The EU maximum lawful stocking density for a complimentary variety bird is (and also allow's face it, one of the motivations for keeping some hens in the house is possibly enhanced or much better welfare) 2,500 birds each hectare, that's optimal one bird each 4m squared. Take a close consider several of the bargain homes - it could well be your home has the best perches, appropriate air flow and also enough nest boxes for a sensible number of birds, but will each of the chickens have anything greater than an A4 sized piece of ground to spend the day on? Therefore as the claiming goes, "you obtain what you pay for". You might think you've got hold of a deal, however you and also your group could rue the day you did. Purchase the right house as well as it will last for a few years, otherwise longer provided the proper therapy. Ultimately your fowl and your chicken maintaining encounter will certainly be a lot the better for it.plans chick
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