Chicken Coops for Sale in Cohoctah, Michigan
Chicken Coops for Sale in Cohoctah, Michigan
Tropical Chicken Coop Construction – Ch.1
Tropical Chicken Coop Construction – Ch.1
I have been helping our friends build a chicken coop so that they can start raising there own hens and producing their own eggs. The week before I helped them build a compost pile so that they could start composting their yard waist on a larger scale, now we move into coop development. After researching different designs and methods for building a coop I decided to go with one that would fit well in the tropics. Much like San Diego, you don’t have to worry about a freeze or the chickens getting to cold, however you do need to be concerned with other natural elements like predators, tropical rain storms, gusty winds and too much heat. Taking this into consideration I designed a coop that would protect the hens from the elements, yet be opened up enough to allow a breeze and shade for the hens to grow in.
Chicken Coop Design
Chicken Coop Plans
The structure of the coop is 4x8x8. It is 4 ft wide by 8ft long and 8ft high at its highest point. The floor of the hen house is three feet off of the ground. There is a thatched roof covering the length of the coop to keep out the rain and sun. The roofs highest point is at 8ft (in the center) dropping down to 6ft on the front side, and 7ft on the back side. This allows for a consistent air flow throughout the coop
Chicken Coop Plans (Side Views)
I designed the coop on paper, worked out the measurements and then we started putting it together after we picked up the supplies. As expected we made a few adjustments as we began to put the coop together to fit the surroundings a little better. One thing that I didn’t keep in mind was the slope that we would be working on, this eventually elevated the ‘run’ side a little more giving the hens an extra 6 inches to play around in.
Chicken Coop Supplies (So Far)
- 3 4×8′ 1/2″ pieces of plywood
- 20 2x4x8′ studs
- 12 2x2x8′ studs
- 1 6x2x8′ stud
- 2 4×8′ roofing sheets
- 1 4×50′ roll of chicken wire
- 1 box 3.5″ screws
- 1 box 2″ screws
- 6 hinges
- 3 latches
- 4 cinder blocks
Chicken Coop Structure
Putting up the Frame
After we picked a location by the mango tree, the first thing that we did was put together the frame. This would be our skeleton if you will, everything else would be built off of the frame. As mentioned before the frame of the structure is 4ft wide by 8ft long. We put 6ft posts on the front side, 7ft posts on the back side, and two 8ft posts on the ends (for the roof). Notice the cinder blocks used to give us a level playing field, not the prettiest look, this is something that we will fix up as we finish the project.
Chicken Coop Construction
Putting Up the Walls
After we got the frame up we started to work on the hen house itself, this is where then hens will go to lay their many eggs in the future. We closed off the floor and the back wall first because these are permanent, no doors or latches needed. In this picture you can see that we also added a few more frame pieces for the roof, this was because of the type of roofing that we decided to go with. You will be able to see why when we finish.
Hen House Layout
Building the Hen House
Once we put in the permanent walls and floor we began building the doors that would allow us access into the hen house for cleaning and feeding. This front door section will open up giving us plenty of room to work around the hen house.
Nesting Boxes
The Nesting Boxes
The Nesting Boxes came next on our plans. We decided to do two rows of boxes 4 boxes deep. This gives us a total of 8 nesting boxes. Each box is 12″x12″12″. We started the bottom row 6 inches off of the floor and the next row 12 inches above that. We left a 3″ over hang to give the hens something to climb up to before entering their boxes. We also put a 4.5 inch lip on the front of the boxes making the entrance to the boxes 7.5″x12″. We did this to give the hens more protection and less room to move around. This should prevent them or the other hens from eating their eggs once they began producing.
Entrance for Eggs
Behind the nesting boxes, on the outside of the hen house we installed two barn style doors to give us easy access to all of the boxes, thus giving us easy access to the eggs down the road. This will also make it easier for cleaning an maintenance when the time comes.
Hen House Entrance
Hen House Entrance
This last image is of the entrance into the hen house, this was the last thing that we finished up to this point. We still have the roof, chicken wire enclosure and last minute adjustments. As you can see the Tropical Chicken Coop is coming along just fine. We are almost there but not quite yet. Once we get some more time to work on it we should be able to wrap up this project and move the hens in. Eggs are on their way!
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Chicken Coop Free Plans in Cohoctah, Michigan
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Cohoctah 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 Cohoctah Michigan chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Cohoctah, Michigan With the substantial increase in poultry maintaining there has been an equally large surge in the variety of fowl materiel on sale. Poultry housing is a situation in point. It's also a traditional instance of the great old bandwagon being jumped on as various prospective poultry real estate specialists market a range of accommodation declaring to be the suitable solution to your chicken real estate demands. Commonly the rate looks desirable, your house looks attractive, heck also the clean-cut household standing there feeding the chickens look appealing. Certainly they understand a high quality chicken house when they see one? There are several cheap and horrible coops swamping the market. I understand this as I've checked a variety of them in the field, and seen a ewe run directly through one when the feed container appeared. The result was nothing but a costly heap of firewood as well as a tiny flock of bemused as well as now homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Door in Cohoctah, Michigan
Typically these mass produced versions are built of rapid grown up timber - come the very first decrease of rain they swell, leaving you either defending a door that won't close, or tearing the doorway furniture off in a vain attempt to launch the squawking citizens. The very first warm and comfortable day means the timber dries out as well as cracks, the felt roof covering bubbles and also boils, and also come nightfall the hens refuse to enter. This is not as a result of their frustration at the decrease of their as soon as attractive commercial property but considering that the hovel is now a haven for, as well as most likely crawling with, the chicken caretaker's nemesis, red mite. Add on that it said on the blurb that it would fit 4 big hens when that equipping thickness was based upon the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, as well as just what are you entrusted? A number of joints as well as some kindling. A decent coop for thee to 4 birds should cost you approximately ₤ 300 though this can depend on whether you choose for a free standing house or one with a run attached. Assuming you are varying your birds in a large space and the pop hole doorway allows sufficient for the breed you keep, then the primary needs of real estate come down to three points which will certainly specify the variety of birds the house will certainly hold; perches, nest boxes as well as air flow. Most breeds of chicken will certainly perch when they go to roost during the night, this perch must ideally be 5-8cm vast with smoothed off sides so the foot rests pleasantly on it. The perch needs to be above the nest box access as chickens will certainly also naturally try to find the acme to perch. A perch below that will have the birds roosting in the nest box overnight (which is incidentally when they produce the most poo) bring about soiled eggs the list below day. They should not nevertheless be so high off the floor of the house that leg injuries could occur when the bird gets down in the early morning. Chickens need concerning 20cm of perch each (in little types this is certainly much less), plus if more than one perch is installed in your house they ought 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. Ideally your home should have a least one nest box for each three birds as well as these should be off the ground and also in the darkest location of the house. Your home must have appropriate ventilation: without it after that condensation will accumulate every night, even in the coldest of climate. Understand, air flow works with the principle of warm air leaving via a high space attracting cooler air in from a reduced void - it's not a set of openings on contrary wall surfaces of your home and also at the exact same degree, this is just what's referred to as a draft. If you have a house with a run affixed after that the points above are still real, yet you need to also take into consideration the run size. The EU maximum legal equipping thickness for a cost-free range bird is (and allow's face it, one of the motivations for keeping some chickens in the house is perhaps boosted or far better well-being) 2,500 birds each hectare, that's maximum one bird each 4m squared. Take a close look at some of the bargain houses - it could well be your home has the appropriate perches, correct air flow and also sufficient nest boxes for a practical number of birds, yet 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 just what you pay for". You could assume you've got a deal, yet you and also your group could possibly rue the day you did. Purchase the best house and also it will certainly last for a few decades, otherwise longer given the right therapy. In the long run your fowl and also your poultry keeping encounter will certainly be a lot the far better for it.chick build
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