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Chicken Coops for Sale in Sterling, Michigan

Chicken Coops for Sale in Sterling, Michigan

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Posted By on March 2, 2016

I mentioned yesterday that we have made our chicken raising a bit easier by automating some things. I built an automatic door opener using a last November and it has worked flawlessly since then. When it gets to 15 F or below, it does have some problems going up but the chickens are still able to get in and out.

 

The door is controlled by a timer and has two electrical connections going to it. One is always on and the other gets powered when the door is shut (so at night). The wiring consists of two DC adapters (the kind you use for small electronics such as laptops) that are connected to the wires coming from the antennae. They get plugged into an AC power source, which is the timer. It is very simple once you figure it out!

The door itself is made out of a plastic tote lid. It was the only thing I could find which was light enough for the motor to lift, yet wouldn’t warp from sun and rain like cardboard would.

Automatic Chicken Door Open

 

Here’s a photo of it closed.

 

Automatic Chicken Door Closed

 

Here is a closeup of how I connected the lifter to the door. I put a piece of metal strapping across the antennae and bolted it on with bolts and nuts.

 

To make feeding and watering a lot easier we invested in some large containers. The feed bin lasts about 2 weeks between filling and the watering container would last for a couple of months but I clean it out every few weeks. It is a 10 gallon fermenting tank normally used for brewing beer. You can find them on brewery sites. We also put in a bird bath heater so that it stays unfrozen, even in sub-zero temps. Its a great investment for winter chicken keeping!

 

Food and Water

 

I built their roost out of an old rickety wooden ladder we had sitting around doing nothing. They love it.

 

Wood Ladder Roost

 

I also built a smaller roost in front of the windows so they can sun themselves on cold frosty days. They have made good use of it. We also built new windows for them. We had 4 nice sized windows laying around and so we built some runners and installed some hooks so we can slide the windows up and down.

 

Sunning Roost

 

Finally, here are the nesting boxes. Nothing special about these, they were built using scrap plywood last fall. They serve the job well and are very cheap! Look at all those eggs! We got 9 today. The other 3 are golf balls.

 

Nesting Box

 

 

 

 

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Chicken coops for sale in Sterling Michigan can be found in agricultural newspapers and community newspapers. The coops are designed for housing for chickens in a safe and secure environment. They generally consist of a small building or large box that is then sectioned off to smaller boxes where the chickens go to roost (or sleep). Chicken coops are a must for raising chickens. Sterling Michigan chicken coops are commonly constructed from wood products. They are not very stable buildings and provide only minimal protection from the elements. Now chicken houses used for large production facilities are a entirely different structure, they are huge and can hold up to 10000 chickens. The coops are typically used for backyard operations, or small family farms. They vary in size depending on the number of residents they house. chicken-coops-in-Sterling-MIFinding chicken coops for sale in Sterling Michigan is probably not one of the easiest of items to find. There are manufacturers of chicken houses and coops that sell them out right and Sterling Michigan farm supply stores that they can also be purchased through, but generally speaking it will take some effort to find a chicken coop for sale in Sterling Michigan, especially if your location is not a typically rural location. In rural locations that are much more abundant and easily had. Chicken Coops for sale in Sterling MI

Chicken Coop Sale in Sterling, Michigan

A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Sterling 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 Sterling Michigan chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Sterling, Michigan With the substantial boost in chicken keeping there has been a just as big increase in the variety of poultry stuff on sale. Fowl housing is an instance in factor. It's likewise a classic instance of the great old bandwagon being jumped on as various prospective poultry real estate specialists market an array of cottage claiming to be the suitable remedy to your chicken real estate requirements. Frequently the rate looks appealing, your house looks desirable, hell also the clean-cut family standing there feeding the chickens look eye-catching. Surely they recognize a top quality chicken house when they see one? There are numerous low-cost and horrible coops swamping the market. I know this as I've tested a number of them in the area, as well as seen a ewe run straight via one when the feed pail showed up. The result was just a pricey pile of firewood and also a small group of bemused as well as now homeless bantams. Chickens for sale in Sterling MI

Chicken Coop For 10 Chickens in Sterling, Michigan

More often than not these standardized designs are built of fast grown up hardwood - come the initial decline of rain they swell, leaving you either blockading a doorway that will not close, or tearing the doorway furniture off in a vain attempt to release the squawking residents. The very first warm day suggests the hardwood dries out and splits, the felt roof covering bubbles and boils, and come nightfall the chickens refuse to enter. This is not due to their dissatisfaction at the decline of their as soon as eye-catching building yet considering that the hovel is currently a sanctuary for, and probably abounding, the fowl caretaker's nemesis, red mite. Add the fact that it said on the blurb that it would certainly suit four big chickens when that equipping density was based upon the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, as well as what are you left with? A couple of hinges and also some kindling. A decent coop for thee to four birds need to cost you approximately ₤ 300 though this could depend upon whether you elect for a cost-free standing house or one with a run attached. Assuming you are ranging your birds in a big room as well as the pop opening doorway is big sufficient for the type you keep, after that the primary needs of real estate come down to three factors which will certainly define the variety of birds your home will certainly hold; perches, nest boxes and also ventilation. Many breeds of chicken will perch when they visit roost in the evening, this perch needs to ideally be 5-8cm wide with smoothed off edges so the foot sits conveniently on it. The perch needs to be higher than the nest box entry as chickens will certainly likewise normally look for the acme to perch. A perch below that will have the birds roosting in the nest box over night (which is incidentally when they create the most poo) bring about dirtied eggs the list below day. They shouldn't however be so high off the floor of your home that leg injuries could take place when the bird gets down in the morning. Chickens require concerning 20cm of perch each (in small types this is undoubtedly less), plus if more than one perch is mounted in your home they need to be more than 30cm apart. They will hunker up with their next-door neighbors however are not that crazy about roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird ahead. Ideally your home must have a the very least one nest box for each 3 birds as well as these must be off the ground and also in the darkest location of your house. The house ought to have ample air flow: without it after that condensation will develop every evening, also in the coldest of weather. Be aware, ventilation deals with the concept of warm and comfortable air leaving via a high space attracting cooler air in from a reduced gap - it's not a collection of openings on opposite walls of your home as well as at the same level, this is exactly what's known as a draft. If you have a house with a run connected then the points above are still real, yet you ought to also consider the run dimension. The EU optimum legal equipping density for a free variety bird is (and also let's encounter it, one of the inspirations for maintaining some hens at home is potentially boosted or better welfare) 2,500 birds per hectare, that's optimal one bird each 4m made even. Take a close look at some of the bargain houses - it could well be your house has the appropriate perches, proper ventilation as well as ample 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 saying goes, "you get what you pay for". You may think you've got hold of a bargain, but you and also your flock could rue the day you did. Purchase the right house as well as it will certainly last for a couple of years, if not longer given the right therapy. In the long run your chicken and your chicken keeping experience will be considerably the much better for it.
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