Chicken Coops for Sale in Wolverine, Michigan
Chicken Coops for Sale in Wolverine, Michigan
Transform Your Little Tikes Playhouse into a Chicken Coop
When I started pestering my husband about chickens (again), I knew I was fighting an uphill battle. He did not want to spend a bunch of money and time on the construction of a suitable coop. We’d already been down the road of improper chicken housing before, and it wasn’t a road that either of us wanted to travel again. But I really, REALLY wanted to give chicken keeping another try. And I thought that with a little bit of forethought, we could eliminate the challenges we ran into before. For starters, the birds would need enough space. And the coop would need to be easy to clean. And most importantly, the coop would need to be secure. Nothing like coming home to find your chickens walking along the 6′ high wall that surrounds your yard! But to construct this type of set up from scratch would cost quite a bit of money in materials, not to mention all the time and sweat it would take for the hubs to actually BUILD the thing.
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So then I started scouring the internet trying to find the best deal on a “coop in a box”. I had my eye on but the price tag was a bit hefty. (It’s actually on sale for 58% off right now if you happen to be in the market for a pre-fabricated coop!) Not only was the hubs not excited about building a chicken coop, he also wasn’t excited about the idea of another “thing” in the yard. Our yard was already overrun with toys, bikes, gardening tools, a composter, and our very well-loved Little Tikes Playhouse. So as I sat in the yard one spring evening watching the kids play with everything BUT the playhouse, I got to thinking… Why couldn’t we just turn the playhouse into a chicken coop?!?! I didn’t tell hubs about the idea right away. Instead, I began looking at the structure of the playhouse to see if my idea would even work. Guys, I swear, this thing was MADE to become a chicken coop! It had everything we needed! The house is large enough for me to walk inside to rake it out, it has plenty of space for a nesting box, waterer, food, and a roosting bar. And it even came with a little cut out section near the floor (picture a doggy door) so the chickens could access the run we built behind it! I sketched out an idea of the modifications that we would need to make, and I presented my idea to the hubs. Guess what? He went for it! It was PERFECT. The structure was already built. We wouldn’t have to add another “thing” to our already tiny yard, and the best part? It’s totally incognito. No one would EVER suspect chickens were living in the playhouse! That night, I ordered our chicks! So how did we transform the playhouse? Well, let’s take a tour, shall we?
The first thing we did was cover all the openings with garden wire. Hubs had a roll of this laying around from some other project. He used drywall screws to attach the wire to the windows. The coop actually stayed like this for a while. While the chicks were still small, it was best for them to be confined to a smaller space, so not having a run wasn’t an issue.
Next the hubs built the run. You can see the “doggy door” in the bottom left corner…this is how the chickens get in and out of the house. The run is a pretty simple A-frame structure made out of 1″x 1″ pine pieces. The frame was made in sections and the wire was screwed on to each section as it was assembled. The top of the run lifts up so I can climb in and rake out the poo. I just prop it open with an upside down rake and jump on in.
The corners are all secured with these nifty . And the whole top piece is attached to the frame with some thin chains that act as a hinge. Here is a picture of the chains.
The brown plastic covering you see on this window is actually the cover to our sand and water table. The hubs cut it to fit over the largest window to break some of the wind in the winter. He used more drywall screws to attach it to the house.
Inside the coop, we attached a roosting bar (made out of an old broom handle) to the side of the house using a simple scrap of wood to attach it.
Here is a look at one side of the roosting bar. The other side just sits on the “mantle” inside the house.
My favorite part about the coop is the nesting box. Hubs attached a recycling bin to the wall using a couple brackets. It’s the PERFECT size for a comfy chicken laying box. And it’s up high so there’s a little privacy. We did cut it down a bit…chickens are not very bright creatures…they were afraid to go inside when the lip of the box was up higher.
The is hung from the ceiling by a thin chain (to keep the birds from standing on it), and the just sits on the floor. The set up is working BRILLIANTLY for us. The birds are happy and laying an egg per chicken per day (even though it’s winter), and it is all super easy to care for. The best part is that we were able to make this transformation for a whopping $46. I can’t say enough about how awesome chicken are…I’m pretty sure my kiddos would agree! Think you might transform your little tikes playhouse into a chicken coop?
Here is the complete list of materials and tools we used to make our playhouse into a chicken coop. Our chickens have been living in the coop for 8 months, and it’s still holding up great!
Hardware
- , to secure wire to playhouse
- to secure wire to wood frame
- to hang feeder from inside coop
Tools
- – for cutting the wire
- (for pounding staples)
- for cutting 1 1/2″ pieces of wood
Chicken Coop House Plans in Wolverine, Michigan
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Wolverine 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 Wolverine Michigan chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Wolverine, Michigan With the massive increase in chicken keeping there has been a just as huge surge in the range of chicken materiel on sale. Poultry real estate is a proceedings in point. It's additionally a timeless example of the excellent old bandwagon being jumped on as numerous prospective poultry housing specialists peddle a variety of accommodation claiming to be the optimal solution to your chicken real estate demands. Frequently the rate looks desirable, your diy-chicken-coop-planshome looks attractive, heck also the clean-cut household standing there feeding the chickens look eye-catching. Definitely they know a professional chicken house when they see one? There are many economical as well as awful cages flooding the market. I understand this as I've examined a number of them in the area, and also seen a ewe run directly through one when the feed bucket appeared. The outcome was nothing but a pricey stack of fire wood and a little flock of bemused and now homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Supplies in Wolverine, Michigan
Most of the time these mass produced designs are created of quick grown wood - come the first decrease of rain they swell, leaving you either blockading a door that won't close, or tearing the doorway furnishings off in a vain effort to release the squawking citizens. The initial warm and comfortable day implies the timber dries and also fractures, the felt roofing bubbles as well as boils, and also come nightfall the chickens refuse to enter. This is not because of their frustration at the decline of their when eye-catching property yet because the hovel is now a haven for, as well as possibly crawling with, the chicken caretaker's nemesis, red mite. Add that it said on the blurb that it would certainly fit four huge hens when that stocking density was based on the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and what are you left with? A few hinges and also some kindling. A good coop for thee to 4 birds should cost you approximately ₤ 300 though this could depend on whether you choose for a cost-free standing house or one with a run connected. Thinking you are ranging your birds in a big room and also the pop hole door is big enough for the type you maintain, then the main needs of housing come down to three factors which will specify the variety of birds your house will hold; perches, nest boxes and also ventilation. A lot of breeds of chicken will certainly perch when they go to roost in the evening, this perch ought to preferably be 5-8cm large with smoothed off sides so the foot rests pleasantly on it. The perch should be above the nest box entrance as chickens will additionally naturally seek the highest point to perch. A perch below that will have the birds roosting in the nest box over night (which is incidentally when they generate one of the most poo) bring about soiled eggs the following day. They shouldn't nevertheless be so high off the flooring of your house that leg injuries could happen when the bird gets down in the morning. Chickens require about 20cm of perch each (in tiny types this is clearly less), plus if greater than one perch is set up in your house they must be more than 30cm apart. They will certainly hunker up with their next-door neighbors but are not that keen on roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird in front. Ideally your house ought to have a least one nest box for each 3 birds and these should be off the ground as well as in the darkest area of your house. Your home should have ample ventilation: without it after that condensation will build up every evening, also in the coldest of weather condition. Understand, ventilation deals with the principle of cozy air leaving via a high space drawing cooler air in from a reduced gap - it's not a set of holes on opposite wall surfaces of the house and at the exact same level, this is what's referred to as a draft. If you have a house with a run connected after that the factors above are still true, but you must additionally take into consideration the run dimension. The EU maximum legal equipping density for a complimentary array bird is (as well as let's encounter it, one of the inspirations for keeping some chickens in your home is perhaps enhanced or far better welfare) 2,500 birds each hectare, that's optimal one bird each 4m made even. Take a close look at a few of the bargain houses - it could well be your home has the appropriate perches, proper ventilation and also ample nest boxes for a reasonable variety of birds, but 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 exactly what you pay for". You may assume you've got hold of a bargain, but you and your group might rue the day you did. Purchase the appropriate house and it will certainly last for a few years, otherwise longer offered the proper therapy. Eventually your fowl and your fowl keeping encounter will certainly be much the better for it.diy for sale
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