When Justin and I had been , he took me to his family’s farm for Thanksgiving. I was already nervous as it was – he was a new boyfriend and I was meeting his family – but by the end of the weekend they’d coerced convinced me to drive a skid loader, fire off a few rounds at some coffee cans, and forage for my own breakfast in the chicken coop. When we came back the next spring, there were a handful of baby chicks fluttering around the yard and I thought they were so precious. Uncle Bill handed me one, nearly weightless in my palm, all its hollow bones twitching against my fingers. It made me nervous, how fragile it felt and how anxious it seemed to get back to its Mama Bird.
But the eggs? The eggs I loved. I loved the plastic Easter egg sitting inside the nesting box (to encourage the ladies to lay there); I loved the varying shades of brown, the speckled pattern and the occasional pastel green egg that appeared. They made the white grocery store eggs look so bland, so boring. And when we brought the eggs inside to fry up alongside our buttered toast, their yolks were electric orange. I’d never seen anything like it before (they grow pumpkins on the farm and feed the chickens with the broken pieces, thus the late-autumn yolks are especially colorful). I slid two over-easy’s onto my plate and split them open with the prong of my fork and watched the yolk puddle out to my toast. I think about that breakfast a lot, about the smell of the barn early in the morning; how Justin and I were living outside our comfort zones and learning to love each other; how he casually mentioned that, one day, we might have a farm.
We don’t have a full-blown farm, not by a long shot, but after trying to and finally accepting this is where we’ll stay, we decided to start building our backyard homestead. Justin bought the blueprints for a chicken coop and set to work in our garage over the winter. We poured the concrete footers together before Christmas, before the frost would come, and Justin etched our initials into the last one while it was still wet. He spent hours under the fluorescent lights of the garage bay, hammering and nailing and sometimes painting. And finally, after months of work, we hauled it outside with a trailer and some extra manpower.
Most of the books we read said chickens were low-maintenance, that they don’t need much besides a cardboard box and some fresh water. But my husband, God love him, is an overachiever. So our chickens will have the Ritz Carlton of chicken coops to call home. And this coming weekend, our chicks will arrive! We have nine in total – three each of Barred Rocks, Rhode Island Red, and Ameraucanas (Easter Eggers). They’ll live in a brooder box in our garage for the first few weeks to stay toasty warm, and by the end of May or June we’ll move them out to the luxury hotel we call a chicken coop. It isn’t quite finished, we still need to add shingles and chicken wire all around, but I’m so proud of it. I’m proud of what we’re doing, how we live, how we eat, how we teach our kids about food and about life.
So cheers to the homestead! We’re finally doing it.
***
First few photos are iPhone.
Resources:
Chicken coops for sale in Clarksdale Mississippi 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.
Clarksdale Mississippi 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-Clarksdale-MSFinding chicken coops for sale in Clarksdale Mississippi 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 Clarksdale Mississippi 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 Clarksdale Mississippi, especially if your location is not a typically rural location. In rural locations that are much more abundant and easily had.
Chicken Coop Near Me in Clarksdale, Mississippi
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Clarksdale Mississippi" 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 Clarksdale Mississippi chicken coops.
What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Clarksdale, Mississippi
With the big rise in chicken keeping there has actually been a similarly large increase in the array of fowl stuff on sale. Chicken real estate is a case in factor. It's likewise a timeless instance of the great old bandwagon being jumped on as various would-be poultry housing professionals peddle a range of holiday accommodation asserting to be the suitable remedy to your chicken housing needs.
Frequently the price looks attractive, the house looks eye-catching,
heck also the clean-cut household standing there feeding the chickens look desirable. Undoubtedly they understand a professional chicken house when they see one? There are several inexpensive and awful cages flooding the marketplace. I recognize this as I've tested a variety of them in the field, and also seen a ewe run straight with one when the feed bucket appeared. The result was just a pricey stack of fire wood and a tiny flock of bemused and currently homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Amazon in Clarksdale, Mississippi
Generally these mass produced versions are created of quick grown up timber - come the initial decline of rain they swell, leaving you either barricading a door that will not shut, or ripping the doorway furnishings off in a vain effort to release the squawking occupants. The very first warm day means the hardwood dries and splits, the really felt roofing bubbles as well as boils, and come nightfall the hens refuse to enter. This is not as a result of their frustration at the decline of their when desirable home however because the hovel is now a sanctuary for, and also probably crawling with, the poultry keeper's nemesis, red mite. Add the fact that it claimed on the blurb that it would match 4 huge hens when that stocking density was based on the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and just what are you left with? A few joints as well as some kindling.
A decent coop for thee to 4 birds ought to cost you around ₤ 300 though this could rely on whether you elect for a complimentary standing house or one with a run affixed. Thinking you are ranging your birds in a big room as well as the pop opening door allows sufficient for the breed you maintain, then the major demands of real estate boil down to 3 factors which will certainly specify the variety of birds your house will hold; perches, nest boxes and also air flow.
Many types of chicken will perch when they visit roost during the night, this perch needs to preferably be 5-8cm large with smoothed off sides so the foot rests easily on it. The perch must be more than the nest box entrance as chickens will certainly additionally naturally search for the acme to perch. A perch less than that will have the birds roosting in the nest box overnight (which is incidentally when they produce one of the most poo) causing soiled eggs the following day. They shouldn't nevertheless be so high off the floor of your house that leg injuries might occur when the bird gets down in the early morning. Chickens need about 20cm of perch each (in little types this is undoubtedly much less), plus if greater than one perch is installed in the house they need to be more than 30cm apart. They will hunker up with their next-door neighbors but are not that keen on roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird ahead.
Ideally the house must have a least one nest box for every three birds and these must be off the ground and in the darkest location of your home. The house ought to have sufficient air flow: without it after that condensation will certainly develop every night, also in the chilliest of weather condition. Understand, air flow deals with the concept of warm and comfortable air leaving through a high space drawing cooler air in from a reduced space - it's not a set of holes on contrary walls of the house as well as at the same level, this is just what's referred to as a draft.
If you have a house with a run connected then the factors above are still real, yet you must additionally think about the run dimension. The EU maximum lawful equipping density for a totally free range bird is (as well as allow's face it, one of the inspirations for keeping some hens at home is perhaps enhanced or far better well-being) 2,500 birds per hectare, that's maximum one bird per 4m settled. Take a close check out some of the bargain homes - it could well be your house has the right perches, correct air flow and also adequate nest boxes for a practical number of birds, however will each of the chickens have anything more than an A4 sized piece of ground to invest the day on?
And so as the saying goes, "you obtain what you pay for". You may assume you've grabbed a deal, but you as well as your group might rue the day you did. Purchase the best house and also it will last for a couple of decades, if not longer offered the right treatment. Eventually your chicken and also your poultry maintaining encounter will be much the much better for it.
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