Chicken Coops for Sale in Cook Station, Missouri
Chicken Coops for Sale in Cook Station, Missouri
Sand Litter Bed In The Chicken Coop: An Experiment
We’ve been managing our chicken coop through a . This hybrid system has worked extremely well in . Briefly, how that system works is, the chickens roost over the sand, which acts like kitty litter to dry out their overnight poop, and in the morning the poop is raked to the lower area, where it composts-in-place with lots of straw and other high-carbon bedding.
Last year, fed up with the very real problems involved when you combine chickens and vegetable gardening, we decided to stop attempting to free-range our birds and instead fenced in a large, outdoor area adjacent to the coop. We confined the hens to this area (the ducks, less destructive, still get to free range) and this solved many of our chickens-scratching up-my-seedlings problems.
Too Much Of A Good Thing?
However, this confined run area led to another problem. This is a good problem, a problem I cannot believe I have, but it’s a problem nonetheless. In order to accommodate our flock in this confined area, we piled on the straw and woodchips in both the coop’s lower area, and the outdoor run.
This has led to, basically, more compost than I can use. Yeah, I have too much compost. Crazy, right? I didn’t know there was such thing as too much compost.
When I hauled out all the deep litter and piled it up, it looked like this.
And it’s not just dealing with storing Mount Compost Heap up there. The bedding was building up so deeply in both the coop and the run that we started to have problems just opening the door to the coop. The chickens weren’t super effective at scratching down to the lowest levels, and I’m embarrassed to say that some anaerobic ickiness was starting to take place in the deeper levels of the bedding.
Something needed to change.
Trying something new.
Is Sand A Solution?
In order to manage these drawbacks, we are experimenting with a sand bed in the run area of the coop. The fenced outdoor chicken area will still be managed as a deep litter system, with arborists woodchips and straw added as needed for carbon.
But inside the coop itself, I’m trying sand.
I had help raking out the new sand.
I see several potential upsides to a sand bed, and a few downsides as well.
Pros:
- Sand bed is lower profile, so we’re able to open the door without hassle.
- Seems drier in winter due to superior drainage.
- Spilled chicken food is less likely to get “lost” in the bedding. I’ve observed chickens pecking at the food that falls on the sand. Less food waste = less feed expense.
- Sand adds natural grit to a chicken’s diet and sharpens nails
- Probably less expensive in the long-term, since sand doesn’t require frequent additions or “top-ups” like a deep litter system.
- May allow for indoor dust-bathing. I have not observed my hens using the sand to dust bathe, but I’ve read that they will.
- May cut down on opportunities for Coccidiosis in chickens by providing an inhospitable environment for the protozoa.
- Easy collection of poop allows for a more dedicated manure-composting system, which might be of use to people looking at black soldier fly farming (hem hem, me) or related endeavors.
When the hens spill feed, they can pick it up now.
Cons:
- Cold. The sand does not add to the warmth of the coop like the composting bedding. The sand feels noticeably colder to me when I touch it, and I’m not even walking around barefoot like my chooks. Cold is a drawback here in January. However, to chicken keepers in hot weather climates, perhaps a non-heat generating litter option would be a benefit?
- Requires more regular dedicated maintenance. We’re already in the daily habit of scooping the poop from the sand covered upper coop area, so this doesn’t add a huge amount of work to that chore, but it’s definitely not the kind of job you can ignore for several
weeksdays. - Does not break down into compost. Unless your chickens already make more compost than you can use, less compost is a bad thing.
- The ducks don’t seem happy about the sand, but then ducks don’t like change, so I don’t read too much into this yet.
- Duck poop doesn’t scoop well. The front runner of Reasons I May Go Back To Deep Litter is wet duck poop on sand. Ewww.
- The poop has to go somewhere. In the prior system we just scrapped the upper poop onto the composting bedding. Now the upper and lower poop have to go somewhere. At the moment we’re scraping the poop out the door into the outdoor run area, but this experiment of sand-bedding the indoor run has triggered a re-evaluation of all my manure and compost management practices. So, simple change.
As of now, I have more questions than answers. I’ll let you know how the sand bed works out going forward.
Chicken Coop Construction in Cook Station, Missouri
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Cook Station Missouri" 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 Cook Station Missouri chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Cook Station, Missouri With the significant rise in chicken keeping there has been an equally large increase in the array of poultry paraphernalia on sale. Fowl real estate is a proceedings in factor. It's likewise a traditional example of the great old bandwagon being jumped on as different prospective chicken real estate professionals market an array of accommodation asserting to be the excellent solution to your chicken real estate demands. Commonly the price looks desirable, the house looks eye-catching, hell also the clean-cut family standing there feeding the chickens look attractive. Surely they understand a quality chicken house when they see one? There are lots of economical as well as awful cages flooding the market. I understand this as I've tested a variety of them in the field, and seen a ewe run directly through one when the feed container showed up. The outcome was nothing but a costly heap of firewood as well as a tiny group of bemused and currently homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Run Plans in Cook Station, Missouri
More often than not these standardized designs are created of quick grown wood - come the initial drop of rainfall they swell, leaving you either defending a doorway that will not close, or tearing the doorway furniture off in a vain effort to release the squawking citizens. The first warm day suggests the wood dries as well as fractures, the really felt roofing system bubbles as well as boils, as well as come nightfall the hens choose not to go in. This is not because of their frustration at the decline of their when attractive apartment however since the hovel is currently a place for, and also most likely crawling with, the fowl keeper's nemesis, red mite. Add on that it claimed on the blurb that it would fit 4 huge chickens when that stocking thickness was based on the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, as well as exactly what are you left with? A number of joints and also some kindling. A suitable coop for thee to 4 birds need to cost you around ₤ 300 though this could rely on whether you choose for a totally free standing house or one with a run attached. Assuming you are varying your birds in a huge room as well as the pop opening doorway is big enough for the breed you maintain, then the major requirements of housing come down to three factors which will specify the variety of birds your home will hold; perches, nest boxes and also air flow. Most breeds of chicken will certainly perch when they visit roost in the evening, this perch needs to preferably be 5-8cm wide with smoothed off edges so the foot sits comfortably on it. The perch should be more than the nest box entrance as chickens will also naturally look for the highest point to perch. A perch lower than that will have the birds roosting in the nest box overnight (which is by the way when they produce the most poo) causing stained eggs the list below day. They shouldn't however be so high off the flooring of your house that leg injuries could possibly occur when the bird gets down in the morning. Chickens require regarding 20cm of perch each (in small types this is undoubtedly much less), plus if more than one perch is mounted in your house they should be more than 30cm apart. They will hunker up with their next-door neighbors yet are not that crazy about roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird ahead. Preferably your home should have a least one nest box for every single 3 birds as well as these need to be off the ground and in the darkest area of your home. Your home ought to have appropriate air flow: without it after that condensation will accumulate every night, even in the chilliest of climate. Know, air flow works on the principle of warm air leaving through a high space drawing cooler air in from a lower space - it's not a set of holes on other walls of your home and at the exact same level, this is what's called a draft. If you have a house with a run affixed then the points above are still true, yet you need to likewise take into consideration the run size. The EU optimum lawful stocking thickness for a complimentary array bird is (and also let's face it, among the motivations for maintaining some hens at home is perhaps enhanced or better welfare) 2,500 birds per hectare, that's maximum one bird per 4m squared. Take a close take a look at some of the bargain houses - it could well be your house has the appropriate perches, appropriate air flow and also sufficient nest boxes for a reasonable variety of birds, however 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 obtain exactly what you pay for". You might assume you've got a deal, however you and your group might rue the day you did. Purchase the ideal house as well as it will certainly last for a couple of decades, if not longer given the correct treatment. In the end your chicken and your poultry maintaining experience will certainly be considerably the much better for it.for sale plans
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