Chicken Coops for Sale in Acton, Montana
Chicken Coops for Sale in Acton, Montana
Chicken Coops — The Top 5 Requirements
Chicken Coops – What You Need
Happy, healthy chickens need proper housing, but knowing what you need may seem daunting. Don’t let choosing the house for your chickens intimidate you. Meeting the needs of your flock, whether building your own chicken castle or buying ready-made, is easy and should provide for four basic needs.
- Protection from the elements
- Protection from predators
- Place for laying eggs
- A roost at night
The Components of a Chicken Coop
As I wrote in my , chickens have an innate homing instinct, keeping your flock close to home. Our feathered kids are such home bodies that even free ranging, every night before sundown all our chickens are perched in the coop. I always recommend a protected place for your flock to come home and roost for the night, even when free ranging.
You don’t need a poultry castle for your chickens to come home to. come in many shapes, sizes, and designs, from fancy to plain. Believe it or not, your chickens won’t care what the coop looks like as long as it provides the above four basic needs.
With that said, before deciding what type of coop you are going to buy or build, you must determine what coop features are needed that most closely conform to a chicken’s natural behavior. Hopefully I can help you understand what you need in the design of your chicken coop.
The Basics
Let’s start with the basics. All chicken coops need 3 things; a roof, 4 walls, and a doorway for entering and leaving. The design and the materials used for the chicken coop is up to you. As long as it is mostly draft free (you still need healthy ventilation), your choices are endless.
Your coop space is based on the number of chickens you plan to house. A good rule of thumb is 4 square feet of floor space per large chicken and 3 square feet for the smaller bantam breeds. Also consider the ease of cleaning when choosing your coop design; you’ll be glad you did.
Security
Making a chicken coop predator free is the most important part of building a home for your flock. Your coop must be secure from the top, bottom, and all sides. When looking at any pre-made coop or chicken coop building plans, consider all angles for security. Not only should you consider the security of the coop itself, but the security of the yard and run as well.
When choosing the wire for your run and coop, we advise steering clear of standard chicken wire. While it works well for keeping your chickens contained it’s not entirely predator proof. Because the holes in standard chicken wire are large, coyotes, raccoons, and foxes can still reach through the mesh, causing harm to your chickens. Always use a small hole wire like hardware cloth with ½ inch openings.
Another consideration when building the chicken yard or run, is airborne predators like hawks. You must include covering the top of the run as well. Our chicken runs use the same size mesh fencing on the top as the sides.
Finally, there are predators from below, such as rats and mice. These critters are attracted to the feed and droppings and like to burrow under your coop. Protect your chickens by using a coop with a floor built into it or burying small mesh fencing below the coop and extending it about 12 inches out on all sides.
The Outside Run
All coops need a connecting chicken run or pen. Chickens need access to the outside to do all those “chicken things”, like dirt baths, catching bugs, scratching dirt, or just relaxing in the sunshine or shade.
Ideally, your chicken run should have 10 square feet of ground space per full size chicken. The smaller bantam breeds require less, about 7 square feet per chicken. If your chickens free range the majority of the day, you can get by with less space.
Laying Boxes
If you want eggs, you need laying boxes. These can be as fancy or as plain as you like, just as long as they are about 12” x 12” and raised off the ground a few inches. You need one box for every 4 laying hens. Boxes should comfortably fit the chicken and have low enough sides for the hens to step over. Be sure to keep your boxes lined with clean straw or other bedding.
Roosting Perches
All birds roost, including chickens. Your coop needs a roosting bar or something off the ground on which your chickens can perch. We strongly suggest having perches both inside the coop and outside in the run area.
When figuring roosting pole size, provide 5-10” of space per chicken and 10” of space between each pole if you are using more than one. Multiple poles also need grading like ladders so the farthest pole is several inches higher than the next.
There are many shapes, sizes, and styles of chicken coops to choose from. Making the right choice for your needs is important, and all coops need to contain all necessary elements.
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Chicken Coop Accessories in Acton, Montana
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Acton Montana" 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 Acton Montana chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Acton, Montana With the big increase in poultry keeping there has been a similarly huge rise in the array of chicken materiel for sale. Poultry real estate is a case in point. It's also a traditional instance of the great old bandwagon being jumped on as numerous would-be fowl housing professionals peddle an array of cottage declaring to be the perfect option to your chicken housing demands. Frequently the rate looks appealing, the house looks attractive, hell also the clean-cut family standing there feeding the chickens look eye-catching. Definitely they recognize a professional chicken house when they see one? There are numerous economical and unpleasant cages flooding the marketplace. I know this as I've tested a variety of them in the area, as well as seen a ewe run directly via one when the feed bucket showed up. The outcome was only a costly pile of firewood and also a little group of bemused and also now homeless bantams.
Baby Chick House in Acton, Montana
Generally these standardized designs are built of fast grown up hardwood - come the very first decline of rain they swell, leaving you either fortifying a doorway that will not close, or ripping the door furnishings off in a vain attempt to release the squawking citizens. The first warm day indicates the hardwood dries out and also fractures, the really felt roofing bubbles and boils, and also come nightfall the hens refuse to enter. This is not due to their dissatisfaction at the decrease of their as soon as appealing home yet considering that the hovel is currently a place for, and also probably crawling with, the fowl keeper's bane, red mite. Add the fact that it claimed on the blurb that it would certainly fit 4 big hens when that stocking density was based on the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and also what are you entrusted? A couple of joints as well as some kindling. A respectable coop for thee to four birds need to cost you around ₤ 300 though this could depend upon whether you elect for a free standing house or one with a run connected. Assuming you are ranging your birds in a big area and the pop hole doorway allows sufficient for the type you maintain, after that the primary demands of housing boil down to three factors which will specify the variety of birds the house will certainly hold; perches, nest boxes as well as ventilation. Most breeds of chicken will certainly perch when they visit roost during the night, this perch must preferably be 5-8cm vast with smoothed off sides so the foot sits easily on it. The perch needs to be higher than the nest box entrance as chickens will additionally naturally search 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 produce one of the most poo) resulting in soiled eggs the list below day. They should not nevertheless be so high off the floor of your house that leg injuries might take place when the bird gets down in the early morning. Chickens require about 20cm of perch each (in small types this is undoubtedly much less), plus if more than one perch is mounted in your home they should be more than 30cm apart. They will hunker up with their neighbors yet are not that crazy about roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird in front. Preferably your home ought to have a the very least one nest box for every single 3 birds as well as these need to be off the ground and also in the darkest location of your home. Your house needs to have ample ventilation: without it after that condensation will certainly develop every night, also in the chilliest of climate. Understand, air flow works on the principle of warm and comfortable air leaving with a high void drawing cooler air in from a lower gap - it's not a collection of holes on contrary wall surfaces of your home and at the exact same degree, this is just what's referred to as a draught. If you have a house with a run connected after that the factors above are still true, however you ought to also consider the run dimension. The EU optimum lawful stocking thickness for a totally free range bird is (and allow's face it, among the motivations for maintaining some hens at home is possibly enhanced or much better well-being) 2,500 birds per hectare, that's optimal one bird each 4m squared. Take a close check out a few of the deal homes - it could well be your home has the best perches, proper air flow and ample nest boxes for an affordable number of birds, yet will each of the chickens have anything greater than an A4 sized item of ground to spend the day on? Therefore as the stating goes, "you get just what you spend for". You may think you've got a deal, however you and also your flock might rue the day you did. Purchase the appropriate house as well as it will certainly last for a few years, otherwise longer provided the appropriate treatment. Ultimately your poultry and your chicken maintaining encounter will certainly be much the far better for it.chick diy
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