Chicken Coops for Sale in Cedar Rapids, Nebraska
Chicken Coops for Sale in Cedar Rapids, Nebraska
Our Chicken Coop Design – Front Elevation (Part 2 of 3)
Okay, I lied. I had hoped to finish up writing on our chicken coop design with this post, but I ran out of time and markers…seriously – my gray marker ran out. So today I’m going to focus on the front elevation and next week I’ll wrap it up with the other 3 elevations.
Front Elevation of the Coop
When designing your coop you really need to think through ventilation for a number of reasons: respiratory health of the chickens; drying out the moisture and their manure keeps down the smells and the potential of the hens getting sick. I made ours super-ventilated by covering the entire front of our coop with hardware cloth. We may have gone overboard, but it’s better to err on the side of too much ventilation in a coop than too little…and because Atlanta has a fairly temperate climate, I think we’re good. That said, you do have to consider strong winds – particularly in the colder months. That’s why Britt and I crafted Roman shade-like curtains out of painter’s drop cloths for the front and the windows on the other 3 sides of the coop. It was quite inexpensive and fairly easy to do…particularly if you strategically use the hems already sewn in. These curtains will give our ladies a refuge from the cold winds – protecting the exposed areas of their bodies (combs, wattles, and feet).
Here are a few other things to note about the front elevation of our coop:
- Again, entire area is covered in hardware cloth. I could have used chicken wire on the top (bottom needs hardware cloth to keep out critters), but I had enough hardware cloth and I thought it looked better for the entire area to be consistent.
- The height of the walls are 6.5’…which is plenty high (for me at least) to be able to walk through the door…and there is plenty of height inside, since there is no ceiling (just the rafters and tin roof above).
- 24″ doors were constructed out of pressure-treated wood and painted the same color as the doors of our home.
- To clean things up a bit and to cover up where the pieces of hardware cloth met, I added 1″ trim on the outside of each 2×4 and painted it and the siding of the rest of the coop the same color gray as our house.
- We used gate latches as handles. If you do as well, make sure you make it so that you won’t get locked in when the doors close. To do that, I simply drilled a hole just above the latch and attached a long, thin chain that I threaded through the hole…allowing me to open the latch from inside. Don’t use string or twine…I found that out the hard way. String will wear out and break – leaving you stranded inside. Fortunately when it happened to me, one of my girls was within shouting distance.
- We were running out of hardware cloth when we were finishing the gable, so we simply filled in the middle space with a board and painted it gray. To make sense of this oddly proportioned space and to bring a little bit of character to the coop, I hung a set of antlers from a Mule Deer I shot several years ago with my dad in Wyoming.
So there’s the front elevation. We are really pleased with it…it’s done what we set out to do – make a more than livable space for our chickens (and bunny), while still being attractive. Now we may be a bit too particular, but I really think having an attractive coop in a nice setting has made raising chickens not only sustainable, but more enjoyable. So sure, you could build a coop that is purely functional, but if it looks like a hunk of junk, is that really something you want to see every day…sometimes several times? We thought not.
Next week I’ll wrap things up on our chicken coop design…but until then, please let me know if you have any other questions about our coop or raising chickens. I could perhaps work my answers into the next post.
Take care,
PS: Here are the links to and of Our Chicken Coop Design…and the link to .
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Chicken Coop Free Plans in Cedar Rapids, Nebraska
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Cedar Rapids Nebraska" 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 Cedar Rapids Nebraska chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Cedar Rapids, Nebraska With the big rise in chicken maintaining there has been a just as big increase in the array of chicken stuff on sale. Fowl housing is a case in factor. It's additionally a timeless example of the great old bandwagon being got on as numerous would-be fowl housing specialists pitch a range of lodging asserting to be the ideal solution to your chicken housing needs. Typically the rate looks appealing, your diy-chicken-coop-planshome looks attractive, hell even the clean-cut family members standing there feeding the chickens look eye-catching. Undoubtedly they know a high quality chicken house when they see one? There are many low-cost and horrible coops swamping the marketplace. I recognize this as I've tested a variety of them in the area, as well as seen a ewe run straight via one when the feed container appeared. The outcome was nothing but a pricey heap of firewood as well as a little group of bemused as well as now homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Supplies in Cedar Rapids, Nebraska
Generally these mass produced designs are created of quick grown up wood - come the very first decline of rain they swell, leaving you either blockading a door that won't close, or ripping the doorway furniture off in a vain attempt to launch the squawking residents. The very first cozy day suggests the timber dries out and splits, the felt roof bubbles as well as boils, and also come nightfall the hens choose not to go in. This is not due to their dissatisfaction at the decline of their when desirable property but due to the fact that the hovel is currently a haven for, and possibly crawling with, the fowl keeper's bane, red mite. Add on that it said on the blurb that it would certainly fit four huge hens when that stocking thickness was based upon the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and also exactly what are you entrusted? A few joints as well as some kindling. A respectable coop for thee to four birds ought to cost you in the region of ₤ 300 though this can depend upon whether you elect for a complimentary standing house or one with a run connected. Presuming you are varying your birds in a large area and also the pop opening doorway is big sufficient for the breed you maintain, after that the major demands of real estate boil down to three points which will define the number of birds the house will certainly hold; perches, nest boxes as well as air flow. The majority of types of chicken will perch when they visit roost at night, this perch ought to preferably be 5-8cm vast with smoothed off edges so the foot sits conveniently on it. The perch should be more than the nest box access as chickens will likewise normally seek the acme to perch. A perch below that will certainly have the birds roosting in the nest box over night (which is by the way when they create the most poo) resulting in dirtied eggs the following 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 need concerning 20cm of perch each (in tiny breeds this is obviously less), plus if greater than one perch is set up in your home they should 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 home must have a the very least one nest box for every single 3 birds as well as these need to be off the ground as well as in the darkest area of the house. Your house should have sufficient air flow: without it after that condensation will build up every evening, also in the coldest of weather. Be aware, ventilation works with the principle of cozy air leaving via a high void attracting cooler air in from a reduced space - it's not a set of holes on other walls of your house as well as at the same degree, this is exactly what's referred to as a draught. If you have a house with a run attached after that the factors above are still real, yet you should likewise consider the run dimension. The EU maximum legal equipping thickness for a totally free range bird is (and let's encounter it, among the inspirations for maintaining some chickens in your home is potentially enhanced or much better well-being) 2,500 birds per hectare, that's optimal one bird per 4m made even. Take a close look at a few of the deal homes - it could well be your house has the ideal perches, proper ventilation and sufficient nest boxes for a practical variety of birds, however will each of the chickens have anything greater than an A4 sized piece of ground to spend the day on? And so as the stating goes, "you obtain just what you spend for". You might believe you've got hold of a bargain, however you and your group could possibly rue the day you did. Acquisition the appropriate house as well as it will last for a couple of years, if not longer given the appropriate treatment. In the long run your fowl and also your chicken maintaining experience will certainly be considerably the much better for it.chickens coop
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