Chicken Coops for Sale in Coleridge, Nebraska
Chicken Coops for Sale in Coleridge, Nebraska
Preparing Your Coop/Flock For Winter – Part 1: Roof Structure
Last week I posted a list of items that you may want to consider doing to make sure you and your flock are ready for the colder winter months. I’m going to try address one or two of these topics every Wednesday so that if you are going to work on them over the weekend you have time to plan.
Again I know it’s hard to even think of winter when the temperatures are in the 90’s in many parts of the country, but the cold weather will be on us before you know. Its much easier to take the time now to button up any issues, then trying to do it in the dead of winter. Many of you will not deal with snow and ice (lucky you!) but many of these topics effect all of us backyard chicken keepers and have a detrimental effect on the overall health of your coop…As I always say if what I post pertains to you and helps, great, if not just forget about it and move on…
Coop Roof Structure:
The roof of your coop is the first line of defense against the elements. A sound roof will not only prevent water penetration but will help in keeping your coop warm during the winter. As we all know heat rises (check our second floor of the house out in the summer!) and a solid roof can help trap some of this heat keeping the inside of the coop warmer. The important thing to remember is that you do not want to trap all of the heat by cutting off ventilation. Heat develops moisture and condensation so it’s important to have a balance. Ventilation is an important aspect of the coop, without it moisture builds, ammonia fumes become overpowering and your birds health will suffer. There is a huge difference between ventilation and a draft, we will be discussing “drafts” in a later post.
Having controllable ventilation at the peak of the roof structure will help to maintain a healthy coop. This can easily be accomplished with some screen covered holes on the side walls of the peak and using a piece of plywood to control how much of an opening you want. There are some much more elaborate systems out there but they all accomplish the same thing, controllable ventilation. If you don’t have ventilation at the peak you may want to consider it. There is a reason why so many homes have ventilation at the eves and peaks, it helps to control moisture in the home during the winter as well keeping the home cooler in the summer months.
Ensuring that your roof is leak free is also very important. That little leak you have been dealing with all summer may become a big issue during the winter when you get the “freeze/thaw effects”. During the day as snow and ice melt, water can leak into the the roof structure. At night this water freezes and expands resulting in a larger and larger leak as the days go by. There are many products out there that can help seal up these leaks but be careful some have toxic fumes that could be harmful to your flock. Sometimes just using a new shingle on asphalt roofs does the trick. Metal roofs typically leak at the seams or nail heads, a good quality sealer should handle these areas. Just remember most of the time the leak you see dripping on the underside of the roof came from a hole or crack above where you see the dripping. When water leaks in, gravity causes the water to run to the lowest point. It may take some investigation to find where the leak is actually coming from but a good starting point is to start above the spot you see the leak dripping.
If the wood on your coop roof is rotted it should be replaced. Rotted wood normally contains a large amount of moisture. The moisture in this wood adds moisture to the coop (remember, it’s a bad thing). “Freeze/Thaw” effects can take place on this rotted wood causing it to deteriorate even quicker. Snow loads can add significant weight to the top of the coop and a unstable structure runs the risk of collapse. I can only imagine how difficult it would be dealing with a roof collapse in the dead of winter! If the snow and ice get to heavy for the roof on your coop, you should remove it. When removing it be careful not to damage the roof shingles or other covering! Stand on a steady surface with both feet firmly planted on the ground or step when attempting to remove snow and ice.
A roof leak also adds unwanted moisture to you coop by letting water in and keeping the litter wet. The interior of a coop has enough moisture from bird droppings and the moisture a chicken itself gives off by breathing, you don’t need or want the added moisture from a leak. If the litter in the coop becomes wet from any source during the winter you should remove it and replace it with fresh as quickly as possible. Placing a bucket under the leak to catch the drip is not a good fix. When water drips into the bucket it can splash a fine mist a considerable distance. This mist keeps the litter wet and the air inside the coop too moist.
A well ventilated, leak free, structurally sound roof on your coop is a extremely important part in maintaining the overall health of your coop. This is not an area that you want to just “make do” and cut corners. There are many materials that you can use for a roof. Some, like scrap metal roofing or end cut pieces of tar paper and shingles can be found at a local building site (ask first, you don’t want the end up in jail!) or a recycling center. I would avoid using a tarp, although these are good in an emergency should you find a leak. And never use pressure treated wood which can give off toxic fumes in a enclosed area like a coop. If your roof membrane is water tight there is no need for pressure treated plywood or lumber as a deck surface.
By addressing the coops roof now you can prevent dealing with the effects of a wet environment in the dead cold of the winter months…Hope this helps….
FrankThe Chicken Fountain™
Share this:
Like this:
Chicken Coop Blueprints in Coleridge, Nebraska
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Coleridge 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 Coleridge Nebraska chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Coleridge, Nebraska With the substantial boost in poultry maintaining there has actually been a similarly huge rise in the array of poultry materiel on sale. Poultry real estate is a case in factor. It's also a timeless instance of the good old bandwagon being got on as numerous prospective chicken housing experts market a range of lodging asserting to be the excellent solution to your chicken housing demands. Often the rate looks appealing, your diy-chicken-coop-planshome looks appealing, hell also the clean-cut family standing there feeding the chickens look attractive. Certainly they understand a high quality chicken house when they see one? There are lots of affordable and horrible cages swamping the marketplace. I know this as I've tested a variety of them in the field, and also seen a ewe run directly with one when the feed bucket showed up. The result was only a pricey pile of firewood and also a small flock of bemused as well as now homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Easy in Coleridge, Nebraska
Most of the time these standardized designs are built of quick grown lumber - come the initial drop of rain they swell, leaving you either barricading a door that won't shut, or ripping the doorway furnishings off in a vain effort to release the squawking occupants. The very first warm day suggests the lumber dries out and splits, the felt roofing bubbles and also boils, as well as come nightfall the hens choose not to enter. This is not because of their frustration at the decline of their once appealing home however considering that the hovel is currently a place for, and also possibly crawling with, the fowl caretaker's nemesis, red mite. Add the fact that it claimed on the blurb that it would fit 4 large hens when that equipping thickness was based upon the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and exactly what are you left with? A number of joints and also some kindling. A decent coop for thee to 4 birds ought to cost you around ₤ 300 though this can rely on whether you choose for a totally free standing house or one with a run affixed. Assuming you are ranging your birds in a large area and the pop opening door is big enough for the type you keep, after that the primary requirements of housing come down to three points which will certainly specify the number of birds your house will hold; perches, nest boxes and also ventilation. A lot of types of chicken will perch when they visit roost at night, this perch should preferably be 5-8cm large with smoothed off sides so the foot rests pleasantly on it. The perch must be more than the nest box access as chickens will additionally normally look for the highest point to perch. A perch lower than that will certainly have the birds roosting in the nest box over night (which is incidentally when they generate the most poo) bring about stained eggs the list below day. They shouldn't nonetheless be so high off the floor of the 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 clearly much less), plus if more than one perch is set up in the house they need to be more than 30cm apart. They will certainly hunker up with their neighbors yet are not that keen on roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird ahead. Preferably your home must have a the very least one nest box for every single three birds and these must be off the ground and also in the darkest location of your house. Your house ought to have adequate air flow: without it then condensation will certainly develop every evening, even in the chilliest of weather. Know, ventilation works with the principle of warm air leaving through a high void attracting cooler air in from a reduced space - it's not a set of openings on other walls of the house and at the very same level, this is what's called a draft. If you have a house with a run affixed after that the points above are still true, yet you must also think about the run dimension. The EU maximum legal stocking thickness for a free array bird is (and let's face it, one of the motivations for maintaining some hens at home is possibly improved or better well-being) 2,500 birds per hectare, that's maximum one bird each 4m squared. Take a close check out some of the deal homes - it could well be the house has the best perches, right air flow and ample 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? Therefore as the claiming goes, "you obtain what you spend for". You may believe you've got hold of a deal, however you and also your flock could rue the day you did. Acquisition the appropriate house and also it will last for a couple of decades, otherwise longer given the proper treatment. Ultimately your chicken and your chicken keeping experience will be a lot the far better for it.coop for sale
More Posts
Chicken Coops for Sale in Cairo, Nebraska
Chicken Coops for Sale in Bennet, Nebraska
Chicken Coops for Sale in Arnold, Nebraska
Chicken Coops for Sale in Bloomington, Nebraska
Chicken Coops for Sale in Arapahoe, Nebraska