Chicken Coops for Sale in Belle Mead, New Jersey
Chicken Coops for Sale in Belle Mead, New Jersey
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™
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Chicken Coop Kits Ebay in Belle Mead, New Jersey
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Belle Mead New Jersey" 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 Belle Mead New Jersey chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Belle Mead, New Jersey With the big boost in chicken keeping there has been an equally big increase in the variety of chicken paraphernalia for sale. Poultry real estate is a case in point. It's also a timeless example of the great old bandwagon being jumped on as various prospective poultry real estate professionals pitch an array of accommodation claiming to be the perfect solution to your chicken real estate requirements. Typically the rate looks attractive, your diy-chicken-coop-planshome looks desirable, heck even the clean-cut family members standing there feeding the chickens look appealing. Certainly they understand a high quality chicken house when they see one? There are lots of low-cost and horrible cages flooding the market. I know this as I've tested a variety of them in the field, and also seen a ewe run straight through one when the feed bucket showed up. The result was nothing but a costly pile of firewood as well as a tiny flock of bemused and currently homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Amazon in Belle Mead, New Jersey
Usually these mass produced models are built of quick grown up timber - come the initial drop 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 occupants. The first warm and comfortable day means the lumber dries out and also splits, the really felt roofing bubbles and also boils, and also come nightfall the hens choose not to go in. This is not due to their dissatisfaction at the decline of their once eye-catching property however since the hovel is now a haven for, as well as possibly crawling with, the chicken caretaker's nemesis, red mite. Add the fact that it said on the blurb that it would suit 4 huge chickens when that stocking density was based upon the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, as well as what are you entrusted? A number of hinges as well as some kindling. A decent coop for thee to four birds should cost you in the region of ₤ 300 though this can rely on whether you choose for a free standing house or one with a run attached. Assuming you are varying your birds in a big area and also the pop hole doorway is big enough for the breed you maintain, then the major demands of housing come down to three points which will specify the number of birds your house will hold; perches, nest boxes and also ventilation. The majority of types of chicken will certainly perch when they visit roost at night, this perch ought to ideally be 5-8cm large with smoothed off sides so the foot sits conveniently on it. The perch must be more than the nest box entry as chickens will additionally naturally search for the highest point to perch. A perch less than that will certainly have the birds roosting in the nest box overnight (which is by the way when they generate one of the most poo) bring about stained eggs the following day. They shouldn't however be so high off the floor of your house that leg injuries could possibly happen when the bird comes down in the morning. Chickens require about 20cm of perch each (in tiny breeds this is clearly less), plus if more than one perch is installed in the house they need to be greater than 30cm apart. They will certainly hunker up with their next-door neighbors yet are not that keen on roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird ahead. Ideally the house needs to have a least one nest box for each 3 birds as well as these need to be off the ground and also in the darkest location of your home. The house should have adequate ventilation: without it after that condensation will build up every evening, also in the chilliest of weather condition. Realize, ventilation works with the concept of cozy air leaving with a high void attracting cooler air in from a lower void - it's not a set of openings on opposite wall surfaces of your home as well as at the exact same level, this is just what's known as a draft. If you have a house with a run attached then the factors above are still true, yet you ought to additionally think about the run dimension. The EU maximum lawful stocking thickness for a free variety bird is (as well as allow's encounter it, among the motivations for maintaining some chickens in the house is possibly improved or much better welfare) 2,500 birds each hectare, that's optimal one bird per 4m settled. Take a close look at some of the bargain homes - it could well be your home has the right perches, correct air flow and also adequate nest boxes for a reasonable variety of birds, but will each of the chickens have anything more than an A4 sized item of ground to invest the day on? Therefore as the saying goes, "you get just what you pay for". You might assume you've got a deal, but you as well as your flock can rue the day you did. Acquisition the best house and it will last for a couple of years, if not longer offered the correct therapy. Eventually your chicken as well as your poultry maintaining encounter will be considerably the much better for it.coop diy
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