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Chicken Coops for Sale in Utica, New York

Chicken Coops for Sale in Utica, New York

Our Finished Chicken Coop

These past few days had us outside enjoying the beautiful weather. One of the jobs I crossed off the list was to clean out our new chicken coop.

Because of our over the past year or so, our family was going through several dozen eggs a week. (I can’t help it – I’m hooked on !)

So last summer we quit “planning” to get our own chickens, and actually did it. The whole family pitched in to build a little abode for our egg-laying beauties. And because we were first-time chicken owners and newbies in all chicken-related topics, we joined and gleaned months worth of ideas, do’s and don’ts, and building plans. (I can’t recommend this site highly enough! If you have the slightest inclination of doing chicken anything, go here and read to your heart’s content.)

It was so helpful to see photos and designs when we were in the planning stages, I thought I’d share pictures of our coop and the hows and whys of what we did.

The chicken coop

Instead of starting from scratch, we bought a small granary from my brother-in-law; about 9’x7′ inside measurements. This gave us about 3 sq. ft. per bird. The coop is nothing fancy really. It isn’t visible from the road and we don’t live in town with neighbors to care about the view from their back window, so we used as much scrap material as possible. Plus we didn’t think the chickens would mind.

So far they haven’t rebelled.

We re-tinned the roof (that’s my honey!) and I got to use the saw sawl to make holes for the windows and vents. You can call me Mrs. Handyman. . .

Inside the chicken coop

Framing the windows and vents was the most time consuming part since the building wasn’t square. We used insulation and vapor barrier for the walls for added moisture protection and warmth because the windchill can get -40 below or more in the winter.

We made the roosting boards parallel and the same height because apparently hens will act like old biddies and fight for the top most board. (Some people’s kids. . .)

We rounded the edges of the roosting boards so it’s easier on the hens’ feet. The boards can be removed for ease of cleaning the poop boards underneath.

Poop boards seemed quite popular among chicken peoples and we’ve quickly learned why. First, chickens poop more when roosting, so the roosting boards are placed above the poop board. This makes clean up as simple as buying a wide sheetrock mudding tool and scraping the droppings into a bucket each day. We then add the droppings to our compost pile.

We originally built a rollaway community nesting box directly underneath the poop board, but the chickens ended up laying eggs everywhere but there. Eventually we added a ‘normal’ set of 12″x12″x12″ nesting boxes and they’re happy campers again.

We decided to use the deep litter method. We spread a bag of wood chips on the floor and because the hens leave most of their droppings on the poop boards, there’s minimal waste on the floor. The chickens like to scratch and fluff the wood chips so it gets stirred up and aerated. This means the coop is less smelly, and there’s only a few minutes of daily cleaning of the boards. If needed, you can add more wood chips throughout the year.

We clean the coop out fully in the spring and fall. So far it’s worked wonderfully.

We nailed a board across the doorway to prevent the rising litter from falling out every time we opened the door.

The feeders are gravity fed. They’re made of PVC pipe with a 90 degree corner and a cap at the end. We like that we can leave for several days at a time and don’t have to worry about having someone come out to do chicken chores for us.

This water stand was Travis’s idea. The hens have a platform to stand on so no matter how high the litter gets, they can reach the water comfortably.

The chicken nipples underneath are another idea shared by BYC that I LOVE. The water doesn’t drip, there is no poop or mud to worry about, and our full grown hens figured it out within 24 hrs. The pails are covered with lids to prevent the water from getting dirty and it lasts for at least a week (we add apple cider vinegar).

When we’re home, we clean them out and give them fresh water every few days.

There’s electricity on the wall above the waterers with a timed light switch. We use bird bath heaters to keep the water from freezing during the winter. We had to add the slanted plywood because the hens were roosting on the pails. (I told you they fought for highest roosting privileges.)

The pop door is a simple design, and it works great. It slides up and down, held in by L shaped boards.

When in the closed position, the hook and eye on the right prevent racoons (or children!) from trying to lift the door from the outside.

We used 1/2″ x 1/2″ hardware cloth to cover the insides of the windows and vents. . .

. . .and plexiglass for the actual windows.

We made sure to have plenty of vents (thanks to sage advice from Pat’s Ventilation Page) and used eyes and rope to open and close them at different heights.

Finally, we added a small lean-to to the side so the hens could come out in the winter. This helps block snow drifts right in front of the pop door, and they can still come out for fresh air and sunshine when they get cabin fever.

It might not win a beauty contest – but there’s something to be said for function-ability  Hope this gave you some ideas!

What have you done to your chicken coop? We’d love to hear your ideas and suggestions!

 

 

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I’m Paula - like many of you I wear a lot of hats. Child of God, wife of 19 years, mother of 5 earthly children (and another on the way), reluctant cook, chocolate-snatcher, and health and fitness coach at . Various family health issues including Lyme disease and candida has turned me into a 'researcher' with a passion for understanding how our God-created bodies thrive or deteriorate based on what we put in it.

Latest posts by Paula ()

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Chicken coops for sale in Utica New York can be found in agricultural newspapers and community newspapers. The coops are designed for housing for chickens in a safe and secure environment. They generally consist of a small building or large box that is then sectioned off to smaller boxes where the chickens go to roost (or sleep). Chicken coops are a must for raising chickens. Utica New York chicken coops are commonly constructed from wood products. They are not very stable buildings and provide only minimal protection from the elements. Now chicken houses used for large production facilities are a entirely different structure, they are huge and can hold up to 10000 chickens. The coops are typically used for backyard operations, or small family farms. They vary in size depending on the number of residents they house. chicken-coops-in-Utica-NYFinding chicken coops for sale in Utica New York is probably not one of the easiest of items to find. There are manufacturers of chicken houses and coops that sell them out right and Utica New York farm supply stores that they can also be purchased through, but generally speaking it will take some effort to find a chicken coop for sale in Utica New York, especially if your location is not a typically rural location. In rural locations that are much more abundant and easily had. Chicken Coops for sale in Utica NY

Baby Chick Hatcheries in Utica, New York

A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Utica New York" 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 Utica New York chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Utica, New York With the massive increase in chicken keeping there has been a just as big increase in the array of chicken materiel on sale. Poultry real estate is a proceedings in point. It's also a traditional instance of the good old bandwagon being jumped on as numerous prospective fowl real estate specialists peddle a variety of cottage asserting to be the ideal solution to your chicken housing requirements. Often the price looks attractive, your house looks appealing, heck even the clean-cut family standing there feeding the chickens look appealing. Undoubtedly they know a high quality chicken house when they see one? There are many inexpensive as well as horrible coops swamping the market. I recognize this as I've examined a number of them in the field, and seen a ewe run straight via one when the feed bucket appeared. The outcome was only an expensive stack of fire wood as well as a little group of bemused and also currently homeless bantams. Chickens for sale in Utica NY

Chicken Coop Enclosures in Utica, New York

Usually these mass produced designs are built of fast grown hardwood - come the very first drop of rainfall they swell, leaving you either defending a doorway that won't close, or tearing the doorway furniture off in a vain effort to launch the squawking inhabitants. The first warm and comfortable day means the hardwood dries and also fractures, the really felt roofing bubbles as well as boils, and come nightfall the hens refuse to enter. This is not because of their frustration at the decline of their when eye-catching commercial property but because the hovel is now a haven for, and also probably abounding, the poultry caretaker's bane, red mite. Add the fact that it claimed on the blurb that it would certainly suit four huge chickens when that stocking thickness was based upon the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and also just what are you left with? A number of hinges and also 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 totally free standing house or one with a run connected. Assuming you are ranging your birds in a large space and also the pop hole doorway allows enough for the type you maintain, then the primary requirements of real estate come down to three points which will certainly specify the variety of birds the house will certainly hold; perches, nest boxes and air flow. A lot of breeds of chicken will certainly perch when they go to roost during the night, this perch ought to ideally be 5-8cm large with smoothed off sides so the foot rests comfortably on it. The perch needs to be higher than the nest box entry as chickens will likewise naturally search for the acme to perch. A perch less than that will certainly have the birds roosting in the nest box overnight (which is incidentally when they produce the most poo) leading to dirtied eggs the following day. They shouldn't however be so high off the floor of your house that leg injuries could happen when the bird comes down in the morning. Chickens need concerning 20cm of perch each (in small breeds this is certainly much less), plus if greater than one perch is set up in the house they ought to be greater than 30cm apart. They will hunker up with their next-door neighbors however are not that crazy about roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird in front. Preferably your house must have a the very least one nest box for every three birds as well as these must be off the ground and in the darkest location of your home. The house ought to have sufficient air flow: without it then condensation will certainly develop every evening, also in the chilliest of climate. Realize, air flow works on the concept of warm and comfortable air leaving via a high void attracting cooler air in from a reduced void - it's not a set of holes on opposite wall surfaces of your house and also at the exact same level, this is exactly what's referred to as a draught. If you have a house with a run affixed then the points above are still real, yet you ought to also consider the run size. The EU maximum lawful stocking density for a free array bird is (as well as allow's encounter it, among the motivations for maintaining some hens in your home is possibly boosted or far better well-being) 2,500 birds per hectare, that's optimal one bird each 4m settled. Take a close consider a few of the deal residences - it could well be your home has the best perches, right ventilation and also adequate nest boxes for an affordable number of birds, yet will each of the chickens have anything more than an A4 sized piece of ground to spend the day on? Therefore as the claiming goes, "you get exactly what you pay for". You could think you've got hold of a bargain, however you and also your group can rue the day you did. Acquisition the ideal house and it will certainly last for a couple of years, if not longer provided the proper treatment. In the long run your chicken as well as your chicken keeping encounter will be a lot the far better for it.
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