Chicken Coops for Sale in East Spencer, North Carolina
Chicken Coops for Sale in East Spencer, North Carolina
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 Plans For 20 Chickens in East Spencer, North Carolina
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in East Spencer North Carolina" 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 East Spencer North Carolina chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in East Spencer, North Carolina With the big rise in chicken maintaining there has actually been a similarly big increase in the array of poultry materiel on sale. Chicken real estate is a proceedings in factor. It's also a traditional instance of the good old bandwagon being jumped on as different would-be chicken real estate professionals peddle an array of accommodation declaring to be the perfect solution to your chicken housing demands. Often the rate looks attractive, your diy-chicken-coop-planshome looks appealing, hell even the clean-cut family members standing there feeding the chickens look eye-catching. Definitely they recognize a high quality chicken house when they see one? There are numerous affordable and unpleasant coops flooding the market. I know this as I've examined a variety of them in the area, and also seen a ewe run straight through one when the feed container showed up. The result was nothing but a costly heap of firewood and a small group of bemused as well as now homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Run Plans in East Spencer, North Carolina
Generally these standardized models are created of quick grown hardwood - come the first decrease of rain they swell, leaving you either barricading a doorway that won't shut, or tearing the door furniture off in a vain attempt to release the squawking inhabitants. The initial warm day indicates the hardwood dries out and also cracks, the really felt roofing system bubbles as well as boils, as well as come nightfall the hens refuse to enter. This is not due to their frustration at the decrease of their once appealing property but since the hovel is now a sanctuary for, and also probably abounding, the chicken caretaker's nemesis, red mite. Add that it said on the blurb that it would certainly match 4 large hens when that equipping thickness was based on the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and exactly what are you left with? A couple of joints and also some kindling. A good coop for thee to 4 birds must cost you around ₤ 300 though this can rely on whether you choose for a cost-free standing house or one with a run affixed. Thinking you are ranging your birds in a large space and the pop opening door is big sufficient for the breed you maintain, after that the primary requirements of housing boil down to three factors which will certainly define the variety of birds your house will certainly hold; perches, nest boxes as well as ventilation. The majority of types of chicken will certainly perch when they go to roost at night, this perch ought to preferably be 5-8cm vast with smoothed off edges so the foot sits comfortably on it. The perch must be higher than the nest box entry as chickens will additionally normally search for the acme to perch. A perch lower than that will have the birds roosting in the nest box overnight (which is incidentally when they create one of the most poo) resulting in dirtied eggs the list below day. They shouldn't nevertheless 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 types this is undoubtedly less), plus if greater than one perch is set up in your house they should be more than 30cm apart. They will hunker up with their next-door neighbors yet are not that keen on roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird in front. Ideally your home should have a the very least one nest box for every single three birds and these should be off the ground and in the darkest location of the house. Your home ought to have ample ventilation: without it then condensation will build up every night, even in the chilliest of climate. Know, air flow works on the principle of warm air leaving with a high gap drawing cooler air in from a lower void - it's not a set of openings on contrary wall surfaces of your home as well as at the very same level, this is just what's referred to as a draught. If you have a house with a run connected then the points above are still real, but you should also consider the run dimension. The EU optimum legal equipping thickness for a complimentary range bird is (and allow's encounter it, one of the inspirations for maintaining some chickens in your home is perhaps boosted or better welfare) 2,500 birds per hectare, that's optimal one bird each 4m squared. Take a close consider a few of the deal houses - it could well be the house has the right perches, appropriate air flow 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 invest the day on? Therefore as the claiming goes, "you obtain just what you pay for". You might believe you've grabbed a bargain, but you and also your group could possibly rue the day you did. Purchase the ideal house and it will last for a few decades, otherwise longer given the correct treatment. Ultimately your fowl and your chicken keeping encounter will certainly be a lot the far better for it.diy coops
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