Chicken Coops for Sale in Valdese, North Carolina
Chicken Coops for Sale in Valdese, North Carolina
Chicken Coops — The Top 5 Requirements
Chicken Coops – What You Need
Happy, healthy chickens need proper housing, but knowing what you need may seem daunting. Don’t let choosing the house for your chickens intimidate you. Meeting the needs of your flock, whether building your own chicken castle or buying ready-made, is easy and should provide for four basic needs.
- Protection from the elements
- Protection from predators
- Place for laying eggs
- A roost at night
The Components of a Chicken Coop
As I wrote in my , chickens have an innate homing instinct, keeping your flock close to home. Our feathered kids are such home bodies that even free ranging, every night before sundown all our chickens are perched in the coop. I always recommend a protected place for your flock to come home and roost for the night, even when free ranging.
You don’t need a poultry castle for your chickens to come home to. come in many shapes, sizes, and designs, from fancy to plain. Believe it or not, your chickens won’t care what the coop looks like as long as it provides the above four basic needs.
With that said, before deciding what type of coop you are going to buy or build, you must determine what coop features are needed that most closely conform to a chicken’s natural behavior. Hopefully I can help you understand what you need in the design of your chicken coop.
The Basics
Let’s start with the basics. All chicken coops need 3 things; a roof, 4 walls, and a doorway for entering and leaving. The design and the materials used for the chicken coop is up to you. As long as it is mostly draft free (you still need healthy ventilation), your choices are endless.
Your coop space is based on the number of chickens you plan to house. A good rule of thumb is 4 square feet of floor space per large chicken and 3 square feet for the smaller bantam breeds. Also consider the ease of cleaning when choosing your coop design; you’ll be glad you did.
Security
Making a chicken coop predator free is the most important part of building a home for your flock. Your coop must be secure from the top, bottom, and all sides. When looking at any pre-made coop or chicken coop building plans, consider all angles for security. Not only should you consider the security of the coop itself, but the security of the yard and run as well.
When choosing the wire for your run and coop, we advise steering clear of standard chicken wire. While it works well for keeping your chickens contained it’s not entirely predator proof. Because the holes in standard chicken wire are large, coyotes, raccoons, and foxes can still reach through the mesh, causing harm to your chickens. Always use a small hole wire like hardware cloth with ½ inch openings.
Another consideration when building the chicken yard or run, is airborne predators like hawks. You must include covering the top of the run as well. Our chicken runs use the same size mesh fencing on the top as the sides.
Finally, there are predators from below, such as rats and mice. These critters are attracted to the feed and droppings and like to burrow under your coop. Protect your chickens by using a coop with a floor built into it or burying small mesh fencing below the coop and extending it about 12 inches out on all sides.
The Outside Run
All coops need a connecting chicken run or pen. Chickens need access to the outside to do all those “chicken things”, like dirt baths, catching bugs, scratching dirt, or just relaxing in the sunshine or shade.
Ideally, your chicken run should have 10 square feet of ground space per full size chicken. The smaller bantam breeds require less, about 7 square feet per chicken. If your chickens free range the majority of the day, you can get by with less space.
Laying Boxes
If you want eggs, you need laying boxes. These can be as fancy or as plain as you like, just as long as they are about 12” x 12” and raised off the ground a few inches. You need one box for every 4 laying hens. Boxes should comfortably fit the chicken and have low enough sides for the hens to step over. Be sure to keep your boxes lined with clean straw or other bedding.
Roosting Perches
All birds roost, including chickens. Your coop needs a roosting bar or something off the ground on which your chickens can perch. We strongly suggest having perches both inside the coop and outside in the run area.
When figuring roosting pole size, provide 5-10” of space per chicken and 10” of space between each pole if you are using more than one. Multiple poles also need grading like ladders so the farthest pole is several inches higher than the next.
There are many shapes, sizes, and styles of chicken coops to choose from. Making the right choice for your needs is important, and all coops need to contain all necessary elements.
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Chicken Coop And Run Plans in Valdese, North Carolina
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Valdese 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 Valdese North Carolina chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Valdese, North Carolina With the huge boost in poultry keeping there has been a just as big increase in the array of fowl paraphernalia on sale. Poultry housing is an instance in point. It's likewise a timeless instance of the excellent old bandwagon being got on as different would-be chicken housing professionals peddle a variety of lodging declaring to be the suitable option to your chicken real estate requirements. Frequently the rate looks appealing, the house looks appealing, heck even the clean-cut family members standing there feeding the chickens look desirable. Definitely they understand a top quality chicken house when they see one? There are many low-cost and also awful coops swamping the marketplace. I understand this as I've tested a variety of them in the area, and also seen a ewe run straight with one when the feed bucket showed up. The outcome was just an expensive heap of firewood and a tiny flock of bemused as well as currently homeless bantams.
Baby Chick For Sale in Valdese, North Carolina
Generally these standardized models are created of rapid grown timber - come the initial decrease 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 release the squawking occupants. The initial warm and comfortable day indicates the lumber dries as well as splits, the really felt roofing system bubbles as well as boils, as well as come nightfall the hens refuse to go in. This is not due to their disappointment at the decrease of their as soon as eye-catching apartment but due to the fact that the hovel is currently a haven for, as well as most likely abounding, the chicken keeper's nemesis, red mite. Add the fact that it said on the blurb that it would certainly match four large chickens when that stocking density was based upon the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and also just what are you left with? A number of hinges as well as some kindling. A good coop for thee to 4 birds should cost you in the region of ₤ 300 though this can depend upon whether you choose for a totally free standing house or one with a run attached. Assuming you are varying your birds in a big area and the pop hole doorway allows sufficient for the type you keep, then the primary needs of housing come down to 3 factors which will certainly specify the variety 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 edges so the foot sits conveniently on it. The perch needs to be higher than the nest box entrance as chickens will certainly likewise normally try to find the acme to perch. A perch lower than that will certainly have the birds roosting in the nest box over night (which is incidentally when they create one of the most poo) resulting in stained eggs the following day. They shouldn't nonetheless be so high off the floor of your house that leg injuries could possibly occur when the bird comes down in the morning. Chickens need regarding 20cm of perch each (in small breeds this is obviously much less), plus if greater than one perch is installed in your house they need to be more than 30cm apart. They will certainly hunker up with their neighbors however are not that crazy about roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird in front. Preferably the house should have a the very least one nest box for each 3 birds and these ought to be off the ground as well as in the darkest area of your home. Your house must have ample ventilation: without it then condensation will accumulate every night, even in the coldest of weather condition. Be aware, ventilation works with the principle of warm air leaving through a high gap attracting cooler air in from a reduced space - it's not a set of holes on contrary walls of the house and also at the very same level, this is exactly what's called a draft. If you have a house with a run connected after that the factors above are still true, however you must likewise consider the run size. The EU maximum legal stocking thickness for a totally free range bird is (and also allow's face it, among the inspirations for keeping some chickens in the house is perhaps improved or far better welfare) 2,500 birds each hectare, that's optimal one bird per 4m squared. Take a close take a look at some of the deal homes - it could well be the house has the best perches, right air flow as well as ample nest boxes for an affordable variety of birds, however will each of the chickens have anything greater than an A4 sized item of ground to invest the day on? And so as the claiming goes, "you get what you spend for". You may believe you've grabbed a deal, but you and also your group could possibly rue the day you did. Purchase the right house and also it will last for a couple of years, otherwise longer offered the proper treatment. Ultimately your chicken as well as your fowl keeping encounter will be considerably the far better for it.coop for sale
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