Chicken Coops for Sale in Alexandria, Ohio
Chicken Coops for Sale in Alexandria, Ohio
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 For 6 Chickens in Alexandria, Ohio
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Alexandria Ohio" 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 Alexandria Ohio chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Alexandria, Ohio With the massive increase in chicken maintaining there has actually been a similarly large rise in the variety of fowl stuff on sale. Chicken real estate is an instance in point. It's additionally a timeless example of the excellent old bandwagon being jumped on as different would-be poultry housing experts market an array of holiday accommodation declaring to be the perfect solution to your chicken housing requirements. Often the rate looks appealing, the house looks attractive, heck also the clean-cut household standing there feeding the chickens look desirable. Surely they know a quality chicken house when they see one? There are several inexpensive and also awful cages swamping the marketplace. I understand this as I've tested a number of them in the area, and also seen a ewe run straight via one when the feed bucket appeared. The result was just a costly stack of firewood and also a tiny flock of bemused as well as currently homeless bantams.
Baby Chick Feeder in Alexandria, Ohio
Generally these standardized versions are created of quick grown up wood - come the first drop of rainfall they swell, leaving you either defending a door that won't shut, or tearing the door furniture off in a vain attempt to launch the squawking citizens. The very first warm and comfortable day indicates the timber dries as well as cracks, the really felt roof covering bubbles and boils, as well as come nightfall the chickens choose not to go in. This is not because of their disappointment at the decline of their when eye-catching building yet considering that the hovel is currently a haven for, and probably abounding, the chicken keeper's bane, red mite. Add on the fact that it stated on the blurb that it would suit four large chickens when that equipping density was based upon the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and also what are you left with? A couple of hinges and some kindling. A respectable coop for thee to 4 birds should cost you approximately ₤ 300 though this can depend on whether you elect for a free standing house or one with a run connected. Thinking you are ranging your birds in a big room as well as the pop opening doorway allows enough for the type you keep, after that the primary requirements of real estate boil down to three points which will certainly define the number of birds your house will hold; perches, nest boxes and ventilation. A lot of breeds of chicken will perch when they visit roost at night, this perch ought to ideally be 5-8cm broad with smoothed off edges so the foot rests pleasantly on it. The perch needs to be more than the nest box entry as chickens will additionally naturally try to find the acme to perch. A perch below that will certainly have the birds roosting in the nest box overnight (which is by the way when they create the most poo) bring about stained eggs the list below day. They shouldn't however be so high off the flooring of your house that leg injuries could occur when the bird comes down in the morning. Chickens need concerning 20cm of perch each (in tiny breeds this is certainly much less), plus if more than one perch is mounted in your house they ought to be greater than 30cm apart. They will certainly hunker up with their next-door neighbors however are not that keen on roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird in front. Ideally your house should have a least one nest box for every single 3 birds as well as these need to be off the ground and in the darkest location of your home. Your house ought to have adequate ventilation: without it after that condensation will certainly accumulate every night, even in the chilliest of climate. Understand, ventilation works with the concept of warm and comfortable air leaving via a high space attracting cooler air in from a reduced gap - it's not a collection of holes on contrary wall surfaces of your house and at the exact same level, this is exactly what's referred to as a draught. If you have a house with a run connected then the factors above are still true, however you need to also take into consideration the run size. The EU maximum legal stocking thickness for a complimentary range bird is (and also let's encounter it, among the inspirations for maintaining some hens in the house is potentially boosted or much better welfare) 2,500 birds each hectare, that's optimal one bird per 4m squared. Take a close consider a few of the deal houses - it could well be the house has the ideal perches, appropriate air flow and sufficient nest boxes for a reasonable variety of birds, yet 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 obtain just what you pay for". You might believe you've grabbed a bargain, however you and your group could possibly rue the day you did. Acquisition the best house and it will last for a couple of years, if not longer provided the correct therapy. Ultimately your chicken and your poultry maintaining experience will be a lot the much better for it.plans plans
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