Chicken Coops for Sale in Marathon, Ohio
Chicken Coops for Sale in Marathon, Ohio
Our Chicken Coop Design – Front Elevation (Part 2 of 3)
Okay, I lied. I had hoped to finish up writing on our chicken coop design with this post, but I ran out of time and markers…seriously – my gray marker ran out. So today I’m going to focus on the front elevation and next week I’ll wrap it up with the other 3 elevations.
Front Elevation of the Coop
When designing your coop you really need to think through ventilation for a number of reasons: respiratory health of the chickens; drying out the moisture and their manure keeps down the smells and the potential of the hens getting sick. I made ours super-ventilated by covering the entire front of our coop with hardware cloth. We may have gone overboard, but it’s better to err on the side of too much ventilation in a coop than too little…and because Atlanta has a fairly temperate climate, I think we’re good. That said, you do have to consider strong winds – particularly in the colder months. That’s why Britt and I crafted Roman shade-like curtains out of painter’s drop cloths for the front and the windows on the other 3 sides of the coop. It was quite inexpensive and fairly easy to do…particularly if you strategically use the hems already sewn in. These curtains will give our ladies a refuge from the cold winds – protecting the exposed areas of their bodies (combs, wattles, and feet).
Here are a few other things to note about the front elevation of our coop:
- Again, entire area is covered in hardware cloth. I could have used chicken wire on the top (bottom needs hardware cloth to keep out critters), but I had enough hardware cloth and I thought it looked better for the entire area to be consistent.
- The height of the walls are 6.5’…which is plenty high (for me at least) to be able to walk through the door…and there is plenty of height inside, since there is no ceiling (just the rafters and tin roof above).
- 24″ doors were constructed out of pressure-treated wood and painted the same color as the doors of our home.
- To clean things up a bit and to cover up where the pieces of hardware cloth met, I added 1″ trim on the outside of each 2×4 and painted it and the siding of the rest of the coop the same color gray as our house.
- We used gate latches as handles. If you do as well, make sure you make it so that you won’t get locked in when the doors close. To do that, I simply drilled a hole just above the latch and attached a long, thin chain that I threaded through the hole…allowing me to open the latch from inside. Don’t use string or twine…I found that out the hard way. String will wear out and break – leaving you stranded inside. Fortunately when it happened to me, one of my girls was within shouting distance.
- We were running out of hardware cloth when we were finishing the gable, so we simply filled in the middle space with a board and painted it gray. To make sense of this oddly proportioned space and to bring a little bit of character to the coop, I hung a set of antlers from a Mule Deer I shot several years ago with my dad in Wyoming.
So there’s the front elevation. We are really pleased with it…it’s done what we set out to do – make a more than livable space for our chickens (and bunny), while still being attractive. Now we may be a bit too particular, but I really think having an attractive coop in a nice setting has made raising chickens not only sustainable, but more enjoyable. So sure, you could build a coop that is purely functional, but if it looks like a hunk of junk, is that really something you want to see every day…sometimes several times? We thought not.
Next week I’ll wrap things up on our chicken coop design…but until then, please let me know if you have any other questions about our coop or raising chickens. I could perhaps work my answers into the next post.
Take care,
PS: Here are the links to and of Our Chicken Coop Design…and the link to .
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Chicken Coop Ebay in Marathon, Ohio
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Marathon 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 Marathon Ohio chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Marathon, Ohio With the significant rise in chicken keeping there has actually been a similarly large rise in the range of chicken paraphernalia on sale. Fowl housing is an instance in point. It's likewise a classic instance of the great old bandwagon being got on as different potential fowl housing specialists market a selection of cottage declaring to be the optimal remedy to your chicken real estate demands. Usually the cost looks attractive, the house looks attractive, hell also the clean-cut family standing there feeding the chickens look attractive. Definitely they recognize a quality chicken house when they see one? There are several economical and awful coops flooding the market. I recognize this as I've checked a number of them in the area, and also seen a ewe run straight with one when the feed bucket showed up. The result was just a costly pile of firewood as well as a little group of bemused and also currently homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Run Ideas in Marathon, Ohio
Generally these standardized versions are created of fast grown up lumber - come the very first drop of rain they swell, leaving you either fortifying a door that will not close, or ripping the door furnishings off in a vain effort to launch the squawking inhabitants. The initial warm and comfortable day suggests the hardwood dries and also cracks, the really felt roof bubbles and boils, and come nightfall the hens choose not to go in. This is not due to their disappointment at the decline of their once appealing home yet due to the fact that the hovel is currently a place for, as well as possibly abounding, the chicken caretaker's nemesis, red mite. Add on that it said on the blurb that it would suit four huge chickens when that equipping density was based upon the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and just what are you left with? A number of hinges as well as some kindling. A decent coop for thee to 4 birds must cost you in the region of ₤ 300 though this can depend 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 area and also the pop opening door is big enough for the type you maintain, then the main requirements of real estate come down to 3 factors which will define the variety of birds your home will hold; perches, nest boxes and air flow. The majority of types of chicken will perch when they visit roost in the evening, this perch must ideally be 5-8cm large with smoothed off edges so the foot sits pleasantly on it. The perch needs to be higher than the nest box entry as chickens will certainly also normally search for the acme to perch. A perch below that will have the birds roosting in the nest box over night (which is by the way when they produce one of the most poo) bring about dirtied eggs the list below day. They should not nevertheless be so high off the floor of your house that leg injuries could possibly occur when the bird gets down in the early morning. Chickens require about 20cm of perch each (in tiny types this is undoubtedly less), plus if more than one perch is set up in the house they should be greater than 30cm apart. They will hunker up with their 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 the very least one nest box for every 3 birds as well as these need to be off the ground and also in the darkest area of your home. Your home should have ample ventilation: without it then condensation will develop every evening, also in the coldest of weather condition. Be aware, air flow deals with the concept of cozy air leaving through a high gap attracting cooler air in from a reduced void - it's not a set of holes on contrary wall surfaces of your home and also at the very same degree, this is exactly what's referred to as a draught. If you have a house with a run affixed then the factors above are still true, however you ought to also consider the run dimension. The EU optimum legal equipping density for a cost-free range bird is (as well as let's face it, one of the inspirations for maintaining some hens at home is perhaps improved or far better welfare) 2,500 birds per hectare, that's maximum one bird each 4m settled. Take a close look at some of the deal residences - it could well be your home has the ideal perches, proper ventilation as well as ample nest boxes for a practical number of birds, but will each of the chickens have anything greater than an A4 sized item of ground to invest the day on? And so as the stating goes, "you get what you pay for". You might think you've got a deal, however you and also your group could rue the day you did. Purchase the best house as well as it will last for a few decades, otherwise longer provided the appropriate therapy. In the end your chicken and your poultry keeping experience will be a lot the much better for it.chicken build
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