Chicken Coops for Sale in Edmond, Oklahoma
Chicken Coops for Sale in Edmond, Oklahoma
My DIY Chicken Coop and Run
One of the things I’ve missed since moving north from our country home in Texas 13 years ago has been having chickens, and our own fresh eggs. Having a new grandbaby made my chicken longing all the more compelling–I might be able to accept eating store-bought eggs for myself, but my granddaughter must have only the best and most nutritious!
Being a busy grad student and nurse meant I thought I didn’t have time for DIY projects, so my original intent was to purchase a pre-made coop and chicken run. To my amazement, I found a chicken tractor on Amazon.com–with FREE super saver shipping! I happily placed my order.
A week later, Amazon informed me my order had been canceled due to unavailability. Frustration set in. I searched in vain for another source, but couldn’t find anything I liked as much that was within my price range. It seemed that building my own was my only option, but I didn’t see how I possibly could. For one thing, we don’t have much in the way of woodworking tools. Also, finals week was fast approaching, and “spare” time was at a premium. I needed to come up with something I could do quickly and easily, without too many fancy tools. Here’s what I came up with:
I bought a Rubbermaid storage shed at Home Depot.
Inside, I added a roost and a rack to hold the “nestbuckets” made from Home Depot buckets. I also made a screened wall on one side, so that one door can be left open for ventilation during nice weather.
To secure the wooden fixtures, I drilled holes through the walls of the coop and screwed wood screws through from the outside into the wood pieces. Where possible, I took advantage of the shapes and depressions of the plastic to add additional support. The screen wall is fastened to the wall of the coop and also to the roosts. The nestbuckets are not permanently fastened to the rack they sit on — I use a bungee cord to hold them securely in place.
In the back of the coop, beneath the nestbuckets, I cut an opening for the chickens to use for going in and out. I made a mistake and made it flush with the floor, before realizing that there should be a “lip” to hold the bedding in, so I added a scrap piece of lumber across the bottom for that purpose. I used strips of trim to “frame” the opening and hide the hollow walls of the Rubbermaid container.
Since there’s no way to keep the right-hand door closed when the left-hand one is open, I added gate latches on the inside to fasten it to the screen door. I can easily reach the lower one by reaching down through the top of the coop, but for people whose arms aren’t as long as mine, a pull string could be rigged for that purpose.
The last step was to add four eye bolts to the outside of the coop, to secure it to the run (I’m using bungee cords for this purpose), and to add strips of 2×2″ lumber to use as handles, since the smooth plastic makes it hard to get a grip on it for transporting the coop.
The run is made from two cattle panels with 2×4″ openings, using pig rings to secure the pieces together. The sides and top are each a half panel. The remaining piece was cut into 3 parts. Two of them form the end of the run farthest from the coop. The bottom half is fastened permanently in place, and the top half is fastened only at the top, forming a hinge that allows it to be swung up onto the top of the run for access to the inside. Again, I used a bungee cord to fasten the access panel in place when it is closed. I’m tall enough to easily step over the lower piece, but someone without my height advantage might need to modify the design to work for them. The remaining thin piece of cattle panel was fastened vertically to one side of the end of the run next to the coop. It adds some structural stability as well as allowing for the fact that the coop is not quite as wide as the run. A 2-foot wide strip of hardware cloth with 1/2″ openings was fastened all the way around the lower portion of the run, to keep raccoons from reaching through to grab the chickens.
Finally, I fastened a tarp over the run at one end to protect the feed from rain. Here’s the finished product, complete with chickens:
Chicken Coop Plans Free in Edmond, Oklahoma
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Edmond Oklahoma" 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 Edmond Oklahoma chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Edmond, Oklahoma With the huge boost in poultry keeping there has been a just as huge surge in the variety of chicken stuff for sale. Chicken housing is a proceedings in point. It's also a classic example of the good old bandwagon being jumped on as various would-be fowl housing professionals peddle a variety of accommodation claiming to be the ideal option to your chicken real estate needs. Often the price looks desirable, your diy-chicken-coop-planshome looks desirable, hell also the clean-cut family members standing there feeding the chickens look attractive. Definitely they understand a top quality chicken house when they see one? There are several affordable as well as horrible coops flooding the marketplace. I understand this as I've tested a number of them in the area, as well as seen a ewe run straight via one when the feed bucket appeared. The result was only a costly stack of fire wood as well as a small flock of bemused and also now homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Necessities in Edmond, Oklahoma
Most of the time these standardized versions are built of rapid grown lumber - come the first decline of rainfall they swell, leaving you either fortifying a doorway that will not close, or tearing the doorway furnishings off in a vain attempt to launch the squawking inhabitants. The first cozy day indicates the timber dries and also splits, the really felt roofing bubbles and boils, and come nightfall the hens choose not to go in. This is not because of their frustration at the decrease of their once appealing residential property yet since the hovel is now a place for, and possibly crawling with, the chicken keeper's bane, red mite. Add on the fact that it claimed on the blurb that it would certainly suit four large chickens when that equipping density was based upon the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, as well as just what are you left with? A couple of joints as well as some kindling. A good coop for thee to 4 birds ought to cost you in the region of ₤ 300 though this could rely on whether you choose for a totally free standing house or one with a run attached. Assuming you are ranging your birds in a large space as well as the pop hole door allows sufficient for the type you keep, after that the main demands of housing come down to three factors which will certainly specify the variety of birds your house will certainly hold; perches, nest boxes as well as ventilation. Many types of chicken will perch when they go to roost during the night, this perch must ideally be 5-8cm wide with smoothed off sides so the foot rests comfortably on it. The perch ought to be more than the nest box entry as chickens will also naturally seek the highest point to perch. A perch less than that will have the birds roosting in the nest box overnight (which is incidentally when they produce the most poo) resulting in dirtied eggs the following day. They should not however be so high off the flooring of your house that leg injuries can take place when the bird gets down in the morning. Chickens require about 20cm of perch each (in little breeds this is clearly less), plus if greater than one perch is set up in your home they should be greater than 30cm apart. They will certainly hunker up with their next-door neighbors but are not that crazy about roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird in front. Preferably your home must have a least one nest box for every 3 birds and also these ought to be off the ground and in the darkest location of the house. Your home should have ample ventilation: without it then condensation will certainly accumulate every night, also in the chilliest of weather. Be aware, air flow works on the principle of warm and comfortable air leaving via a high gap drawing cooler air in from a lower void - it's not a set of holes on contrary walls of your home and also at the very same degree, this is exactly what's referred to as a draft. If you have a house with a run attached then the points above are still true, yet you need to likewise take into consideration the run size. The EU optimum legal equipping thickness for a free variety bird is (as well as let's encounter it, one of the motivations for maintaining some hens in the house is perhaps boosted or much better welfare) 2,500 birds per hectare, that's maximum one bird each 4m settled. Take a close look at a few of the bargain residences - it could well be your home has the best perches, correct air flow as well as enough nest boxes for a sensible number of birds, but will each of the chickens have anything more than an A4 sized piece of ground to spend the day on? And so as the stating goes, "you get what you spend for". You may assume you've got hold of a bargain, yet you as well as your group could possibly rue the day you did. Purchase the right house and it will certainly last for a few years, otherwise longer given the right therapy. Eventually your poultry as well as your fowl maintaining experience will be considerably the much better for it.diy build
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