Baby Chickens for Sale in Bellwood, Pennsylvania
Baby Chickens for Sale in Bellwood, Pennsylvania
Build Your Own Chicken Coop – A story of chickens
So WAY back in March…Josh and I had a talk with the boys and we decided as a family that we would get some chickens. We were all pretty excited about this new adventure and couldn’t wait to get started! At the beginning of April we headed over to to figure out what we would need and how many chickens we wanted. They had a very helpful employee who told us everything we would need to know about taking care of our chickens. Also, lucky for us we had Housewife Gena available to answer any questions we might have!
The boys were excited to help pick out the chickens and were even more excited when the IFA staff told us the chicks needed to be held lots and lots so they would be used to the kids. 🙂� After about an hour there we came home with…
Six adorable chicks! Because we are a family of five we decided to get two chickens that are said to lay daily and four chickens that lay 3-4 times a week. We figured that would be plenty of eggs for us!
A couple weeks later, IFA did an Easter Egg Hunt. Now being a farm supply store, they don’t give away just candy in their eggs, they also give away…you guessed it CHICKENS! (And bunnies and ducks and turkeys) Housewife Jenn’s kids ended up with four leghorn chicks! Another family in our ward decided they didn’t need any extra chickens and gave Jenn’s family another two chicks! Since we were already building a coop for our chicks, we offered to let Jenn’s family’s chicks live with ours.
So here are the little chicks! Happy under their heat lamp and eating away! 🙂�
While our chicks were perfectly happy in the garage, in their tote…it quickly got too small for 12 chicks. As soon as they were ready, we transferred them to the backyard to a makeshift coop. I did not take a picture of the makeshift coop because…well it was pretty sad. It served it’s purpose and the chickens loved it but it was not anything you’d want to show off! With that in mind, Josh began the process of building a coop for our chickens. We saw a coop at IFA that we thought looked great! However, it was $600.00. As much as we liked our chickens…we didn’t $600.00 like them!
So Josh took a few measurements and we sketched out what we wanted for our chickens, using the IFA coop as inspiration. We took a trip to Lowe’s to price out our materials. We were lucky enough that we had left over wood, Jenn’s family had left over wood and a family a few houses down from us reroofed their house and donated their left over roofing supplies to us! It was our goal to use as many materials as we already had and keep the cost as low as possible!
Let me say now…Josh and I have never “built” anything. Really. This was quite an adventure for us (mostly Josh since he did almost all of the work) and I’m so happy with how it all turned out!
He started with the base for the coop itself. We wanted to make sure that there was enough clearance for the chickens to use under the coop as part of the chicken run.
He used four 3″ screws in each post to make sure it was nice and sturdy.
Wall framing almost done!
Look what happens when you start building a coop…your chickens start laying eggs! 🙂� (So far Jenn’s chickens are the only ones laying. Lucky for us, our chickens are DUAL chickens so if they don’t get to laying…they going to get to frying!)
The framing completed from two angles.
Up go the walls!
Putting in the hinged door for collecting eggs.
Getting the eggs out will be a breeze! 🙂�
A few angles of the walls all up and the plywood for the roof up. As you can see, our coop has skylights…that’s how we roll.
First coat of paint and the tar paper on the roof. You may wonder why we chose this color for the coop. Well to be completely honest, we picked colors we wanted to paint our house and figured the coop would be the perfect guinea pig to see if we like the colors! 🙂� The coop is Valspar’s Royal Gray. (I know, it looks blue to me too!)
For the door we chose Valspar’s Kettle Black. It has blue undertones so it goes really well with the Royal Gray.
The roof complete with the windows in. I’ve seen lots of super cute coops with real glass windows. It was less expensive ($1.29 a pane) to just use plexiglass. And it worked perfectly!
The coop with the final coat of paint, windows/hardware on and trim put up.
The door on the coop. We chose to put a large door on the side to make it easier to clean out for us. And I have to say that it makes it look way cuter! 🙂�
The Roosting bar inside the coop.
Trim all painted and mesh put around the bottom of the coop.
The nesting boxes. The only thing I didn’t get a picture of was the peel and stick tiles that we put on the bottom of the coop. They were only $0.02 a tile! I think we ended up using about 14 tiles.
The finished product with the happy chickens inside!
Another angle. After the coop itself was completed. Josh used 2 x 2’s and 2 x 3’s to build the frame for the yard and another, outdoor roosting bar. We also added in the ramp for the chickens to get into the coop. I’m super proud of Josh for all of his hard work and I’m really excited for how amazing it turned out!! Our total cost for the entire coop…every last nail, hinge, can of paint, everything was about $290.00. And the best part is the chicken coop and run are significantly bigger than the one at IFA. 🙂� So HUGE round of applause for Josh and the coop!
UPDATE: Hello dear readers!!! This has been a long time coming, but this post is going to get a HUGE revamp! With having babies and life getting in the way, I’ve neglected this post and getting out the information that I should. I am going to be working on updating this post with as much information on the building and materials as I can. We didn’t keep super great track of all the materials we used, but I will do the best I can to give you as much info as possible! Thank you all again for loving this project!
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Baby Chickens How To Care For Them in Bellwood, Pennsylvania
We have many Rare Chicken Breeds for sale in Bellwood Pennsylvania, including Sussex Chickens, Welsummer Chickens, Turken Chickens and more. Be sure to check out the Bargain Specials, as you can combine different egg layers in smaller amounts and buy as an assortment. Bellwood Pennsylvania also has poultry equipment for sale, game chickens for sale in Bellwood Pennsylvania, bantams for sale, ducks for sale, geese for sale, turkeys for sale, guinea for sale, peafowl for sale, pheasant for sale, chukar partridge for sale, bobwhite for sale, many different breeds of baby chicks for sale in Bellwood PA.Baby Chickens In The Mail in Bellwood, Pennsylvania
Thumbing through a baby chickens for sale in Bellwood Pennsylvania catalog is a yearly traditions in many houses. My kids and I eagerly await the Murray McMurray Hatchery catalog. We love looking at all the cool and different chicken breeds available. Catalogs are free so head on over to their site and request one if you are interested.Typically hatcheries online offer both standard breeds
and bantams. Bantams are fun hardy little chickens, they lay tiny eggs
that kids especially love collecting. Bantams typically weigh less than 2
pounds when full grown. Just like ordering anything online there are pros
and cons to ordering baby chicks online. Pros of buying baby chicks in
Bellwood Pennsylvania * Big Selection - If you are wanting a large
variety of different chicken breeds and egg colors, you will find the best
selection at an online hatchery. * Both Bantams and full sized chickens
available * You get to choose what sex you want. If you want a mixture of
both male and female then choosing a "straight run" will save you money
and you will get a mixture of male and female chicks. You can also choose
all males or all females too. * Weekly specials. Hatcheries have sales on
chicks, you are likely to get a good deal if you are flexible with the
breeds you are wanting. Cons of buying baby chicks in Bellwood
Pennsylvania * Order early to get the best selection. Certain breeds sell
out fast, sometimes as early as 6 months in advance of shipping! If you
are wanting a certain breed it's best to order your chicks in the fall
before their orders sell out.
Baby Chicks As Pets in Bellwood, Pennsylvania
Quantity - you must order a certain number of chicks. Typically hatcheries will require you buy a minimum of 25 chicks at a time. The number is necessary for the chicks survival during shipping. All 25 chicks are put in one small box without heat. They are crowded in the box and produce enough body heat to arrive in good shape. * The wait - If you choose to buy chicks from a feed store you will have them the same day but if you choose to go with a hatchery you have to wait until they are ready to ship and then wait for the chicks to arrive. Ordering baby chicks online in Bellwood Pennsylvania is easy and has always been a very pleasant experience of me. It can be a little frustrating waiting for the chicks but it's so worth the wait. When the post office calls and you hear all those little "cheeps" or "chirps" in the background you'll know the wait was worth it! How to Care for your new baby chickens in Bellwood, Pennsylvania Baby chicks are quite cute as well as tough to stand up to, but it's ideal to plan for their arrival before you get them. Prepare initially by collecting not just the right products, yet also the appropriate expertise to look after them. Raising baby chicks is relatively simple, you merely need to provide them with the following: A clean and also cozy habitat Plenty of food as well as water Attention as well as love Environment Your environment can be a simple box, aquarium, feline carrier, or guinea pig cage. Line it with old towels and also coverings (without loose strings!) to start, as well as after a few weeks use straw over newspaper. Note: Avoid using just paper or various other sandal surface areas-- or your chicks legs could expand malformed. You also need something to dish out food and also water in, such as a chicken feeder and water meal from the feed shop, or a pickle container cover for food and a pet dog bird water dispenser from a pet dog shop. Also, as the chicks grow older you could present a perch into the environment to obtain them trained on perching. Warmth To keep your chicks heat you should provide them with a warmth source. This could be as straightforward as a 100 watt light bulb in a reflective clamp style lamp from an equipment store, or an infrared reptile warmth light bulb likewise function effectively (my referral). Chicks require this heat 24/7 until their downy fluff is replaced with plumes (which could use up to two months). The newly hatched require a temperature in between 90 and also 100 degrees, as well as every week this could be decreased by about 5 degrees or so. The heat resource need to be on merely one side of the cage to permit chicks a variety of temperature levels. The chicks are your ideal thermometer- if they are hiding in the contrary corner of your warmth lamp, you need to minimize the temperature level. If they are smothering each other under the warmth (not merely snuggling), you need to include some heat. Housekeeping Sanitation is crucial as well as it maintains your chicks healthy. Make sure to transform the bed linen typically and always provide tidy food as well as water Food as well as water. Chicks grow very quickly which needs a lot of tidy food and water. Provide sufficient whatsoever times as well as inspect commonly to prevent thirsty as well as starving chicks. Chick food is different compared to grown-up chicken food, as well as it comes in both medicated and non-medicated selections. Feed chick food for the first two months, then switch over to a raiser food (~ 17 % protein) for one more 2 months, and after that to a slightly reduced healthy protein feed or a level feed (if you have levels). Dirt Some chicks prefer to obtain a head start on taking filth baths, while others won't take up that activity till they are older. If you have the space in your chick enclosure, present a tray of sand or dirt for them to wash in. Interest and love There are a couple of advantages to spending quality time with your chicks. To start with, they will most likely bond with you as well as not run away as grownups. Second, if you examine your chicks daily and also view their behavior, you could capture illness or various other troubles previously. Keep an eye out for wheezing, limping, or various other undesirable indicators. Make certain to additionally take a look at their poop, as diarrhea can bring about matted feathers and obstructed cloaca. Lastly, it is very important to watch out for social concerns, such as the tiniest chick getting badgered. Vacant nest disorder So your chicks are now totally feathery and its time for them to leave the safety of your residence and also relocate outside into a cage. Check out our section on chicken cages for more information about cages as well as appropriate cage habitats.Baby Chickens Care Baby Chickens Coop
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