Chicken Coops for Sale in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania
Chicken Coops for Sale in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania
Cleaning the Chicken Coop; Fall Chores
Pallets leaned against Coop act as a wind break in Winter.
One of the chores I like to save for beautiful Fall weather is cleaning out the coop. I know that before I got chickens, I really wanted to see other people’s coops and how exactly they did things. So here is a look at my coop and the regular maintenance I have to do to keep my girls happy.
My coop is basically a chicken tractor made permanent. See how I built my chicken coop . It is only good to protect my egg laying divas during the night. I have to get up in the morning to let them out. Trust me they let me know if I am late. Late is after 8 am, so it is not like they start wailing at 5 o’clock in the morning or anything. They have a kind of wail that they only make when they want out. It is the strangest sound, kind of like a long drawn out moooooom , where are youuuuuuu? You have to hear it to understand.
Shoveling out the “raised bed” that my coop rests on.
To clean out my coop I have get someone to help me lift the coop off of the raised bed it is resting on. I have handles on either end, but it is too heavy for me to lift by myself. Thankfully my strong boys help me. Shoveling out all the old bedding and putting in new wood shavings is not too hard of a task, considering you only have to do it about 3 times per year. I empty out the nest boxes and add new hay to freshen things up. I heard for the first time the other day that it is a good idea to add crushed dried herbs to the nest boxes to make them more appealing to your hens. I tried crushed basil this time. Yes, hens are a constant source of amusement. They always want to lay eggs where everyone else is laying. I just have 2 nest boxes for my 10 hens. I call them nest boxes but they are a little unconventional. One is an old basket, the other is an old drawer. This time of year as we transition into winter the light wanes as the days grow shorter. You will notice your egg production reducing quite a bit. This is why commercial growers put a light on their chickens 24 hours a day; to keep their egg production up. Here at the homestead we try to work with nature instead of against it. That means more kale, less eggs. This is also the time that the rabbits really start producing well. While one thing lessens another takes it’s place. This probably wouldn’t work up north but I lean pallets against the coop to provide a wind break. A lot of people ask me if I need to provide a heat source for my girls when temps fall below freezing. The answer is no. It is important to make sure their water is unfrozen. Other than that chickens really do better in the Winter here than the heat of the Summer.
My hens checking out the new fresh nest box.
After the coop is all cleaned out it is time to add new wood chips. I get what is called a “Country Boy” which is farmer speak for a big packed bag of wood shavings. I get mine from my local feed store in Garland. When I first started chickens I used Fall leaves gathered from the curb. I like the shavings better because the compost turns out better, but oak leaves work out well as chicken bedding too. It is hard to see in the picture but the bottom of the coop against the ground is wire screen(yard cloth) to keep digging critters out.
My hens get very curious about all the changes taking place and come to check it all out. I put the old bedding into a bin and drag it to my compost. Thankfully I don’t have to go too far. I keep my compost in my chicken yard so that my hens can stir my compost and so that they can get the minerals they need to keep their egg shells hard. I put the cracked egg shells in the compost where my hens can gobble them up therefore getting the calcium they need to keep their egg shells firm. I also put other left over kitchen scraps in the compost for them to enjoy. Speaking of compost, a lot of people ask me about mine. Let me just say that trying to heat up a compost pile without manure of some sort is NOT easy. To heat up a compost pile without manure add fresh grass clippings. However right about the time fall leaves are readily abundant, grass clippings are NOT readily available. If you have read my posts at all you are probably sensing a theme; get an animal or a source of manure for your garden. Chickens or rabbits, even worms; your garden will thank you with beautiful veggies.
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Chicken Coop Pallets in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Blue Bell Pennsylvania" 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 Blue Bell Pennsylvania chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania With the huge increase in chicken maintaining there has been a similarly large rise in the array of fowl paraphernalia on sale. Poultry real estate is a case in point. It's also a timeless instance of the excellent old bandwagon being got on as numerous would-be poultry real estate experts pitch a range of holiday accommodation asserting to be the perfect option to your chicken real estate needs. Commonly the price looks desirable, your house looks appealing, hell even the clean-cut household standing there feeding the chickens look appealing. Undoubtedly they understand a quality chicken house when they see one? There are many cheap as well as nasty cages flooding the marketplace. I know this as I've examined a number of them in the field, as well as seen a ewe run directly through one when the feed container showed up. The result was just a costly stack of fire wood as well as a small flock of bemused and currently homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop And Run For Sale in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania
Usually these standardized versions are built of quick grown up hardwood - come the initial decline of rain they swell, leaving you either fortifying a door that will not close, or ripping the door furniture off in a vain attempt to launch the squawking citizens. The initial warm and comfortable day suggests the hardwood dries out and fractures, the really felt roofing bubbles and boils, and also come nightfall the chickens choose not to enter. This is not because of their frustration at the decrease of their when appealing home but due to the fact that the hovel is now a sanctuary for, as well as most likely crawling with, the poultry keeper's bane, red mite. Add on that it stated on the blurb that it would certainly fit 4 huge chickens when that stocking density was based upon the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, as well as what are you entrusted? A few joints as well as some kindling. A decent coop for thee to 4 birds must cost you in the region of ₤ 300 though this could depend on whether you choose for a free standing house or one with a run attached. Assuming you are varying your birds in a large room and the pop hole door allows enough for the type you keep, then the major requirements of housing come down to 3 factors which will define the variety of birds the house will hold; perches, nest boxes and ventilation. The majority of breeds of chicken will perch when they go to roost in the evening, this perch needs to preferably be 5-8cm wide with smoothed off sides so the foot sits pleasantly on it. The perch should be more than the nest box access as chickens will certainly likewise normally look for the acme to perch. A perch below that will have the birds roosting in the nest box overnight (which is incidentally when they create one of the most poo) bring about soiled eggs the following day. They shouldn't nonetheless be so high off the floor of your home that leg injuries can happen when the bird gets down in the morning. Chickens require about 20cm of perch each (in tiny types this is certainly much less), plus if greater than one perch is installed in your home they ought to be more than 30cm apart. They will hunker up with their next-door neighbors yet are not that crazy about roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird ahead. Preferably your house ought to have a least one nest box for each three birds as well as these ought to be off the ground and also in the darkest area of your home. The house ought to have appropriate air flow: without it then condensation will build up every night, also in the coldest of weather condition. Understand, ventilation deals with the principle of warm and comfortable air leaving via a high gap attracting cooler air in from a reduced gap - it's not a set of openings on opposite wall surfaces of your home and at the very same degree, this is exactly what's referred to as a draught. If you have a house with a run attached then the factors above are still true, however you ought to likewise take into consideration the run size. The EU maximum lawful equipping density for a totally free range bird is (and also allow's encounter it, one of the motivations for maintaining some chickens in your home is perhaps boosted or much better well-being) 2,500 birds each hectare, that's optimal one bird per 4m squared. Take a close consider a few of the bargain homes - it could well be the house has the appropriate perches, appropriate air flow as well as sufficient nest boxes for a sensible variety of birds, yet 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 obtain exactly what you spend for". You could believe you've got a bargain, yet you as well as your group could rue the day you did. Purchase the right house and also it will certainly last for a few decades, otherwise longer provided the right therapy. In the long run your chicken and your chicken maintaining experience will be a lot the better for it.coops build
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