Chicken Coops for Sale in Cuddy, Pennsylvania
Chicken Coops for Sale in Cuddy, Pennsylvania
Transform Your Little Tikes Playhouse into a Chicken Coop
When I started pestering my husband about chickens (again), I knew I was fighting an uphill battle. He did not want to spend a bunch of money and time on the construction of a suitable coop. We’d already been down the road of improper chicken housing before, and it wasn’t a road that either of us wanted to travel again. But I really, REALLY wanted to give chicken keeping another try. And I thought that with a little bit of forethought, we could eliminate the challenges we ran into before. For starters, the birds would need enough space. And the coop would need to be easy to clean. And most importantly, the coop would need to be secure. Nothing like coming home to find your chickens walking along the 6′ high wall that surrounds your yard! But to construct this type of set up from scratch would cost quite a bit of money in materials, not to mention all the time and sweat it would take for the hubs to actually BUILD the thing.
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So then I started scouring the internet trying to find the best deal on a “coop in a box”. I had my eye on but the price tag was a bit hefty. (It’s actually on sale for 58% off right now if you happen to be in the market for a pre-fabricated coop!) Not only was the hubs not excited about building a chicken coop, he also wasn’t excited about the idea of another “thing” in the yard. Our yard was already overrun with toys, bikes, gardening tools, a composter, and our very well-loved Little Tikes Playhouse. So as I sat in the yard one spring evening watching the kids play with everything BUT the playhouse, I got to thinking… Why couldn’t we just turn the playhouse into a chicken coop?!?! I didn’t tell hubs about the idea right away. Instead, I began looking at the structure of the playhouse to see if my idea would even work. Guys, I swear, this thing was MADE to become a chicken coop! It had everything we needed! The house is large enough for me to walk inside to rake it out, it has plenty of space for a nesting box, waterer, food, and a roosting bar. And it even came with a little cut out section near the floor (picture a doggy door) so the chickens could access the run we built behind it! I sketched out an idea of the modifications that we would need to make, and I presented my idea to the hubs. Guess what? He went for it! It was PERFECT. The structure was already built. We wouldn’t have to add another “thing” to our already tiny yard, and the best part? It’s totally incognito. No one would EVER suspect chickens were living in the playhouse! That night, I ordered our chicks! So how did we transform the playhouse? Well, let’s take a tour, shall we?
The first thing we did was cover all the openings with garden wire. Hubs had a roll of this laying around from some other project. He used drywall screws to attach the wire to the windows. The coop actually stayed like this for a while. While the chicks were still small, it was best for them to be confined to a smaller space, so not having a run wasn’t an issue.
Next the hubs built the run. You can see the “doggy door” in the bottom left corner…this is how the chickens get in and out of the house. The run is a pretty simple A-frame structure made out of 1″x 1″ pine pieces. The frame was made in sections and the wire was screwed on to each section as it was assembled. The top of the run lifts up so I can climb in and rake out the poo. I just prop it open with an upside down rake and jump on in.
The corners are all secured with these nifty . And the whole top piece is attached to the frame with some thin chains that act as a hinge. Here is a picture of the chains.
The brown plastic covering you see on this window is actually the cover to our sand and water table. The hubs cut it to fit over the largest window to break some of the wind in the winter. He used more drywall screws to attach it to the house.
Inside the coop, we attached a roosting bar (made out of an old broom handle) to the side of the house using a simple scrap of wood to attach it.
Here is a look at one side of the roosting bar. The other side just sits on the “mantle” inside the house.
My favorite part about the coop is the nesting box. Hubs attached a recycling bin to the wall using a couple brackets. It’s the PERFECT size for a comfy chicken laying box. And it’s up high so there’s a little privacy. We did cut it down a bit…chickens are not very bright creatures…they were afraid to go inside when the lip of the box was up higher.
The is hung from the ceiling by a thin chain (to keep the birds from standing on it), and the just sits on the floor. The set up is working BRILLIANTLY for us. The birds are happy and laying an egg per chicken per day (even though it’s winter), and it is all super easy to care for. The best part is that we were able to make this transformation for a whopping $46. I can’t say enough about how awesome chicken are…I’m pretty sure my kiddos would agree! Think you might transform your little tikes playhouse into a chicken coop?
Here is the complete list of materials and tools we used to make our playhouse into a chicken coop. Our chickens have been living in the coop for 8 months, and it’s still holding up great!
Hardware
- , to secure wire to playhouse
- to secure wire to wood frame
- to hang feeder from inside coop
Tools
- – for cutting the wire
- (for pounding staples)
- for cutting 1 1/2″ pieces of wood
Chicken Coop Plans in Cuddy, Pennsylvania
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Cuddy 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 Cuddy Pennsylvania chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Cuddy, Pennsylvania With the substantial boost in chicken maintaining there has actually been a similarly big rise in the array of fowl paraphernalia for sale. Poultry housing is a case in point. It's also a traditional instance of the great old bandwagon being got on as various would-be poultry housing specialists pitch a selection of cottage claiming to be the suitable solution to your chicken housing requirements. Often the rate looks desirable, your diy-chicken-coop-planshome looks appealing, hell even the clean-cut family standing there feeding the chickens look appealing. Definitely they understand a professional chicken house when they see one? There are numerous affordable and nasty cages swamping the market. I recognize this as I've examined a number of them in the field, and seen a ewe run directly with one when the feed bucket appeared. The result was nothing but a costly stack of fire wood and also a tiny group of bemused and also currently homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Sale in Cuddy, Pennsylvania
Usually these mass produced models are created of quick grown lumber - come the very first decline of rainfall they swell, leaving you either barricading a door that won't shut, or tearing the doorway furniture off in a vain attempt to launch the squawking occupants. The initial cozy day implies the wood dries as well as splits, the really felt roofing bubbles and boils, and also come nightfall the hens choose not to go in. This is not due to their dissatisfaction at the decline of their as soon as eye-catching property but considering that the hovel is currently a haven for, as well as most likely crawling with, the poultry caretaker's bane, red mite. Add that it stated on the blurb that it would match four big hens when that stocking thickness was based upon the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and what are you left with? A number of hinges and also some kindling. A suitable coop for thee to 4 birds must cost you approximately ₤ 300 though this could depend upon whether you elect for a free standing house or one with a run attached. Thinking you are varying your birds in a large area and also the pop hole door allows sufficient for the breed you keep, then the primary requirements of real estate boil down to three points which will define the variety of birds your home will hold; perches, nest boxes and ventilation. Many types of chicken will perch when they go to roost at night, this perch needs to ideally be 5-8cm vast with smoothed off sides so the foot rests easily on it. The perch should be above the nest box entrance as chickens will likewise normally search for the highest point to perch. A perch below that will certainly have the birds roosting in the nest box over night (which is by the way when they create one of the most poo) leading to stained eggs the list below day. They shouldn't nonetheless be so high off the floor of your home that leg injuries could possibly occur when the bird gets down in the early morning. Chickens need concerning 20cm of perch each (in small types this is undoubtedly less), plus if more than one perch is set up in the house they must be more 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 ahead. Ideally your home ought to have a least one nest box for each 3 birds and these ought to be off the ground and also in the darkest area of the house. Your home needs to have sufficient ventilation: without it after that condensation will certainly build up every evening, even in the coldest of weather. Understand, air flow works on the concept of warm air leaving via a high void drawing cooler air in from a lower gap - it's not a set of openings on other wall surfaces of your home and also at the exact same level, this is exactly what's referred to as a draft. If you have a house with a run affixed then the factors above are still real, yet you must likewise think about the run size. The EU optimum lawful stocking thickness for a free variety bird is (and let's encounter it, among the inspirations for maintaining some chickens in the house is potentially enhanced or better welfare) 2,500 birds per hectare, that's optimal one bird per 4m made even. Take a close consider a few of the deal houses - it could well be the house has the best perches, right ventilation as well as sufficient nest boxes for a reasonable 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 saying goes, "you get what you spend for". You may believe you've grabbed a deal, yet you and also your flock might rue the day you did. Acquisition the ideal house and also it will certainly last for a couple of decades, otherwise longer given the correct treatment. In the end your poultry and also your chicken maintaining experience will be considerably the better for it.for sale plans
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