Chicken Coops for Sale in Equinunk, Pennsylvania
Chicken Coops for Sale in Equinunk, Pennsylvania
Chicken Tractors vs Chicken Coops
A lot of people do not seem to know this but are also chicken houses. The only real difference between the two is that chicken tractors can be moved from place to place and a chicken house is fixed in one place. You can have both if you have the means and the space in your yard, but either will do to house your chicken flock, provided they all fit with plenty of room to move. If you are not too familiar with raising chickens and keeping hens, it wouldn’t be any wonder if you didn’t immediately realise this difference.
A fixed chicken house or chicken coop
Planning ahead
But now knowing that there is a difference between the two, it will be easier for you to plan how you’re going to keep your chickens housed. Especially if you are planning to raise your very own chickens soon, but don’t actually have them yet, you have the chance to look around and see if you can pick up something pre-loved (second hand!) or even modify something to suit your yard space and the number and types of chickens that you’re planning to keep. A purpose built chicken house or chicken tractor will probably suit best, but other types of small to medium animal enclosures could work equally well. It’s all an individual choice, really.
Chicken tractor plans
If you have been searching for different types of chicken tractor plans online, you will have seen a great variety of chicken tractor designs. While most may look similar to each other, there will also be some that have been made with a great deal of creativity. Some of those designs are so pretty that people cannot help but buy them or have them made. Sometimes, people attempt to make chicken tractors themselves too. This may or may not be successful depending on how gifted the individual is in carpentry and handiwork…but, hey, if it keeps the chickens in and safe and dry and warm, and the predators out, does it really matter?
What Are Chicken Tractors For?
All round protection
Depending on how big the tractor is, the chickens are free to roam around the enclosed space with plenty of room to move. This really is beneficial especially if there are some things around your yard area that you would like to protect from your chickens. For instance, if you have some plants that will be destroyed if pecked by chickens, if you have garden mulch in your garden beds (the chickens will rearrange that for you…) or if you have neighbors who keep a vegetable patch and don’t take kindly to your chickens helping themselves.
Largely, though, the chicken tractor is to protect the chickens from the environment as well – they can get through holes in fences and potentially fall foul of dogs, and it’s not unusual for a neighborhood dog to run loose and have a bit of sport with an unsuspecting chicken. Chickens and traffic don’t mix and if you live in a fairly rural area, foxes love a bit of chicken for dinner. If any of these situations sound like you, you can always house your flock in a decent sized chicken tractor so that they can roam happily, but not to the point when they can reach treasured plants or be in danger.
A sustainable approach
One benefit of the chicken tractor as compared to the chicken coop is that it is movable and that you do not need to build a floor for underneath your chickens. This also means that you do not have to exert more effort in maintaining the floors of the chicken house – like cleaning and mending or maintaining. The ground will be the floor and all their droppings will serve as fertilizer. This does not mean though that you can let their tractor stay rooted in just one place. While the area may provide enough entertainment for your chickens for a short while, there will come a time when you would need to move them to another area with fresh ground to peck and to let the original spot recover. The chicken scratchings will also uproot and kill off any grass they live on in a fairly short time, so moving the tractor regularly is the best approach.
Potential health benefits
According to research, chickens that are living in tractors may be able to thrive better than those who are in cages because they have enough access to the outside world and they are not being deprived of their daily needs. While those in cages may also have food and water, there are times when they will not be able to receive enough sunlight. There are also instances when they cannot move properly, if their cage isn’t large enough, which means that they will not be getting enough exercise. A chicken tractor is a great improvement on this.
More Benefits of Chicken Tractors
Other than the obvious benefits already described above, it has been said that chicken tractors will potentially allow hens to make their own nests or areas where they will choose to lay their eggs. But there are certainly advantages to have “manmade” nesting boxes available where hens can lay their eggs. This means that the layout can be designed so that you will be able to gather eggs more easily instead of trying to find the eggs in the various different places where your chickens might have hidden them. (Two guesses where the idea of the Egg Hunt fiasco we go through at Easter Time came from!)
Is it okay if your chickens are pets?
This is not at all unusual to find; there are people who are not just keeping chickens for their eggs, fertilizer or other reasons we won’t mention in their earshot. Plenty of people like to keep backyard chickens because they are simply just great pets – they are not that fussy, not hard to look after and aren’t too messy if your yard isn’t too perfectly manicured.
Once a chicken has come to the end of its egg-laying career, it seems only fair to let it live its life out in peace and health and happiness in it’s own home sweet home! Although some people that have never known the joys being a chicken owner will find it a bit weird, a sweet creature that demands little, appreciates all, takes up little space and gives what it can is a great thing to have around (wouldn’t you agree?).
Your backyard chickens will adapt happily to a chicken tractor or a chicken house equally well. It’s really only a question of what will best suit your needs to be able to live with them in your yard with minimum fuss and maximum practicality.
More from my site
Chicken Coop For Sale in Equinunk, Pennsylvania
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Equinunk 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 Equinunk Pennsylvania chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Equinunk, Pennsylvania With the huge boost in chicken maintaining there has been a similarly large surge in the variety of poultry stuff on sale. Chicken real estate is an instance in point. It's additionally a traditional instance of the great old bandwagon being got on as various prospective chicken housing specialists market a range of holiday accommodation declaring to be the suitable option to your chicken real estate requirements. Commonly the cost looks attractive, the house looks desirable, hell even the clean-cut family standing there feeding the chickens look attractive. Undoubtedly they understand a professional chicken house when they see one? There are many low-cost as well as horrible coops swamping the market. I recognize this as I've tested a number of them in the area, and also seen a ewe run straight via one when the feed bucket appeared. The result was only a pricey pile of firewood and also a small group of bemused as well as currently homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Designs in Equinunk, Pennsylvania
Generally these mass produced versions are built of quick grown up hardwood - come the first decrease of rainfall they swell, leaving you either barricading a door that won't shut, or tearing the doorway furniture off in a vain effort to release the squawking citizens. The first warm and comfortable day implies the lumber dries out as well as splits, the felt roofing system bubbles and also boils, and come nightfall the hens choose not to go in. This is not because of their dissatisfaction at the decrease of their once attractive residential property but considering that the hovel is currently a sanctuary for, and also probably crawling with, the chicken keeper's nemesis, red mite. Add the fact that it said on the blurb that it would fit 4 large chickens when that equipping density was based upon the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and also just what are you entrusted? A few hinges and also some kindling. A suitable coop for thee to four birds should cost you in the region of ₤ 300 though this could depend on whether you choose for a cost-free standing house or one with a run attached. Presuming you are varying your birds in a big space and the pop opening door allows sufficient for the breed you maintain, after that the main requirements of housing come down to 3 points which will specify the number of birds your house will hold; perches, nest boxes and air flow. Most breeds of chicken will certainly perch when they go to roost in the evening, this perch must preferably be 5-8cm large with smoothed off sides so the foot rests easily on it. The perch needs to be above the nest box access as chickens will certainly likewise normally seek the acme to perch. A perch lower than that will have the birds roosting in the nest box overnight (which is by the way when they create one of the most poo) leading to soiled eggs the list below day. They should not nevertheless be so high off the flooring of the house that leg injuries could possibly occur when the bird comes down in the early morning. Chickens require about 20cm of perch each (in little types this is certainly less), plus if more than one perch is set up in your house they ought to be more than 30cm apart. They will 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 the house needs to have a the very least one nest box for every 3 birds and also these need to be off the ground and in the darkest location of the house. Your home needs to have appropriate air flow: without it then condensation will certainly accumulate every evening, even in the coldest of climate. Realize, ventilation deals with the concept of cozy air leaving with a high gap drawing cooler air in from a lower space - it's not a set of holes on contrary walls of your home and at the exact same level, this is what's known as a draught. If you have a house with a run attached after that the factors above are still real, however you ought to additionally consider the run size. The EU optimum legal stocking thickness for a totally free array bird is (and allow's face it, among the motivations for keeping some chickens in the house is potentially enhanced or far better welfare) 2,500 birds each hectare, that's optimal one bird each 4m settled. Take a close consider some of the bargain residences - it could well be the house has the ideal perches, appropriate air flow and also sufficient nest boxes for an affordable variety 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 spend for". You could assume you've got hold of a deal, yet you and your flock could possibly rue the day you did. Acquisition the best house and also it will certainly last for a couple of years, otherwise longer offered the right therapy. Ultimately your chicken as well as your chicken maintaining experience will certainly be a lot the much better for it.chicken plan
More Posts
Chicken Coops for Sale in Ebensburg, Pennsylvania
Chicken Coops for Sale in Clune, Pennsylvania
Chicken Coops for Sale in Carnegie, Pennsylvania
Chicken Coops for Sale in Cassandra, Pennsylvania
Chicken Coops for Sale in Brackenridge, Pennsylvania