Chicken Coops for Sale in Mc Veytown, Pennsylvania
Chicken Coops for Sale in Mc Veytown, Pennsylvania
Our Finished Chicken Coop
These past few days had us outside enjoying the beautiful weather. One of the jobs I crossed off the list was to clean out our new chicken coop.
Because of our over the past year or so, our family was going through several dozen eggs a week. (I can’t help it – I’m hooked on !)
So last summer we quit “planning” to get our own chickens, and actually did it. The whole family pitched in to build a little abode for our egg-laying beauties. And because we were first-time chicken owners and newbies in all chicken-related topics, we joined and gleaned months worth of ideas, do’s and don’ts, and building plans. (I can’t recommend this site highly enough! If you have the slightest inclination of doing chicken anything, go here and read to your heart’s content.)
It was so helpful to see photos and designs when we were in the planning stages, I thought I’d share pictures of our coop and the hows and whys of what we did.
The chicken coop
Instead of starting from scratch, we bought a small granary from my brother-in-law; about 9’x7′ inside measurements. This gave us about 3 sq. ft. per bird. The coop is nothing fancy really. It isn’t visible from the road and we don’t live in town with neighbors to care about the view from their back window, so we used as much scrap material as possible. Plus we didn’t think the chickens would mind.
So far they haven’t rebelled.
We re-tinned the roof (that’s my honey!) and I got to use the saw sawl to make holes for the windows and vents. You can call me Mrs. Handyman. . .
Inside the chicken coop
Framing the windows and vents was the most time consuming part since the building wasn’t square. We used insulation and vapor barrier for the walls for added moisture protection and warmth because the windchill can get -40 below or more in the winter.
We made the roosting boards parallel and the same height because apparently hens will act like old biddies and fight for the top most board. (Some people’s kids. . .)
We rounded the edges of the roosting boards so it’s easier on the hens’ feet. The boards can be removed for ease of cleaning the poop boards underneath.
Poop boards seemed quite popular among chicken peoples and we’ve quickly learned why. First, chickens poop more when roosting, so the roosting boards are placed above the poop board. This makes clean up as simple as buying a wide sheetrock mudding tool and scraping the droppings into a bucket each day. We then add the droppings to our compost pile.
We originally built a rollaway community nesting box directly underneath the poop board, but the chickens ended up laying eggs everywhere but there. Eventually we added a ‘normal’ set of 12″x12″x12″ nesting boxes and they’re happy campers again.
We decided to use the deep litter method. We spread a bag of wood chips on the floor and because the hens leave most of their droppings on the poop boards, there’s minimal waste on the floor. The chickens like to scratch and fluff the wood chips so it gets stirred up and aerated. This means the coop is less smelly, and there’s only a few minutes of daily cleaning of the boards. If needed, you can add more wood chips throughout the year.
We clean the coop out fully in the spring and fall. So far it’s worked wonderfully.
We nailed a board across the doorway to prevent the rising litter from falling out every time we opened the door.
The feeders are gravity fed. They’re made of PVC pipe with a 90 degree corner and a cap at the end. We like that we can leave for several days at a time and don’t have to worry about having someone come out to do chicken chores for us.
This water stand was Travis’s idea. The hens have a platform to stand on so no matter how high the litter gets, they can reach the water comfortably.
The chicken nipples underneath are another idea shared by BYC that I LOVE. The water doesn’t drip, there is no poop or mud to worry about, and our full grown hens figured it out within 24 hrs. The pails are covered with lids to prevent the water from getting dirty and it lasts for at least a week (we add apple cider vinegar).
When we’re home, we clean them out and give them fresh water every few days.
There’s electricity on the wall above the waterers with a timed light switch. We use bird bath heaters to keep the water from freezing during the winter. We had to add the slanted plywood because the hens were roosting on the pails. (I told you they fought for highest roosting privileges.)
The pop door is a simple design, and it works great. It slides up and down, held in by L shaped boards.
When in the closed position, the hook and eye on the right prevent racoons (or children!) from trying to lift the door from the outside.
We used 1/2″ x 1/2″ hardware cloth to cover the insides of the windows and vents. . .
. . .and plexiglass for the actual windows.
We made sure to have plenty of vents (thanks to sage advice from Pat’s Ventilation Page) and used eyes and rope to open and close them at different heights.
Finally, we added a small lean-to to the side so the hens could come out in the winter. This helps block snow drifts right in front of the pop door, and they can still come out for fresh air and sunshine when they get cabin fever.
It might not win a beauty contest – but there’s something to be said for function-ability Hope this gave you some ideas!
What have you done to your chicken coop? We’d love to hear your ideas and suggestions!
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Baby Chick For Sale in Mc Veytown, Pennsylvania
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Mc Veytown 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 Mc Veytown Pennsylvania chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Mc Veytown, Pennsylvania With the huge boost in chicken keeping there has been a similarly huge surge in the variety of chicken materiel on sale. Poultry housing is an instance in factor. It's also a classic instance of the great old bandwagon being got on as numerous would-be fowl real estate professionals peddle an array of cottage claiming to be the perfect option to your chicken housing needs. Often the price looks appealing, your house looks appealing, hell even the clean-cut household standing there feeding the chickens look attractive. Surely they understand a professional chicken house when they see one? There are many affordable and also unpleasant cages flooding the marketplace. I recognize this as I've examined a number of them in the field, as well as seen a ewe run straight via one when the feed bucket appeared. The outcome was nothing but an expensive heap of fire wood and a tiny flock of bemused and currently homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Accessories in Mc Veytown, Pennsylvania
Generally these mass produced models are created of rapid grown wood - come the very first drop of rainfall they swell, leaving you either fortifying a door that will not close, or tearing the doorway furnishings off in a vain effort to release the squawking citizens. The first warm and comfortable day indicates the timber dries and splits, the really felt roof covering bubbles and boils, and also come nightfall the chickens refuse to go in. This is not as a result of their dissatisfaction at the decrease of their once desirable apartment yet considering that the hovel is currently a place for, as well as probably abounding, the fowl keeper's bane, red mite. Add that it stated on the blurb that it would match 4 large hens when that equipping thickness was based on the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and what are you left with? A few hinges as well as some kindling. A good coop for thee to four birds ought to cost you in the region of ₤ 300 though this can depend upon whether you elect for a cost-free standing house or one with a run affixed. Thinking you are ranging your birds in a huge room and also the pop opening doorway allows enough for the type you keep, then the primary demands of real estate boil down to 3 points which will specify the variety of birds your home will hold; perches, nest boxes as well as air flow. Most breeds of chicken will certainly perch when they visit roost at night, this perch should ideally be 5-8cm broad with smoothed off sides so the foot sits comfortably on it. The perch ought to be higher than the nest box access as chickens will certainly also normally search for the highest point to perch. A perch less than that will certainly have the birds roosting in the nest box overnight (which is incidentally when they create one of the most poo) leading to stained eggs the following day. They shouldn't nevertheless be so high off the flooring of your house that leg injuries can take place when the bird gets down in the early morning. Chickens need regarding 20cm of perch each (in tiny breeds this is obviously much less), plus if greater than one perch is installed in the house they should be more than 30cm apart. They will hunker up with their next-door neighbors however are not that keen on roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird in front. Preferably your house ought to have a the very least one nest box for every 3 birds and these must be off the ground as well as in the darkest area of the house. Your home must have adequate ventilation: without it after that condensation will certainly build up every evening, even in the chilliest of weather condition. Realize, ventilation deals with the principle of warm air leaving via a high gap attracting cooler air in from a reduced space - it's not a set of openings on contrary wall surfaces of your home and also at the exact same level, this is just 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 ought to likewise take into consideration the run dimension. The EU optimum legal equipping thickness for a totally free range bird is (as well as allow's encounter it, among the motivations for keeping some chickens in the house is perhaps enhanced or far better welfare) 2,500 birds per hectare, that's maximum one bird per 4m squared. Take a close consider a few of the bargain residences - it could well be your house has the right perches, right ventilation and sufficient nest boxes for a reasonable number of birds, but will each of the chickens have anything greater than an A4 sized piece of ground to invest the day on? And so as the saying goes, "you obtain what you spend for". You could think you've got hold of a bargain, however you as well as your group could possibly rue the day you did. Acquisition the appropriate house as well as it will certainly last for a few years, if not longer given the appropriate therapy. Ultimately your chicken and also your fowl maintaining encounter will be a lot the far better for it.for sale plans
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