Chicken Coops for Sale in Mineral Springs, Pennsylvania
Chicken Coops for Sale in Mineral Springs, Pennsylvania
The Small Property Chicken Coop
Raising chickens has been one of the most rewarding activities that we’ve done on our homestead. While we don’t raise them for meat due to the city’s limitations, we reap an abundance of benefits from the eggs and the friendship we get from our girls.
In this next installment of , I’ll be sharing how my husband Todd designed and built Lucy and Ethel’s chicken coop using his ingenuity and minimal square footage on our .18 of an acre.
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, I was so excited to finally be able to raise a couple of my own “girls” to gather eggs from and get to know. I’m an animal lover, and seem to be able to make friends with any animal that will allow me, so I knew that these two sweet little chicks and I would be the best of friends. , and since there were only two of them, there was plenty of space for them to grow.
After moving some things around to set up our ‘barn’ area, Todd got to work on the chicken coop. Being a handy guy, he decided that he could design and build one that would be cheaper than a prefab one, as well as be able to fit where we needed it to on our small property homestead.
He chose to use the back of one of our sheds as the back wall, and another of our sheds as the side wall, which would save us some money on hardware cloth. He framed the rest of the coop and door with 2x4s. He also extended the side of the shed so that it would serve as the left wall of the coop.
This is the shed that is being used as the back wall of the coop. You can see on the right side of the shed where the new section was added for the left wall of the coop.
Todd designed the girls’ coop to be multi-level, rather than sprawling. He used plywood and 2x4s for the levels, and built an access ladder to both. The girls had a hard time not slipping on the sleek wood between the “steps” on the ladder, so I added a few strips of to those sections, which worked beautifully.
Here is a current photo of the two levels (please excuse the “lived in” look, I apparently hadn’t taken photos of the two levels when it was new). This is the top level, where we keep the girls’ nesting boxes. The ladder with the comes up the right side of this level, and it’s easy for the girls to hop up to the top of their nesting boxes, where they like to sleep at night. Todd also built a roost for them, which is actually a few inches offset from the edge of the level so when they poop, most of it falls to the ground.
Here is the second level, where the girls usually eat their evening treats, and where I keep their oyster shell and water (water not pictured). You can see how the ladder passes the second level up to the top level, which makes it easy for the girls to hop to the second level at snack time.
We left the bottom level as dirt, and I have been using the , which has worked out well for the most part. We haven’t had any issues with large rodents, and any mice that dare step foot into the coop are met with two hungry beaks.
Todd lined the front of the coop with 1″ hardware cloth and it has worked very well for us; however, I have heard that if you have issues with raccoons, it’s best to go with 1/2″ hardware cloth.
Another Space Saving Coop Idea
A friend of mine, Nora from , and is based on Todd’s multilevel chicken coop design. Their family has around 8-10 girls, so this brooder was a very good fit for them. It can definitely be built outdoors and used as a space-saving chicken coop for 1-3 chickens, or built indoors to use as a brooder for a larger flock.
As you can see, building a chicken coop to fit your small property needs can be a much better prospect than purchasing a prefab chicken coop. While prefab coops are beautiful and promise ease, tailoring your chicken coop to fit in just the right place on your small property can be more affordable, and in the long run, more convenient for your homestead setup. As long as your chicken coop meets , you can build a chicken coop that meets your homestead’s needed requirements as well, which will make everyone happy!
For more great information on raising chickens, please visit Fresh Eggs Daily’s Ultimate Chicken Care Guide.
What size is your property? Do you use space-saving techniques?
Chicken Coop Easy in Mineral Springs, Pennsylvania
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Mineral Springs 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 Mineral Springs Pennsylvania chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Mineral Springs, Pennsylvania With the massive increase in chicken keeping there has actually been a similarly huge rise in the variety of poultry stuff on sale. Fowl housing is a case in factor. It's also a timeless instance of the good old bandwagon being jumped on as different prospective poultry housing professionals market an array of lodging asserting to be the suitable remedy to your chicken housing requirements. Typically the rate looks desirable, your house looks desirable, heck even the clean-cut household standing there feeding the chickens look attractive. Definitely they know a high quality chicken house when they see one? There are lots of low-cost as well as nasty cages flooding the market. I recognize this as I've examined a number of them in the area, and also seen a ewe run directly with one when the feed bucket showed up. The result was just a pricey stack of fire wood as well as a tiny group of bemused as well as currently homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop House Plans in Mineral Springs, Pennsylvania
More often than not these standardized versions are constructed of rapid grown up lumber - come the first decrease of rainfall they swell, leaving you either barricading a door that will not close, or ripping the doorway furnishings off in a vain attempt to launch the squawking inhabitants. The initial warm and comfortable day implies the lumber dries out and also cracks, the felt roofing system bubbles as well as boils, and come nightfall the chickens refuse to go in. This is not because of their disappointment at the decline of their when attractive property yet since the hovel is currently a place for, and most likely abounding, the poultry keeper's nemesis, red mite. Add that it claimed on the blurb that it would certainly match 4 huge hens when that stocking thickness was based upon the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, as well as exactly what are you entrusted? A few hinges and some kindling. A suitable coop for thee to 4 birds ought to cost you in the region of ₤ 300 though this can rely on whether you choose for a cost-free standing house or one with a run attached. Thinking you are ranging your birds in a huge area and the pop opening door allows enough for the type you keep, then the major needs of real estate come down to three points which will certainly specify the number of birds your house will certainly hold; perches, nest boxes as well as ventilation. Many breeds of chicken will perch when they visit roost at night, this perch should preferably be 5-8cm large with smoothed off sides so the foot sits comfortably on it. The perch must be above the nest box entry as chickens will certainly likewise normally search for the highest point to perch. A perch lower than that will certainly have the birds roosting in the nest box overnight (which is by the way when they produce the most poo) causing soiled eggs the following day. They shouldn't nonetheless be so high off the floor of your house that leg injuries might take place when the bird comes down in the morning. Chickens need concerning 20cm of perch each (in tiny types this is certainly less), plus if more than one perch is installed in the house they should be greater 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 the house must have a least one nest box for every single three birds as well as these need to be off the ground as well as in the darkest area of the house. Your house ought to have appropriate ventilation: without it then condensation will accumulate every night, also in the coldest of climate. Understand, air flow works with the principle of cozy air leaving with a high gap attracting cooler air in from a reduced space - it's not a collection of openings on other walls of the house and at the exact same level, this is exactly what's referred to as a draft. If you have a house with a run attached after that the points above are still true, however you should also consider the run dimension. The EU optimum lawful stocking thickness for a cost-free array bird is (and also allow's encounter it, among the inspirations for keeping some chickens in your home is possibly boosted or much better welfare) 2,500 birds each hectare, that's maximum one bird each 4m squared. Take a close consider a few of the deal houses - it could well be your house has the appropriate perches, right ventilation and sufficient nest boxes for a practical variety of birds, however 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 exactly what you pay for". You might think you've got a bargain, however you as well as your group might rue the day you did. Acquisition the appropriate house and also it will certainly last for a few years, otherwise longer offered the proper therapy. In the end your chicken as well as your chicken keeping encounter will be much the far better for it.chicken plans
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