Chicken Coops for Sale in New Germantown, Pennsylvania
Chicken Coops for Sale in New Germantown, Pennsylvania
building our homestead | the chicken coop.
When Justin and I had been , he took me to his family’s farm for Thanksgiving. I was already nervous as it was – he was a new boyfriend and I was meeting his family – but by the end of the weekend they’d coerced convinced me to drive a skid loader, fire off a few rounds at some coffee cans, and forage for my own breakfast in the chicken coop. When we came back the next spring, there were a handful of baby chicks fluttering around the yard and I thought they were so precious. Uncle Bill handed me one, nearly weightless in my palm, all its hollow bones twitching against my fingers. It made me nervous, how fragile it felt and how anxious it seemed to get back to its Mama Bird.
But the eggs? The eggs I loved. I loved the plastic Easter egg sitting inside the nesting box (to encourage the ladies to lay there); I loved the varying shades of brown, the speckled pattern and the occasional pastel green egg that appeared. They made the white grocery store eggs look so bland, so boring. And when we brought the eggs inside to fry up alongside our buttered toast, their yolks were electric orange. I’d never seen anything like it before (they grow pumpkins on the farm and feed the chickens with the broken pieces, thus the late-autumn yolks are especially colorful). I slid two over-easy’s onto my plate and split them open with the prong of my fork and watched the yolk puddle out to my toast. I think about that breakfast a lot, about the smell of the barn early in the morning; how Justin and I were living outside our comfort zones and learning to love each other; how he casually mentioned that, one day, we might have a farm.
We don’t have a full-blown farm, not by a long shot, but after trying to and finally accepting this is where we’ll stay, we decided to start building our backyard homestead. Justin bought the blueprints for a chicken coop and set to work in our garage over the winter. We poured the concrete footers together before Christmas, before the frost would come, and Justin etched our initials into the last one while it was still wet. He spent hours under the fluorescent lights of the garage bay, hammering and nailing and sometimes painting. And finally, after months of work, we hauled it outside with a trailer and some extra manpower.
Most of the books we read said chickens were low-maintenance, that they don’t need much besides a cardboard box and some fresh water. But my husband, God love him, is an overachiever. So our chickens will have the Ritz Carlton of chicken coops to call home. And this coming weekend, our chicks will arrive! We have nine in total – three each of Barred Rocks, Rhode Island Red, and Ameraucanas (Easter Eggers). They’ll live in a brooder box in our garage for the first few weeks to stay toasty warm, and by the end of May or June we’ll move them out to the luxury hotel we call a chicken coop. It isn’t quite finished, we still need to add shingles and chicken wire all around, but I’m so proud of it. I’m proud of what we’re doing, how we live, how we eat, how we teach our kids about food and about life.
So cheers to the homestead! We’re finally doing it.
***
First few photos are iPhone.
Resources:
Chicken Coop Run Ideas in New Germantown, Pennsylvania
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in New Germantown 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 New Germantown Pennsylvania chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in New Germantown, Pennsylvania With the huge increase in poultry keeping there has been a just as huge rise in the variety of poultry stuff for sale. Fowl housing is an instance in factor. It's additionally a classic example of the excellent old bandwagon being got on as numerous potential chicken housing specialists pitch a range of holiday accommodation claiming to be the perfect solution to your chicken housing demands. Commonly the cost looks attractive, your diy-chicken-coop-planshome looks attractive, hell even the clean-cut family standing there feeding the chickens look attractive. Undoubtedly they recognize a top quality chicken house when they see one? There are several cheap and also horrible coops flooding the marketplace. I recognize this as I've checked a variety of them in the field, and also seen a ewe run directly via one when the feed bucket appeared. The result was only a costly pile of firewood and also a little group of bemused as well as currently homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Roost Ideas in New Germantown, Pennsylvania
Generally these standardized models are created of quick grown timber - come the very first drop of rainfall they swell, leaving you either fortifying a doorway that won't close, or tearing the door furniture off in a vain attempt to release the squawking residents. The initial warm and comfortable day suggests the lumber dries out as well as cracks, the really felt roofing system bubbles and also boils, and also come nightfall the hens choose not to enter. This is not due to their dissatisfaction at the decrease of their when eye-catching building however due to the fact that the hovel is currently a sanctuary for, and also possibly abounding, the chicken keeper's nemesis, red mite. Add the fact that it claimed on the blurb that it would fit 4 huge chickens when that equipping density was based upon the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, as well as exactly what are you entrusted? A couple of joints as well as some kindling. A respectable coop for thee to four birds should cost you in the region of ₤ 300 though this could depend upon whether you elect for a complimentary standing house or one with a run attached. Assuming you are ranging your birds in a big area as well as the pop hole door allows sufficient for the breed you maintain, after that the main requirements of housing boil down to 3 points which will certainly define the variety of birds your home will certainly hold; perches, nest boxes and air flow. A lot of breeds of chicken will perch when they go to roost in the evening, this perch must preferably be 5-8cm broad with smoothed off edges so the foot rests comfortably on it. The perch must be more than the nest box access as chickens will likewise naturally seek the highest point to perch. A perch less than that will have the birds roosting in the nest box overnight (which is by the way when they create the most poo) leading to soiled eggs the following day. They should not nonetheless be so high off the flooring of the house that leg injuries can take place when the bird comes down in the morning. Chickens need about 20cm of perch each (in tiny types this is certainly much less), plus if greater than one perch is mounted in your home they need to be greater than 30cm apart. They will certainly hunker up with their next-door neighbors however are not that crazy about roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird in front. Ideally your house must have a least one nest box for every single 3 birds as well as these should be off the ground and in the darkest area of the house. Your house ought to have ample ventilation: without it then condensation will certainly build up every evening, even in the chilliest of climate. Be aware, air flow works with the concept of cozy air leaving with a high void drawing cooler air in from a reduced gap - it's not a set of openings on opposite wall surfaces of your house and at the very same level, this is exactly what's referred to as a draught. If you have a house with a run attached after that the factors above are still true, but you must also take into consideration the run size. The EU optimum legal equipping thickness for a complimentary array bird is (as well as let's encounter it, among the inspirations for maintaining some chickens in your home is potentially enhanced or much better well-being) 2,500 birds each hectare, that's maximum one bird each 4m squared. Take a close look at several of the bargain houses - it could well be your home has the best perches, right air flow as well as ample nest boxes for a reasonable 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 saying goes, "you get exactly what you spend for". You might believe you've grabbed a bargain, yet you and your group could rue the day you did. Purchase the appropriate house as well as it will last for a couple of decades, if not longer given the correct therapy. In the end your fowl as well as your poultry maintaining encounter will be much the far better for it.plan chick
More Posts
Chicken Coops for Sale in Bairdford, Pennsylvania
Chicken Coops for Sale in Elverson, Pennsylvania
Chicken Coops for Sale in Heilwood, Pennsylvania
Chicken Coops for Sale in Evans City, Pennsylvania
Chicken Coops for Sale in Mackeyville, Pennsylvania