Chicken Coops for Sale in Port Matilda, Pennsylvania
Chicken Coops for Sale in Port Matilda, Pennsylvania
How to build a Chicken Coop for under $50
How to build a Chicken Coop for under $50
Why Raise Chickens?
Really, the question you should ask is “Why not raise chickens?” Raising chickens can be a really rewarding experience. These amazing animals eat a small amount of feed a day, and yet produce one egg about every day of the year. (Out of 365 days a year, they lay about 335 eggs.) They take a couple days off here and there, but for the most part they are great layers. Having complete control over the food you feed your family is also really rewarding. Knowing our chickens eat non-GMO, Organic feed, and are allowed to free-range on our acre yard somehow just makes the eggs taste better. There are many benefits to free-ranging your chickens. First of all, they don’t develop diseases because they are out in the fresh air and not living in their poop. Second, they eat a LOT more bugs and let me tell you, you WANT your chickens to eat bugs. Not only does it help keep your bug(& scorpion) population down, it also increases the amount of Omega-3’s per egg. There are just some things that nature does better! The added bonus of letting your chickens eat bugs is that they will eat less of your store-bought feed which helps bring down your overall cost.
FYI, chickens that are locked up in small spaces are SUPER mean to each other. Like cannibal mean. By cannibal, I mean they will literally eat each other. Seriously. They will gang up on the weakest and peck at it incessantly until it dies and then eat it. It’s all Mean Girls up in there, I’m telling you. So, definitely free-range, okay?
How Much does it Cost to keep Chickens
If you buy “regular” chicken feed, it will only cost you about $11.00 for a 50 lb. bag. Pretty good deal, huh? Well, not really. “Regular” feed is chock full of GMOs (genetically modified organisms) which are KNOWN for making chickens sick. Genetically modified organisms are also called Roundup Ready. GMO’s require massive amounts of pesticides, herbicides & fungicides. Yum. “Regular” feed is also usually pre-packaged with antibiotics. Wasn’t that nice of the feed company? Gosh, they are so nice to give our chickens anti-biotics after making them sick with GMOs. So thoughtful. When all’s said and done and your chickens stop going diarrhea, it will only cost you 82 cents a dozen. Organic, Non-GMO feed is about $24.00 for a 50 lb. bag but the benefits are amazing. Our feed is full of clean grains, as they should be, with no pesticides in them or on them. We also supplement their diet with dinner table scraps. It costs us about $1.75 a dozen. At the store, you can expect to pay $5.99 a dozen for ORGANIC, FREE-RANGE eggs. A Plan is Hatched (I’m freakin’ hilarious) The chicken coop I’m about to show you is one for FREE-RANGE chickens. This means your chickens should only be in the coop to eat feed, lay eggs, and roost/sleep at night. For the rest of the day they should be allowed in a yard so they can stay nice and healthy. I can’t take full credit for this idea. Okay, I can’t take ANY credit for this idea. Kevin and I were talking about how to get rid of our old crib. We couldn’t really give it away to Goodwill because it has that old school drop side that has totally been recalled now for safety issues. Then Kevin mentioned on how that sliding door would come in handy for a chicken coop. YES! Totally! I’ve been wanting to build a new chicken coop, and this thing was pretty much built for me! Well, I took Kevin’s idea and ran with it. I first drew a picture of how I wanted it to look. Yes, I’m a very visual person. (Lydia said it was the best drawing of a crib she’s EVER seen, so that means it’s pretty dang good.) The crib. Ah, crib you’ve served us well. You’ve kept our sweet little babes safe and sound as they have sweetly slumbered. Well, except for that one time when the drop side malfunctioned and Ethan tumbled out when he was 8 mo. old. But let’s forget about that one issue. You have been a great crib and we’re thankful for all your service. Aaannd now you will be a pooping ground for our chickens, mmkay? Ta-da! Here’s the coop all finished! It was SUPER easy. We lined two sides with chicken wire, two sides with wains coating, slapped a roof on that mutha’ and called it a day. Okay, okay. It took a little longer than that. I had to paint it, which actually takes way more spray paint than you’d think. I was actually embarrassed at how many times I kept underestimating the amount of spray paint I needed. It was becoming a problem, how bad I was at estimating my spray paint needs. I kept going back to the store and I totally felt like the checkout lady was thinking, “Really? MORE spray paint?” And I, feeling stupid for being the worst spray paint estimator ever, imagined yelling, “Yes, it’s for my chickens, OKAY?!!” The drop side comes down just enough to gather eggs and fill the feeder. I totally cut these pieces myself. I also cut the table I was using but we won’t dwell on that. Sorry Kevin! You’re still “not mad”, right??? A chicken coops not a chicken coop ’till you put an actual picture of a chicken on it, right? I thought so. It has a simple roof made of wains coating and trim. Underneath is a simple frame of 1x2s. Did I mention it was simple? Super cute, right? And cheap, which makes the Mr. Husband happy.
P.S. My friend Claire from wrote an excellent guide on (and raising chickens in the winter in general). I highly recommend it!
Do you own chickens? Have you ever thought of raising chickens? You should! And you should totally use your old crib because, well, it’s super cheap and super cool.
Baby Chicks in Port Matilda, Pennsylvania
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Port Matilda 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 Port Matilda Pennsylvania chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Port Matilda, Pennsylvania With the significant boost in chicken maintaining there has been an equally big surge in the variety of poultry stuff on sale. Chicken real estate is a situation in point. It's also a traditional example of the great old bandwagon being jumped on as numerous potential poultry housing experts peddle a range of holiday accommodation asserting to be the excellent remedy to your chicken real estate requirements. Often the price looks attractive, your diy-chicken-coop-planshome looks desirable, heck also the clean-cut household standing there feeding the chickens look attractive. Undoubtedly they understand a high quality chicken house when they see one? There are lots of inexpensive and also awful coops flooding the market. I know this as I've checked a number of them in the area, and seen a ewe run straight with one when the feed container showed up. The result was only a costly stack of fire wood as well as a little group of bemused and currently homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Building Plans in Port Matilda, Pennsylvania
Most of the time these standardized models are built of quick grown wood - come the initial drop of rain they swell, leaving you either barricading a door that won't close, or ripping the door furnishings off in a vain attempt to release the squawking occupants. The initial cozy day implies the hardwood dries as well as splits, the felt roof covering bubbles as well as boils, and also come nightfall the chickens choose not to go in. This is not because of their disappointment at the decline of their as soon as appealing home however considering that the hovel is currently a sanctuary for, and also possibly crawling with, the chicken caretaker's bane, red mite. Add that it said on the blurb that it would suit four big chickens when that equipping density was based on the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and also just what are you left with? A couple of hinges as well as some kindling. A decent coop for thee to 4 birds need to cost you around ₤ 300 though this could depend on whether you choose for a totally free standing house or one with a run affixed. Thinking you are varying your birds in a large area and the pop hole doorway allows sufficient for the breed you maintain, after that the primary needs of housing come down to three points which will certainly specify the number of birds your home will hold; perches, nest boxes and also ventilation. The majority of breeds of chicken will perch when they go to roost at night, this perch should ideally be 5-8cm broad with smoothed off edges so the foot rests pleasantly on it. The perch ought to be higher than the nest box entrance as chickens will additionally normally search for the acme to perch. A perch lower than that will certainly have the birds roosting in the nest box over night (which is by the way when they generate the most poo) causing soiled eggs the list below day. They should not nonetheless be so high off the floor of your home that leg injuries might take place when the bird gets down in the morning. Chickens need concerning 20cm of perch each (in tiny types this is undoubtedly much less), plus if greater than one perch is set up in your 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. Preferably your home needs to have a least one nest box for every 3 birds and also these should be off the ground and in the darkest area of the house. Your house should have appropriate air flow: without it then condensation will accumulate every evening, also in the coldest of weather condition. Understand, air flow deals with the principle of warm and comfortable air leaving with a high space attracting cooler air in from a lower gap - it's not a set of holes on opposite wall surfaces of your home and also at the very same degree, this is what's called a draft. If you have a house with a run attached after that the factors above are still real, however you must also consider the run dimension. The EU optimum lawful stocking thickness for a totally free range bird is (as well as let's face it, among the motivations for maintaining some chickens in your home is potentially boosted or much better welfare) 2,500 birds each hectare, that's optimal one bird per 4m settled. Take a close look at several of the bargain houses - it could well be your house has the right perches, correct air flow and also ample nest boxes for an affordable variety of birds, however will each of the chickens have anything more than an A4 sized piece of ground to invest the day on? Therefore as the claiming goes, "you get exactly what you spend for". You could think you've got a bargain, yet you and also your group could rue the day you did. Acquisition the best house and also it will certainly last for a few decades, if not longer offered the correct therapy. In the long run your poultry and your poultry keeping encounter will be much the better for it.chick plan
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