Chicken Coops for Sale in Rural Valley, Pennsylvania
Chicken Coops for Sale in Rural Valley, Pennsylvania
solar panels for the chicken coop
Haven’t felt like I’ve built anything lately so I hauled off a couple weekends ago and figured that it’d be fun to try and replace the 50ft extension cord that we’ve got running from the house to the coop (up the hill, over the lawn, on top of the coop and then into the coop) which has been hooked up to timer switch (most likely something like ) to then provide light for the hens for a couple hours a night with solar panels, since it sounded fun.
I did a little bit of research, that I came across that talked about how to do it (semi-related: , also learned what a “prepper” is, had no idea those existed!), although in hindsight it looks like their coop is being powered by light all day long… or at least on demand, which turned out to be kind of a big deal. As the post suggested, I hauled off to Harbor Freight, got , which came with a charge controller, a couple light bulbs and all the necessary cabling. It was relatively easy to snap together the plastic frame that came with the panels (although the directions were definitely different than what was in the box, took me a bit to figure that out) and then to push the various wires together to see if it all worked. I also bought a and a since I had an existing light bulb sitting in the coop already.
I’m a rookie at the electrical stuff, figured it’d be good to hook up the inverter to the battery to make sure the battery was good, which I did and then immediately melted battery connector cable because the opposite cable ends were touching after I hooked up the cabling to the battery. Rookie mistake but that then meant that I had to find a new cabling. Slight setback. Googled around a bunch looking for somewhere that I could buy a battery connector cable, not many places sell them… or at least sell them and aren’t somewhere that it would take a week to get one. I ended up talking to a pal at work that’s an electronics nerd (hey Ed!) and he suggested going to , who have a local store here in Beaverton and who ended up actually not having pre-made battery connector cables but had all the tools and supplies to MAKE cables which was even more fun. I bought a couple , some clamps and a cable crimp tool with the help of the guy running the store (whatever your name was, thanks!) and then made my own cables. I also needed a box to put the battery and the power inverter in (since the installation is outside) and found a nice water tight box at Storables (not but something pretty similar).
I thought at that point that I had all I needed but it turns out the power inverter that I bought has a fan and is constantly drawing power to power the fan, even if the lights aren’t turned on. I had figured that I could use the existing timer that was plugged into the house to plug that into the inverter and then only turn on the lights if / when the timer thought it was time but I’m pretty sure that the inverter being on 24/7 would drain the battery and would leave me with no power for the lights at night. I ended up finding that has a built-in microcontroller that figures out dusk / dawn by when the solar panel stops sending a charge and gives you the ability to determine how long you want the lights turned on relative to when dusk and dawn start. Ordered that online and then FINALLY today everything came together. Here’s what the solar panels look like on top of the coop:
and a side view:
I actually have no idea if they’ll draw enough power in the wintertime to power a light bulb for a couple hours a night based on a) the fact that we live in Oregon and don’t see the sun that much / if at all in the winter and b) our yard has lots of shade, which means that even if the sun was out that the panels would only ever see the sun for half the day or so… which might also throw a kink into the charge controller, which may stop receiving charges from the panel earlier than we might expect… ANYWAY, fuzzy picture of the box mounted on the side of the coop:
I drilled a couple holes in the bottom of the plastic box so that I could string the wiring in and also so that the inverter was able to breathe, apparently it needs some circulation. Got the brackets to hold the box at Ace Hardware for $10 and then mounted those to the coop along with some wood I had laying around from another project.
Finally a picture of the Morningstar SunLight charge controller doing it’s business:
You can see the lighting control on the right hand side, it gives you a bunch of options as to how long you want it to be drawing power from the battery and throwing it to an external device, which is perfect, in theory for what I’m trying to do since I don’t want the inverter to be drawing any power at all… until I want the lights on. Luckily, the inverter, which also has an on / off button, stays “on” even when you remove it’s power supply, so the minute that the charge controller decides that power should come on, the inverter then turns on… which then powers the lights and in theory, the chickens should lay more eggs in the winter. I don’t pretend to control that part though.
You can also see the wiring I created in that picture: the black / red wires with the yellow battery connectors are the wires that I made. Those go into the box and then attach to the back of the inverter. Going from right to left then, the next set of red / black cables are the cables that attach up to the battery and the finally, the last set of cables are sending power from the panels to the charge controller.
All in: - panels charge controller (not used) cabling bulbs (not used): $150 - 12 volt / 35 amp battery: $69 - 400w inverter: $40 - 12 volt / 20 amp charge controller with microprocessor: $83 - crimp tool (optional), cabling (optional): $32 - storage box: $20
Really expensive, should have just run cable underground (assuming that’s legal?) to the coop in hindsight but the panels seemed more fun / more interesting. I’ll update once winter hits and the sun actually stops shining again.
Chicken Coop For Sale in Rural Valley, Pennsylvania
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Rural Valley 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 Rural Valley Pennsylvania chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Rural Valley, Pennsylvania With the big rise in chicken maintaining there has actually been a similarly huge increase in the array of poultry stuff for sale. Fowl housing is a proceedings in point. It's likewise a timeless instance of the good old bandwagon being jumped on as different potential fowl real estate experts pitch a range of cottage claiming to be the excellent remedy to your chicken real estate needs. Commonly the cost looks eye-catching, the house looks eye-catching, heck also the clean-cut household standing there feeding the chickens look appealing. Surely they know a top quality chicken house when they see one? There are several low-cost and horrible cages swamping the market. I understand this as I've checked a number of them in the field, and also seen a ewe run straight with one when the feed bucket showed up. The result was only an expensive pile of firewood and a little group of bemused as well as now homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop For 10 Chickens in Rural Valley, Pennsylvania
Usually these mass produced designs are constructed of quick grown up lumber - come the very first drop of rainfall they swell, leaving you either defending a doorway that will not close, or ripping the door furniture off in a vain effort to release the squawking inhabitants. The first warm and comfortable day implies the timber dries as well as splits, the felt roofing bubbles and boils, as well as come nightfall the chickens choose not to enter. This is not as a result of their frustration at the decline of their once appealing residential property but due to the fact that the hovel is currently a haven for, and also probably abounding, the fowl caretaker's bane, red mite. Add the fact that it said on the blurb that it would certainly match four big chickens when that equipping thickness was based on the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and exactly what are you left with? A number of joints and also some kindling. A suitable coop for thee to 4 birds should cost you around ₤ 300 though this can rely on whether you choose for a cost-free standing house or one with a run connected. Presuming you are varying your birds in a large area as well as the pop hole door is big sufficient for the type you maintain, then the major requirements of housing come down to three points which will define the number of birds the house will certainly hold; perches, nest boxes and also air flow. Many breeds of chicken will certainly perch when they visit roost at night, this perch ought to preferably be 5-8cm broad with smoothed off sides so the foot rests conveniently on it. The perch ought to be more than the nest box entry as chickens will likewise naturally look for the acme to perch. A perch below that will certainly have the birds roosting in the nest box over night (which is incidentally when they produce one of the most poo) resulting in stained eggs the following day. They shouldn't however be so high off the flooring of the house that leg injuries could happen when the bird comes down in the morning. Chickens require regarding 20cm of perch each (in tiny breeds this is undoubtedly less), plus if more than one perch is mounted in your house they must be greater than 30cm apart. They will hunker up with their next-door neighbors yet are not that keen on roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird ahead. Preferably the house needs to have a the very least one nest box for each three birds and these must be off the ground as well as in the darkest area of your home. The house ought to have sufficient ventilation: without it then condensation will develop every night, even in the chilliest of climate. Understand, air flow works on the concept of warm and comfortable air leaving via a high void drawing cooler air in from a reduced gap - it's not a set of openings on other wall surfaces of your house as well as at the same level, this is exactly what's called a draft. If you have a house with a run attached then the factors above are still true, however you ought to also consider the run size. The EU optimum lawful equipping thickness for a complimentary array bird is (and also allow's face it, among the motivations for keeping some chickens in the house is potentially boosted or much better well-being) 2,500 birds per hectare, that's maximum one bird each 4m settled. Take a close take a look at several of the deal homes - it could well be your home has the appropriate perches, right air flow as well as enough nest boxes for a reasonable number of birds, yet will each of the chickens have anything more than an A4 sized piece of ground to invest the day on? And so as the saying goes, "you obtain just what you spend for". You could assume you've got a bargain, but you and also your flock could rue the day you did. Acquisition the ideal house and also it will certainly last for a couple of decades, if not longer provided the correct treatment. Eventually your chicken as well as your chicken maintaining encounter will certainly be considerably the far better for it.chickens chickens
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