Chicken Coops for Sale in Salford, Pennsylvania
Chicken Coops for Sale in Salford, 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?
Baby Chick Hatching in Salford, Pennsylvania
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Salford 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 Salford Pennsylvania chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Salford, Pennsylvania With the substantial rise in poultry keeping there has actually been a similarly huge increase in the range of fowl stuff for sale. Chicken real estate is a case in point. It's also a timeless instance of the excellent old bandwagon being jumped on as various prospective poultry real estate specialists market a selection of accommodation asserting to be the suitable remedy to your chicken housing requirements. Often the price looks eye-catching, the house looks attractive, heck also the clean-cut family standing there feeding the chickens look attractive. Definitely they know a professional chicken house when they see one? There are lots of cheap and also unpleasant coops flooding the marketplace. I understand this as I've examined a number of them in the area, and seen a ewe run directly through one when the feed container appeared. The outcome was only a pricey stack of firewood and a tiny flock of bemused and also currently homeless bantams.
Baby Chicks in Salford, Pennsylvania
Typically these mass produced models are constructed of fast grown up lumber - come the first decrease of rain they swell, leaving you either barricading a door that will not close, or tearing the door furnishings off in a vain attempt to release the squawking inhabitants. The very first warm day implies the wood dries and fractures, the really felt roofing bubbles as well as boils, and come nightfall the hens refuse to enter. This is not because of their disappointment at the decline of their as soon as desirable home but because the hovel is currently a place for, and probably abounding, the chicken caretaker's bane, red mite. Add on the fact that it claimed on the blurb that it would certainly suit 4 huge hens when that equipping density was based on the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, as well as just what are you left with? A number of joints and also some kindling. A decent coop for thee to four birds must cost you approximately ₤ 300 though this could depend upon whether you choose for a cost-free standing house or one with a run affixed. Assuming you are ranging your birds in a huge room as well as the pop opening doorway is big sufficient for the type you keep, then the main requirements of housing come down to three factors which will specify the variety of birds the house will certainly hold; perches, nest boxes and ventilation. Most types of chicken will perch when they go to roost at night, this perch needs to preferably be 5-8cm vast with smoothed off edges so the foot rests comfortably on it. The perch ought to be more than the nest box entrance as chickens will likewise normally seek the acme to perch. A perch lower than that will certainly have the birds roosting in the nest box overnight (which is incidentally when they generate one of the most poo) bring about soiled eggs the list below day. They should not nevertheless be so high off the floor of your house that leg injuries can take place when the bird comes down in the morning. Chickens require regarding 20cm of perch each (in tiny breeds this is clearly much less), plus if more than one perch is mounted in the house they need to be more than 30cm apart. They will hunker up with their neighbors but are not that crazy about roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird in front. Ideally the house should have a least one nest box for every 3 birds and also these must be off the ground and in the darkest location of your home. Your house needs to have appropriate air flow: without it after that condensation will build up every night, even in the chilliest of weather condition. Realize, ventilation works with the principle of warm and comfortable air leaving via a high space attracting cooler air in from a lower space - it's not a collection of holes on opposite walls of your house and also at the exact same level, this is exactly what's referred to as a draft. If you have a house with a run connected then the points above are still real, however you should additionally take into consideration the run dimension. The EU maximum lawful equipping density for a totally free array bird is (and also allow's encounter it, among the inspirations for keeping some hens in your home is potentially boosted or better welfare) 2,500 birds each hectare, that's maximum one bird each 4m squared. Take a close look at some of the bargain residences - it could well be the house has the right perches, appropriate air flow and also ample nest boxes for a practical variety of birds, but will each of the chickens have anything more than an A4 sized item of ground to invest the day on? And so as the saying goes, "you get just what you pay for". You may think you've grabbed a deal, however you as well as your group could possibly rue the day you did. Purchase the ideal house and also it will last for a couple of decades, if not longer given the appropriate therapy. In the long run your chicken and your chicken keeping encounter will certainly be a lot the better for it.coops coop
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