Chicken Coops for Sale in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania
Chicken Coops for Sale in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania
Tropical Chicken Coop Construction – Ch.1
Tropical Chicken Coop Construction – Ch.1
I have been helping our friends build a chicken coop so that they can start raising there own hens and producing their own eggs. The week before I helped them build a compost pile so that they could start composting their yard waist on a larger scale, now we move into coop development. After researching different designs and methods for building a coop I decided to go with one that would fit well in the tropics. Much like San Diego, you don’t have to worry about a freeze or the chickens getting to cold, however you do need to be concerned with other natural elements like predators, tropical rain storms, gusty winds and too much heat. Taking this into consideration I designed a coop that would protect the hens from the elements, yet be opened up enough to allow a breeze and shade for the hens to grow in.
Chicken Coop Design
Chicken Coop Plans
The structure of the coop is 4x8x8. It is 4 ft wide by 8ft long and 8ft high at its highest point. The floor of the hen house is three feet off of the ground. There is a thatched roof covering the length of the coop to keep out the rain and sun. The roofs highest point is at 8ft (in the center) dropping down to 6ft on the front side, and 7ft on the back side. This allows for a consistent air flow throughout the coop
Chicken Coop Plans (Side Views)
I designed the coop on paper, worked out the measurements and then we started putting it together after we picked up the supplies. As expected we made a few adjustments as we began to put the coop together to fit the surroundings a little better. One thing that I didn’t keep in mind was the slope that we would be working on, this eventually elevated the ‘run’ side a little more giving the hens an extra 6 inches to play around in.
Chicken Coop Supplies (So Far)
- 3 4×8′ 1/2″ pieces of plywood
- 20 2x4x8′ studs
- 12 2x2x8′ studs
- 1 6x2x8′ stud
- 2 4×8′ roofing sheets
- 1 4×50′ roll of chicken wire
- 1 box 3.5″ screws
- 1 box 2″ screws
- 6 hinges
- 3 latches
- 4 cinder blocks
Chicken Coop Structure
Putting up the Frame
After we picked a location by the mango tree, the first thing that we did was put together the frame. This would be our skeleton if you will, everything else would be built off of the frame. As mentioned before the frame of the structure is 4ft wide by 8ft long. We put 6ft posts on the front side, 7ft posts on the back side, and two 8ft posts on the ends (for the roof). Notice the cinder blocks used to give us a level playing field, not the prettiest look, this is something that we will fix up as we finish the project.
Chicken Coop Construction
Putting Up the Walls
After we got the frame up we started to work on the hen house itself, this is where then hens will go to lay their many eggs in the future. We closed off the floor and the back wall first because these are permanent, no doors or latches needed. In this picture you can see that we also added a few more frame pieces for the roof, this was because of the type of roofing that we decided to go with. You will be able to see why when we finish.
Hen House Layout
Building the Hen House
Once we put in the permanent walls and floor we began building the doors that would allow us access into the hen house for cleaning and feeding. This front door section will open up giving us plenty of room to work around the hen house.
Nesting Boxes
The Nesting Boxes
The Nesting Boxes came next on our plans. We decided to do two rows of boxes 4 boxes deep. This gives us a total of 8 nesting boxes. Each box is 12″x12″12″. We started the bottom row 6 inches off of the floor and the next row 12 inches above that. We left a 3″ over hang to give the hens something to climb up to before entering their boxes. We also put a 4.5 inch lip on the front of the boxes making the entrance to the boxes 7.5″x12″. We did this to give the hens more protection and less room to move around. This should prevent them or the other hens from eating their eggs once they began producing.
Entrance for Eggs
Behind the nesting boxes, on the outside of the hen house we installed two barn style doors to give us easy access to all of the boxes, thus giving us easy access to the eggs down the road. This will also make it easier for cleaning an maintenance when the time comes.
Hen House Entrance
Hen House Entrance
This last image is of the entrance into the hen house, this was the last thing that we finished up to this point. We still have the roof, chicken wire enclosure and last minute adjustments. As you can see the Tropical Chicken Coop is coming along just fine. We are almost there but not quite yet. Once we get some more time to work on it we should be able to wrap up this project and move the hens in. Eggs are on their way!
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Chicken Coop For 4 Chickens in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Saylorsburg 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 Saylorsburg Pennsylvania chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania With the big rise in poultry keeping there has actually been a just as large increase in the variety of poultry materiel on sale. Fowl real estate is a proceedings in factor. It's also a classic example of the good old bandwagon being got on as numerous would-be poultry real estate experts market a variety of lodging declaring to be the optimal solution to your chicken real estate needs. Usually the cost looks attractive, your diy-chicken-coop-planshome looks desirable, hell even the clean-cut household standing there feeding the chickens look attractive. Certainly they know a professional chicken house when they see one? There are lots of affordable and awful coops swamping the marketplace. I know this as I've checked a variety of them in the field, as well as seen a ewe run directly via one when the feed bucket appeared. The result was only a costly heap of firewood and also a small flock of bemused and currently homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Free Plans in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania
Most of the time these mass produced designs are built of quick grown up timber - come the initial decline of rain they swell, leaving you either blockading a doorway that won't close, or ripping the door furnishings off in a vain attempt to release the squawking inhabitants. The very first warm day indicates the timber dries out as well as splits, the really felt roof bubbles and boils, and also come nightfall the chickens choose not to enter. This is not due to their frustration at the decline of their when desirable apartment however since the hovel is now a place for, as well as probably abounding, the chicken keeper's bane, red mite. Add on the fact that it said on the blurb that it would certainly suit 4 huge hens when that stocking density was based upon the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and exactly what are you left with? A couple of joints and some kindling. A suitable coop for thee to 4 birds must cost you in the region of ₤ 300 though this can rely on whether you elect for a cost-free standing house or one with a run affixed. Assuming you are ranging your birds in a large room and the pop hole door allows sufficient for the type you keep, then the major demands of real estate boil down to 3 points which will certainly specify the number of birds your home will hold; perches, nest boxes as well as air flow. A lot of types of chicken will perch when they visit roost in the evening, this perch needs to preferably be 5-8cm broad with smoothed off sides so the foot rests easily on it. The perch needs to be more than the nest box access as chickens will likewise normally search for the acme to perch. A perch below that will certainly have the birds roosting in the nest box overnight (which is by the way when they produce one of the most poo) causing dirtied eggs the following day. They should not however be so high off the flooring of the house that leg injuries could possibly occur when the bird comes down in the morning. Chickens require about 20cm of perch each (in little breeds this is obviously much less), plus if more than one perch is installed in your house they should be more than 30cm apart. They will certainly hunker up with their next-door neighbors yet are not that crazy about roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird in front. Ideally your house should have a least one nest box for each 3 birds as well as these should be off the ground and in the darkest area of your home. The house needs to have sufficient ventilation: without it after that condensation will develop every evening, even in the coldest of weather condition. Realize, ventilation works with the concept of cozy air leaving via a high void attracting cooler air in from a reduced space - it's not a collection of holes on contrary wall surfaces of your house and also at the exact same degree, 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, yet you should additionally think about the run size. The EU optimum lawful stocking thickness for a totally free array bird is (as well as allow's face it, among the motivations for keeping some hens in your home is potentially enhanced or better welfare) 2,500 birds per hectare, that's maximum one bird per 4m squared. Take a close look at a few of the bargain homes - it could well be your house has the ideal perches, appropriate ventilation and sufficient 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 spend the day on? Therefore as the claiming goes, "you obtain what you pay for". You may assume you've got a bargain, however you and also your flock can rue the day you did. Acquisition the appropriate house and also it will certainly last for a few years, otherwise longer provided the appropriate treatment. Ultimately your chicken and also your chicken keeping experience will certainly be much the better for it.for sale chick
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