Chicken Coops for Sale in West Springfield, Pennsylvania
Chicken Coops for Sale in West Springfield, Pennsylvania
Sand Litter Bed In The Chicken Coop: An Experiment
We’ve been managing our chicken coop through a . This hybrid system has worked extremely well in . Briefly, how that system works is, the chickens roost over the sand, which acts like kitty litter to dry out their overnight poop, and in the morning the poop is raked to the lower area, where it composts-in-place with lots of straw and other high-carbon bedding.
Last year, fed up with the very real problems involved when you combine chickens and vegetable gardening, we decided to stop attempting to free-range our birds and instead fenced in a large, outdoor area adjacent to the coop. We confined the hens to this area (the ducks, less destructive, still get to free range) and this solved many of our chickens-scratching up-my-seedlings problems.
Too Much Of A Good Thing?
However, this confined run area led to another problem. This is a good problem, a problem I cannot believe I have, but it’s a problem nonetheless. In order to accommodate our flock in this confined area, we piled on the straw and woodchips in both the coop’s lower area, and the outdoor run.
This has led to, basically, more compost than I can use. Yeah, I have too much compost. Crazy, right? I didn’t know there was such thing as too much compost.
When I hauled out all the deep litter and piled it up, it looked like this.
And it’s not just dealing with storing Mount Compost Heap up there. The bedding was building up so deeply in both the coop and the run that we started to have problems just opening the door to the coop. The chickens weren’t super effective at scratching down to the lowest levels, and I’m embarrassed to say that some anaerobic ickiness was starting to take place in the deeper levels of the bedding.
Something needed to change.
Trying something new.
Is Sand A Solution?
In order to manage these drawbacks, we are experimenting with a sand bed in the run area of the coop. The fenced outdoor chicken area will still be managed as a deep litter system, with arborists woodchips and straw added as needed for carbon.
But inside the coop itself, I’m trying sand.
I had help raking out the new sand.
I see several potential upsides to a sand bed, and a few downsides as well.
Pros:
- Sand bed is lower profile, so we’re able to open the door without hassle.
- Seems drier in winter due to superior drainage.
- Spilled chicken food is less likely to get “lost” in the bedding. I’ve observed chickens pecking at the food that falls on the sand. Less food waste = less feed expense.
- Sand adds natural grit to a chicken’s diet and sharpens nails
- Probably less expensive in the long-term, since sand doesn’t require frequent additions or “top-ups” like a deep litter system.
- May allow for indoor dust-bathing. I have not observed my hens using the sand to dust bathe, but I’ve read that they will.
- May cut down on opportunities for Coccidiosis in chickens by providing an inhospitable environment for the protozoa.
- Easy collection of poop allows for a more dedicated manure-composting system, which might be of use to people looking at black soldier fly farming (hem hem, me) or related endeavors.
When the hens spill feed, they can pick it up now.
Cons:
- Cold. The sand does not add to the warmth of the coop like the composting bedding. The sand feels noticeably colder to me when I touch it, and I’m not even walking around barefoot like my chooks. Cold is a drawback here in January. However, to chicken keepers in hot weather climates, perhaps a non-heat generating litter option would be a benefit?
- Requires more regular dedicated maintenance. We’re already in the daily habit of scooping the poop from the sand covered upper coop area, so this doesn’t add a huge amount of work to that chore, but it’s definitely not the kind of job you can ignore for several
weeksdays. - Does not break down into compost. Unless your chickens already make more compost than you can use, less compost is a bad thing.
- The ducks don’t seem happy about the sand, but then ducks don’t like change, so I don’t read too much into this yet.
- Duck poop doesn’t scoop well. The front runner of Reasons I May Go Back To Deep Litter is wet duck poop on sand. Ewww.
- The poop has to go somewhere. In the prior system we just scrapped the upper poop onto the composting bedding. Now the upper and lower poop have to go somewhere. At the moment we’re scraping the poop out the door into the outdoor run area, but this experiment of sand-bedding the indoor run has triggered a re-evaluation of all my manure and compost management practices. So, simple change.
As of now, I have more questions than answers. I’ll let you know how the sand bed works out going forward.
Chicken Coop Cheap in West Springfield, Pennsylvania
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in West Springfield 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 West Springfield Pennsylvania chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in West Springfield, Pennsylvania With the huge rise in poultry maintaining there has been a similarly big rise in the array of fowl paraphernalia for sale. Poultry real estate is a situation in factor. It's likewise a traditional example of the good old bandwagon being got on as different potential chicken real estate experts pitch an array of holiday accommodation claiming to be the suitable option to your chicken housing demands. Often the rate looks appealing, the house looks attractive, hell even the clean-cut household standing there feeding the chickens look appealing. Surely they recognize a quality chicken house when they see one? There are lots of inexpensive as well as nasty coops swamping the marketplace. I recognize this as I've tested 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 just a pricey stack of firewood and a tiny flock of bemused and also now homeless bantams.
Baby Chick Facts in West Springfield, Pennsylvania
Typically these standardized versions are created of rapid grown up hardwood - come the first drop of rain they swell, leaving you either fortifying a doorway that will not shut, or tearing the door furnishings off in a vain attempt to launch the squawking citizens. The very first warm and comfortable day indicates the lumber dries out as well as cracks, the felt roof covering bubbles as well as boils, as well as come nightfall the hens choose not to enter. This is not as a result of their dissatisfaction at the decline of their once appealing residential property but considering that the hovel is now a haven for, and probably crawling with, the chicken caretaker's nemesis, red mite. Add that it said on the blurb that it would certainly suit 4 huge chickens when that stocking thickness was based upon the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and also just what are you left with? A few joints and some kindling. A decent coop for thee to 4 birds must cost you in the region of ₤ 300 though this can rely on 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 enough for the type you keep, then the major demands of housing come down to 3 factors which will specify the variety of birds your home will certainly hold; perches, nest boxes and also ventilation. Many breeds of chicken will perch when they visit roost in the evening, this perch must ideally be 5-8cm large with smoothed off sides so the foot sits comfortably on it. The perch needs to be above the nest box entrance as chickens will certainly likewise 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 produce the most poo) resulting in stained eggs the list below day. They should not nonetheless be so high off the flooring of the house that leg injuries could occur when the bird comes down in the early morning. Chickens require regarding 20cm of perch each (in tiny types this is clearly much less), plus if greater than one perch is mounted in your home they must be greater than 30cm apart. They will hunker up with their neighbors however are not that crazy about roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird ahead. Preferably your house needs to have a the very least one nest box for every 3 birds and these need to be off the ground as well as in the darkest area of your home. Your home ought to have adequate air flow: without it after that condensation will develop every evening, even in the chilliest of weather condition. Know, ventilation deals with the concept of warm air leaving via a high gap drawing cooler air in from a lower void - it's not a collection of holes on opposite wall surfaces of the house and also at the exact same level, this is just what's known as a draft. If you have a house with a run connected after that the points above are still real, but you ought to also consider the run dimension. The EU maximum lawful stocking thickness for a free array bird is (and also let's encounter it, among the motivations for maintaining some hens in your home is potentially boosted or much better welfare) 2,500 birds each hectare, that's optimal one bird per 4m squared. Take a close take a look at a few of the deal homes - it could well be the house has the right perches, proper ventilation and enough nest boxes for a practical variety of birds, however will each of the chickens have anything greater than an A4 sized piece of ground to spend the day on? And so as the saying goes, "you get what you spend for". You could believe you've grabbed a bargain, however you and your group could rue the day you did. Acquisition the best house and it will certainly last for a few years, if not longer given the right therapy. Ultimately your fowl and your poultry keeping encounter will certainly be considerably the much better for it.coops chick
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