Chicken Coops for Sale in Effingham, South Carolina
Chicken Coops for Sale in Effingham, South Carolina
How much space do chickens need?
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When I first started thinking seriously about keeping chickens in my almost half acre suburban yard it was after seeing this adorable chicken coop on Pinterest. The coop was super adorable with a cute little picket fence in front of it, who wouldn’t fall in love with this??
If you have done any research on chicken coops, you have probably seen it too. It’s adorable, and I always see it on “Top Beautiful Chicken Coops” type posts. I am thankful to this cute little coop for making me realize you don’t need 20 acres to own chickens, and for showing me chicken coops can add to the beauty of your yard, not detract from it. But unless you have a larger area for the chickens to free range in on a daily basis, or you have a very small flock, the chickens would be very cramped. You can read more about the construction of this beautiful coop (and purchase plans to make your own!) on .
I suppose the answer to the space question depends on how happy you want your chickens to be. Hens on commercial egg laying farms are often crammed up to a dozen hens in one cage, with each bird given about 67 square inches of space each – about the size of standard letter size piece of paper. They live their whole lives in that cage with no outdoor access. So technically, that is all they need to live, to survive. That is a life I would never wish on a chicken, and I am sure as a chicken owner you would not want that either. Most sources recommend having 4 square feet of indoor space per standard size bird. If you get they only need about half as much room. I don’t know the dimensions of the coop above, but I would guess it would be appropriate for 5-6 standard birds inside. In addition to the indoor space, most recommend 10 square feet of outdoor space per bird (personally, I don’t think that is enough). So the run for this cute coop is probably appropriate for 1-2 birds. 1-2 chickens is an awfully small flock for the rather large investment of building this beautiful coop! Trevor at told me in addition to the adorable picket fence attached run they have a larger 30′ x 18′ enclosure where their chickens can safely roam. I love to let my girls out of their run to free range around the yard, but I only do it when I can be home to supervise them. As a good neighbor you want to keep your chickens out of your neighbor’s yard (plus, you don’t know if your neighbor is using harmful fertilizers on their lawn – you don’t want your laying hens ingesting chemicals). You also need to keep them safe from predators and out of the road. Letting your chickens run wild around the neighborhood is sure to get you some angry knocks on the door. I work from home, but it is a full time job and I have four school aged kids who need attention and to be driven around to activities, so I don’t have the time to be out there with my chickens everyday for hours on end while they happily scratch through the leaves. So, a secure, large chicken run is necessary for the busy backyard chicken keeper to keep your chickens happy. Happy chickens have room to roam, and happy chickens lay healthy eggs!
Chickens like to be outside. They like to scratch in the dirt, snooze in the sun and dust bathe. For the most part, they go inside to sleep at night, lay their eggs and to escape the elements and that is about it. The more outdoor space you can give your chickens the happier they are. Living in New England, when we have blizzards there are days when I don’t let my chickens outside of their coop at all. Bored, cooped up chickens can resort to fighting. Giving them enough space inside keeps everyone safe & happy, so having adequate indoor space is also important.
Right now, my flock is 8 standard size hens and 4 bantams. The bantams only need half the space, so for this calculation, we’ll just call it 10 standard size birds. My current chicken set up is a 4 ft x 8 ft coop plus an attached 2 ft x 4 ft nest box area. So that is 40 square feet total of indoor space. My enclosed, secure run is 11 ft x 16 ft plus the 40 sq ft that is under the coops is also enclosed for them, so that is 216 square feet of outdoor space. So my chickens have 4 square feet per bird inside, and 21 square feet per bird outside, and I am at my chicken limit (boo!).
Chicken Coop Pictures in Effingham, South Carolina
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Effingham South Carolina" 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 Effingham South Carolina chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Effingham, South Carolina With the significant boost in chicken keeping there has actually been an equally big surge in the range of chicken materiel for sale. Poultry housing is an instance in factor. It's likewise a classic example of the great old bandwagon being got on as different would-be fowl real estate professionals pitch a range of cottage claiming to be the ideal option to your chicken housing requirements. Commonly the rate looks attractive, your diy-chicken-coop-planshome looks attractive, heck also the clean-cut family standing there feeding the chickens look eye-catching. Undoubtedly they recognize a high quality chicken house when they see one? There are many low-cost as well as unpleasant coops swamping the market. I recognize this as I've examined a number of them in the field, and also seen a ewe run straight through one when the feed bucket appeared. The outcome was nothing but an expensive heap of firewood and a little flock of bemused and also now homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Plans in Effingham, South Carolina
More often than not these mass produced versions are built of rapid grown lumber - come the first drop of rain they swell, leaving you either fortifying a doorway that won't close, or ripping the door furnishings off in a vain attempt to launch the squawking occupants. The first warm day suggests the lumber dries out 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 due to their frustration at the decline of their when eye-catching commercial property however since the hovel is currently a haven for, and possibly abounding, the chicken caretaker's bane, red mite. Add on the fact that it stated on the blurb that it would certainly match 4 large chickens when that stocking density was based upon the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, as well as what are you left with? A number of joints and also some kindling. A good coop for thee to four birds need to cost you in the region of ₤ 300 though this can depend upon whether you elect for a free standing house or one with a run connected. Assuming you are varying your birds in a large room as well as the pop opening door allows enough for the type you keep, then the major demands of real estate come down to 3 points which will define the variety of birds the house will hold; perches, nest boxes and air flow. The majority of types of chicken will certainly perch when they visit roost during the night, this perch needs to preferably be 5-8cm large with smoothed off sides so the foot rests pleasantly on it. The perch ought to be more than the nest box access as chickens will certainly likewise normally try to find the acme to perch. A perch less than that will have the birds roosting in the nest box overnight (which is by the way when they generate one of the most poo) leading to stained eggs the list below day. They should not however be so high off the flooring of your house that leg injuries can happen when the bird gets down in the early morning. Chickens need about 20cm of perch each (in little types this is certainly much less), plus if more than one perch is mounted in the house they must be greater than 30cm apart. They will certainly hunker up with their next-door neighbors but are not that keen on roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird ahead. Ideally your house must have a least one nest box for each three birds and these need to be off the ground and in the darkest area of the house. Your house ought to have adequate ventilation: without it after that condensation will certainly build up every night, also in the coldest of climate. Realize, air flow works with the principle of cozy air leaving with a high void attracting cooler air in from a reduced gap - it's not a set of holes on contrary wall surfaces of the house and at the very same degree, this is exactly what's called a draught. If you have a house with a run affixed after that the factors above are still true, but you need to also think about the run dimension. The EU optimum legal stocking thickness for a complimentary variety bird is (and allow's face it, among the inspirations for maintaining some chickens in the house is possibly improved or better welfare) 2,500 birds each hectare, that's optimal one bird each 4m squared. Take a close consider some of the deal residences - it could well be your home has the ideal perches, correct ventilation as well as enough nest boxes for a sensible number of birds, but will each of the chickens have anything greater than an A4 sized item of ground to invest the day on? And so as the stating goes, "you get what you spend for". You may assume you've grabbed a deal, but you and your group can rue the day you did. Acquisition the appropriate house as well as it will certainly last for a couple of decades, if not longer provided the right therapy. Ultimately your poultry and your chicken maintaining encounter will be considerably the much better for it.coop coop
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