Chicken Coops for Sale in Hitchcock, South Dakota
Chicken Coops for Sale in Hitchcock, South Dakota
Preparing Your Coop/Flock For Winter – Part 1: Roof Structure
Last week I posted a list of items that you may want to consider doing to make sure you and your flock are ready for the colder winter months. I’m going to try address one or two of these topics every Wednesday so that if you are going to work on them over the weekend you have time to plan.
Again I know it’s hard to even think of winter when the temperatures are in the 90’s in many parts of the country, but the cold weather will be on us before you know. Its much easier to take the time now to button up any issues, then trying to do it in the dead of winter. Many of you will not deal with snow and ice (lucky you!) but many of these topics effect all of us backyard chicken keepers and have a detrimental effect on the overall health of your coop…As I always say if what I post pertains to you and helps, great, if not just forget about it and move on…
Coop Roof Structure:
The roof of your coop is the first line of defense against the elements. A sound roof will not only prevent water penetration but will help in keeping your coop warm during the winter. As we all know heat rises (check our second floor of the house out in the summer!) and a solid roof can help trap some of this heat keeping the inside of the coop warmer. The important thing to remember is that you do not want to trap all of the heat by cutting off ventilation. Heat develops moisture and condensation so it’s important to have a balance. Ventilation is an important aspect of the coop, without it moisture builds, ammonia fumes become overpowering and your birds health will suffer. There is a huge difference between ventilation and a draft, we will be discussing “drafts” in a later post.
Having controllable ventilation at the peak of the roof structure will help to maintain a healthy coop. This can easily be accomplished with some screen covered holes on the side walls of the peak and using a piece of plywood to control how much of an opening you want. There are some much more elaborate systems out there but they all accomplish the same thing, controllable ventilation. If you don’t have ventilation at the peak you may want to consider it. There is a reason why so many homes have ventilation at the eves and peaks, it helps to control moisture in the home during the winter as well keeping the home cooler in the summer months.
Ensuring that your roof is leak free is also very important. That little leak you have been dealing with all summer may become a big issue during the winter when you get the “freeze/thaw effects”. During the day as snow and ice melt, water can leak into the the roof structure. At night this water freezes and expands resulting in a larger and larger leak as the days go by. There are many products out there that can help seal up these leaks but be careful some have toxic fumes that could be harmful to your flock. Sometimes just using a new shingle on asphalt roofs does the trick. Metal roofs typically leak at the seams or nail heads, a good quality sealer should handle these areas. Just remember most of the time the leak you see dripping on the underside of the roof came from a hole or crack above where you see the dripping. When water leaks in, gravity causes the water to run to the lowest point. It may take some investigation to find where the leak is actually coming from but a good starting point is to start above the spot you see the leak dripping.
If the wood on your coop roof is rotted it should be replaced. Rotted wood normally contains a large amount of moisture. The moisture in this wood adds moisture to the coop (remember, it’s a bad thing). “Freeze/Thaw” effects can take place on this rotted wood causing it to deteriorate even quicker. Snow loads can add significant weight to the top of the coop and a unstable structure runs the risk of collapse. I can only imagine how difficult it would be dealing with a roof collapse in the dead of winter! If the snow and ice get to heavy for the roof on your coop, you should remove it. When removing it be careful not to damage the roof shingles or other covering! Stand on a steady surface with both feet firmly planted on the ground or step when attempting to remove snow and ice.
A roof leak also adds unwanted moisture to you coop by letting water in and keeping the litter wet. The interior of a coop has enough moisture from bird droppings and the moisture a chicken itself gives off by breathing, you don’t need or want the added moisture from a leak. If the litter in the coop becomes wet from any source during the winter you should remove it and replace it with fresh as quickly as possible. Placing a bucket under the leak to catch the drip is not a good fix. When water drips into the bucket it can splash a fine mist a considerable distance. This mist keeps the litter wet and the air inside the coop too moist.
A well ventilated, leak free, structurally sound roof on your coop is a extremely important part in maintaining the overall health of your coop. This is not an area that you want to just “make do” and cut corners. There are many materials that you can use for a roof. Some, like scrap metal roofing or end cut pieces of tar paper and shingles can be found at a local building site (ask first, you don’t want the end up in jail!) or a recycling center. I would avoid using a tarp, although these are good in an emergency should you find a leak. And never use pressure treated wood which can give off toxic fumes in a enclosed area like a coop. If your roof membrane is water tight there is no need for pressure treated plywood or lumber as a deck surface.
By addressing the coops roof now you can prevent dealing with the effects of a wet environment in the dead cold of the winter months…Hope this helps….
FrankThe Chicken Fountain™
Share this:
Like this:
Baby Yellow Chick For Sale in Hitchcock, South Dakota
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Hitchcock South Dakota" 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 Hitchcock South Dakota chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Hitchcock, South Dakota With the big rise in poultry keeping there has been a similarly huge rise in the range of fowl stuff on sale. Fowl real estate is a proceedings in point. It's additionally a timeless example of the great old bandwagon being jumped on as numerous prospective fowl real estate experts market an array of accommodation claiming to be the ideal solution to your chicken housing needs. Commonly the cost looks desirable, your diy-chicken-coop-planshome looks attractive, hell also the clean-cut family members standing there feeding the chickens look desirable. Undoubtedly they know a quality chicken house when they see one? There are numerous cheap as well as awful coops swamping the market. I recognize this as I've checked a variety of them in the field, as well as seen a ewe run straight with one when the feed bucket appeared. The outcome was only a pricey pile of firewood and also a tiny group of bemused as well as currently homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop On Wheels in Hitchcock, South Dakota
Usually these standardized designs are created of quick grown lumber - come the first drop of rain they swell, leaving you either defending a door that will not shut, or tearing the door furnishings off in a vain attempt to release the squawking inhabitants. The initial warm day indicates the hardwood dries and fractures, the really felt roof covering bubbles and boils, as well as come nightfall the chickens choose not to enter. This is not as a result of their disappointment at the decrease of their when appealing apartment however due to the fact that the hovel is currently a sanctuary for, as well as possibly crawling with, the fowl keeper's nemesis, red mite. Add on that it claimed on the blurb that it would fit 4 big hens when that stocking density was based on the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, as well as just what are you left with? A few hinges and also some kindling. A respectable coop for thee to 4 birds ought to cost you approximately ₤ 300 though this can rely on whether you elect for a complimentary standing house or one with a run connected. Assuming you are ranging your birds in a large space and the pop hole door is big sufficient for the breed you keep, then the primary demands of housing boil down to 3 points which will define the number of birds the house will certainly hold; perches, nest boxes and also air flow. The majority of types of chicken will certainly perch when they visit roost in the evening, this perch must ideally be 5-8cm vast with smoothed off edges so the foot rests easily on it. The perch needs to be above the nest box entry as chickens will additionally naturally try to find the acme to perch. A perch less than that will have the birds roosting in the nest box over night (which is by the way when they generate the most poo) bring about stained eggs the list below day. They should not nonetheless be so high off the flooring of the house that leg injuries might happen 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 the house they ought to be greater than 30cm apart. They will certainly hunker up with their next-door neighbors but are not that crazy about roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird ahead. Preferably the house needs to have a least one nest box for every three birds and these ought to be off the ground as well as in the darkest location of your home. Your home ought to have adequate ventilation: without it after that condensation will develop every night, also in the chilliest of climate. Be aware, ventilation works on the principle of warm air leaving via a high gap attracting cooler air in from a lower void - it's not a set of holes on other walls of your house and at the exact same degree, this is exactly what's known as a draught. If you have a house with a run connected then the points above are still real, yet you should likewise think about the run dimension. The EU maximum legal equipping density for a free range bird is (and allow's face it, among the inspirations for maintaining some hens at home is potentially enhanced or much better welfare) 2,500 birds each hectare, that's maximum one bird per 4m settled. Take a close check out some of the bargain homes - it could well be your home has the best perches, appropriate ventilation as well as sufficient nest boxes for a reasonable number of birds, yet will each of the chickens have anything more than an A4 sized item of ground to spend the day on? Therefore as the stating goes, "you get what you spend for". You might assume you've got hold of a bargain, but you as well as your group might rue the day you did. Acquisition the appropriate house and it will certainly last for a couple of years, otherwise longer given the proper treatment. Eventually your chicken as well as your fowl maintaining encounter will certainly be a lot the much better for it.plan plans
More Posts
Chicken Coops for Sale in Corsica, South Dakota
Chicken Coops for Sale in Britton, South Dakota
Chicken Coops for Sale in Conde, South Dakota
Chicken Coops for Sale in Dell Rapids, South Dakota
Chicken Coops for Sale in Eden, South Dakota