Chicken Coops for Sale in Bay City, Texas
Chicken Coops for Sale in Bay City, Texas
Chicken Coops — The Top 5 Requirements
Chicken Coops – What You Need
Happy, healthy chickens need proper housing, but knowing what you need may seem daunting. Don’t let choosing the house for your chickens intimidate you. Meeting the needs of your flock, whether building your own chicken castle or buying ready-made, is easy and should provide for four basic needs.
- Protection from the elements
- Protection from predators
- Place for laying eggs
- A roost at night
The Components of a Chicken Coop
As I wrote in my , chickens have an innate homing instinct, keeping your flock close to home. Our feathered kids are such home bodies that even free ranging, every night before sundown all our chickens are perched in the coop. I always recommend a protected place for your flock to come home and roost for the night, even when free ranging.
You don’t need a poultry castle for your chickens to come home to. come in many shapes, sizes, and designs, from fancy to plain. Believe it or not, your chickens won’t care what the coop looks like as long as it provides the above four basic needs.
With that said, before deciding what type of coop you are going to buy or build, you must determine what coop features are needed that most closely conform to a chicken’s natural behavior. Hopefully I can help you understand what you need in the design of your chicken coop.
The Basics
Let’s start with the basics. All chicken coops need 3 things; a roof, 4 walls, and a doorway for entering and leaving. The design and the materials used for the chicken coop is up to you. As long as it is mostly draft free (you still need healthy ventilation), your choices are endless.
Your coop space is based on the number of chickens you plan to house. A good rule of thumb is 4 square feet of floor space per large chicken and 3 square feet for the smaller bantam breeds. Also consider the ease of cleaning when choosing your coop design; you’ll be glad you did.
Security
Making a chicken coop predator free is the most important part of building a home for your flock. Your coop must be secure from the top, bottom, and all sides. When looking at any pre-made coop or chicken coop building plans, consider all angles for security. Not only should you consider the security of the coop itself, but the security of the yard and run as well.
When choosing the wire for your run and coop, we advise steering clear of standard chicken wire. While it works well for keeping your chickens contained it’s not entirely predator proof. Because the holes in standard chicken wire are large, coyotes, raccoons, and foxes can still reach through the mesh, causing harm to your chickens. Always use a small hole wire like hardware cloth with ½ inch openings.
Another consideration when building the chicken yard or run, is airborne predators like hawks. You must include covering the top of the run as well. Our chicken runs use the same size mesh fencing on the top as the sides.
Finally, there are predators from below, such as rats and mice. These critters are attracted to the feed and droppings and like to burrow under your coop. Protect your chickens by using a coop with a floor built into it or burying small mesh fencing below the coop and extending it about 12 inches out on all sides.
The Outside Run
All coops need a connecting chicken run or pen. Chickens need access to the outside to do all those “chicken things”, like dirt baths, catching bugs, scratching dirt, or just relaxing in the sunshine or shade.
Ideally, your chicken run should have 10 square feet of ground space per full size chicken. The smaller bantam breeds require less, about 7 square feet per chicken. If your chickens free range the majority of the day, you can get by with less space.
Laying Boxes
If you want eggs, you need laying boxes. These can be as fancy or as plain as you like, just as long as they are about 12” x 12” and raised off the ground a few inches. You need one box for every 4 laying hens. Boxes should comfortably fit the chicken and have low enough sides for the hens to step over. Be sure to keep your boxes lined with clean straw or other bedding.
Roosting Perches
All birds roost, including chickens. Your coop needs a roosting bar or something off the ground on which your chickens can perch. We strongly suggest having perches both inside the coop and outside in the run area.
When figuring roosting pole size, provide 5-10” of space per chicken and 10” of space between each pole if you are using more than one. Multiple poles also need grading like ladders so the farthest pole is several inches higher than the next.
There are many shapes, sizes, and styles of chicken coops to choose from. Making the right choice for your needs is important, and all coops need to contain all necessary elements.
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Chicken Coop Cheap in Bay City, Texas
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Bay City Texas" 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 Bay City Texas chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Bay City, Texas With the massive boost in chicken maintaining there has actually been a similarly large rise in the array of fowl paraphernalia for sale. Fowl real estate is an instance in point. It's likewise a timeless example of the good old bandwagon being jumped on as various would-be chicken housing experts pitch a selection of holiday accommodation declaring to be the ideal solution to your chicken housing demands. Frequently the cost looks desirable, your diy-chicken-coop-planshome looks eye-catching, heck also the clean-cut family standing there feeding the chickens look eye-catching. Surely they understand a professional chicken house when they see one? There are several affordable and horrible coops flooding the market. I understand this as I've examined a variety of them in the area, as well as seen a ewe run directly with one when the feed pail showed up. The result was nothing but an expensive heap of firewood and a little group of bemused and also now homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Used in Bay City, Texas
Generally these mass produced models are built of quick grown up timber - come the very first drop of rainfall they swell, leaving you either defending a doorway that won't close, or ripping the door furniture off in a vain attempt to launch the squawking occupants. The very first cozy day means the timber dries out as well as splits, the really felt roof covering bubbles as well as boils, and also come nightfall the hens refuse to go in. This is not due to their disappointment at the decrease of their as soon as appealing home however considering that the hovel is currently a place for, and also possibly abounding, the chicken keeper's bane, red mite. Add on the fact that it claimed on the blurb that it would certainly suit four large hens when that stocking thickness was based on the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and exactly what are you entrusted? A couple of hinges as well as some kindling. A suitable coop for thee to four birds must cost you in the region of ₤ 300 though this could depend on whether you choose for a complimentary standing house or one with a run attached. Thinking you are ranging your birds in a huge area and the pop hole doorway allows enough for the type you keep, after that the major demands of housing come down to three factors which will define the number of birds your home will certainly hold; perches, nest boxes as well as air flow. Most types of chicken will perch when they visit roost in the evening, this perch ought to preferably be 5-8cm large with smoothed off sides so the foot sits comfortably on it. The perch ought to be above the nest box access as chickens will certainly additionally normally search for the highest point to perch. A perch lower than that will certainly have the birds roosting in the nest box overnight (which is incidentally when they produce the most poo) causing soiled eggs the list below day. They shouldn't however be so high off the flooring of the house that leg injuries can happen when the bird gets down in the morning. Chickens require about 20cm of perch each (in little types this is clearly less), plus if greater than one perch is mounted in the house they ought to be greater than 30cm apart. They will hunker up with their next-door neighbors but are not that keen on roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird ahead. Preferably the house should have a least one nest box for each three birds and also these ought to be off the ground and also in the darkest area of your house. Your home should have adequate air flow: without it then condensation will certainly build up every night, also in the coldest of weather. Realize, air flow works with the concept of cozy air leaving with a high space drawing cooler air in from a reduced space - it's not a collection of holes on opposite walls of your house and also at the same level, this is what's known as a draught. If you have a house with a run affixed then the points above are still true, however you should additionally consider the run dimension. The EU optimum lawful stocking density for a complimentary range bird is (and allow's face it, one of the motivations for keeping some chickens in your home is potentially enhanced or better welfare) 2,500 birds each hectare, that's maximum one bird per 4m made even. Take a close consider a few of the deal residences - it could well be your house has the right perches, appropriate air flow and ample nest boxes for an affordable number of birds, yet will each of the chickens have anything greater than an A4 sized piece of ground to spend the day on? And so as the claiming goes, "you get what you spend for". You might believe you've grabbed a bargain, yet you and your group could possibly rue the day you did. Acquisition the appropriate house and it will last for a couple of years, otherwise longer given the right therapy. Eventually your poultry and your fowl maintaining experience will certainly be a lot the much better for it.chickens chick
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