Chicken Coops for Sale in Comanche, Texas
Chicken Coops for Sale in Comanche, Texas
Our Finished Chicken Coop
These past few days had us outside enjoying the beautiful weather. One of the jobs I crossed off the list was to clean out our new chicken coop.
Because of our over the past year or so, our family was going through several dozen eggs a week. (I can’t help it – I’m hooked on !)
So last summer we quit “planning” to get our own chickens, and actually did it. The whole family pitched in to build a little abode for our egg-laying beauties. And because we were first-time chicken owners and newbies in all chicken-related topics, we joined and gleaned months worth of ideas, do’s and don’ts, and building plans. (I can’t recommend this site highly enough! If you have the slightest inclination of doing chicken anything, go here and read to your heart’s content.)
It was so helpful to see photos and designs when we were in the planning stages, I thought I’d share pictures of our coop and the hows and whys of what we did.
The chicken coop
Instead of starting from scratch, we bought a small granary from my brother-in-law; about 9’x7′ inside measurements. This gave us about 3 sq. ft. per bird. The coop is nothing fancy really. It isn’t visible from the road and we don’t live in town with neighbors to care about the view from their back window, so we used as much scrap material as possible. Plus we didn’t think the chickens would mind.
So far they haven’t rebelled.
We re-tinned the roof (that’s my honey!) and I got to use the saw sawl to make holes for the windows and vents. You can call me Mrs. Handyman. . .
Inside the chicken coop
Framing the windows and vents was the most time consuming part since the building wasn’t square. We used insulation and vapor barrier for the walls for added moisture protection and warmth because the windchill can get -40 below or more in the winter.
We made the roosting boards parallel and the same height because apparently hens will act like old biddies and fight for the top most board. (Some people’s kids. . .)
We rounded the edges of the roosting boards so it’s easier on the hens’ feet. The boards can be removed for ease of cleaning the poop boards underneath.
Poop boards seemed quite popular among chicken peoples and we’ve quickly learned why. First, chickens poop more when roosting, so the roosting boards are placed above the poop board. This makes clean up as simple as buying a wide sheetrock mudding tool and scraping the droppings into a bucket each day. We then add the droppings to our compost pile.
We originally built a rollaway community nesting box directly underneath the poop board, but the chickens ended up laying eggs everywhere but there. Eventually we added a ‘normal’ set of 12″x12″x12″ nesting boxes and they’re happy campers again.
We decided to use the deep litter method. We spread a bag of wood chips on the floor and because the hens leave most of their droppings on the poop boards, there’s minimal waste on the floor. The chickens like to scratch and fluff the wood chips so it gets stirred up and aerated. This means the coop is less smelly, and there’s only a few minutes of daily cleaning of the boards. If needed, you can add more wood chips throughout the year.
We clean the coop out fully in the spring and fall. So far it’s worked wonderfully.
We nailed a board across the doorway to prevent the rising litter from falling out every time we opened the door.
The feeders are gravity fed. They’re made of PVC pipe with a 90 degree corner and a cap at the end. We like that we can leave for several days at a time and don’t have to worry about having someone come out to do chicken chores for us.
This water stand was Travis’s idea. The hens have a platform to stand on so no matter how high the litter gets, they can reach the water comfortably.
The chicken nipples underneath are another idea shared by BYC that I LOVE. The water doesn’t drip, there is no poop or mud to worry about, and our full grown hens figured it out within 24 hrs. The pails are covered with lids to prevent the water from getting dirty and it lasts for at least a week (we add apple cider vinegar).
When we’re home, we clean them out and give them fresh water every few days.
There’s electricity on the wall above the waterers with a timed light switch. We use bird bath heaters to keep the water from freezing during the winter. We had to add the slanted plywood because the hens were roosting on the pails. (I told you they fought for highest roosting privileges.)
The pop door is a simple design, and it works great. It slides up and down, held in by L shaped boards.
When in the closed position, the hook and eye on the right prevent racoons (or children!) from trying to lift the door from the outside.
We used 1/2″ x 1/2″ hardware cloth to cover the insides of the windows and vents. . .
. . .and plexiglass for the actual windows.
We made sure to have plenty of vents (thanks to sage advice from Pat’s Ventilation Page) and used eyes and rope to open and close them at different heights.
Finally, we added a small lean-to to the side so the hens could come out in the winter. This helps block snow drifts right in front of the pop door, and they can still come out for fresh air and sunshine when they get cabin fever.
It might not win a beauty contest – but there’s something to be said for function-ability Hope this gave you some ideas!
What have you done to your chicken coop? We’d love to hear your ideas and suggestions!
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Baby Chick For Sale in Comanche, Texas
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Comanche 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 Comanche Texas chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Comanche, Texas With the massive increase in poultry maintaining there has been a similarly huge surge in the range of fowl stuff on sale. Fowl real estate is a proceedings in point. It's additionally a timeless example of the excellent old bandwagon being got on as various prospective chicken real estate professionals market a variety of accommodation asserting to be the optimal remedy to your chicken real estate demands. Frequently the rate looks eye-catching, your diy-chicken-coop-planshome looks desirable, hell also the clean-cut household standing there feeding the chickens look appealing. Certainly they understand a top quality chicken house when they see one? There are many inexpensive and also nasty cages swamping the marketplace. I understand this as I've checked a variety of them in the field, and also seen a ewe run directly through one when the feed container appeared. The result was nothing but a costly stack of fire wood and a small flock of bemused and currently homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Kits For 6-8 Chickens in Comanche, Texas
Most of the time these standardized versions are built of fast grown up lumber - come the initial decline of rain they swell, leaving you either blockading a doorway that won't shut, or ripping the door furnishings off in a vain effort to launch the squawking residents. The very first warm day indicates the hardwood dries as well as cracks, the felt roofing bubbles as well as boils, as well as come nightfall the hens refuse to enter. This is not as a result of their dissatisfaction at the decrease of their when appealing building however because the hovel is currently a place for, and also probably crawling with, the chicken keeper's nemesis, red mite. Add the fact that it claimed on the blurb that it would match four huge chickens when that stocking thickness was based upon the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, as well as exactly what are you entrusted? A couple of joints and also some kindling. A good coop for thee to 4 birds should cost you in the region of ₤ 300 though this could depend upon whether you elect for a totally free standing house or one with a run affixed. Thinking you are ranging your birds in a large area and the pop hole doorway allows sufficient for the breed you maintain, after that the primary requirements of real estate come down to three points which will specify the number of birds your home will certainly hold; perches, nest boxes and air flow. A lot of types of chicken will certainly perch when they visit roost at night, this perch should preferably be 5-8cm wide with smoothed off sides so the foot rests easily on it. The perch must be more than the nest box entry as chickens will also normally try to find the acme to perch. A perch less than that will certainly have the birds roosting in the nest box overnight (which is incidentally when they create one of the most poo) causing stained eggs the list below day. They should not nonetheless be so high off the floor of your house that leg injuries could occur when the bird comes down in the early morning. Chickens require about 20cm of perch each (in tiny types this is clearly much less), plus if more than one perch is set up in your house they should be more than 30cm apart. They will certainly hunker up with their neighbors but are not that crazy about roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird in front. Ideally the house ought to have a least one nest box for every three birds and also these ought to be off the ground and also in the darkest area of your house. Your house needs to have sufficient air flow: without it after that condensation will develop every evening, also in the chilliest of weather. Realize, air flow works on the concept of cozy air leaving via a high void attracting cooler air in from a lower space - it's not a collection of openings on contrary wall surfaces of your house and at the same level, this is what's known as a draught. If you have a house with a run attached after that the factors above are still true, but you must additionally consider the run dimension. The EU optimum legal stocking thickness for a totally free range bird is (and also let's face it, one of the motivations for maintaining some hens in your home is possibly improved or better well-being) 2,500 birds each hectare, that's maximum one bird per 4m made even. Take a close consider some of the deal residences - it could well be your house has the ideal perches, right ventilation as well as enough nest boxes for a practical number of birds, but will each of the chickens have anything more than an A4 sized item of ground to invest the day on? Therefore as the saying goes, "you obtain what you pay for". You could think you've grabbed a bargain, however you and your flock could possibly rue the day you did. Acquisition the appropriate house as well as it will last for a couple of years, otherwise longer provided the appropriate treatment. In the end your fowl and also your poultry maintaining experience will certainly be considerably the better for it.chick coops
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