Chicken Coops for Sale in Deer Park, Texas
Chicken Coops for Sale in Deer Park, Texas
Transform Your Little Tikes Playhouse into a Chicken Coop
When I started pestering my husband about chickens (again), I knew I was fighting an uphill battle. He did not want to spend a bunch of money and time on the construction of a suitable coop. We’d already been down the road of improper chicken housing before, and it wasn’t a road that either of us wanted to travel again. But I really, REALLY wanted to give chicken keeping another try. And I thought that with a little bit of forethought, we could eliminate the challenges we ran into before. For starters, the birds would need enough space. And the coop would need to be easy to clean. And most importantly, the coop would need to be secure. Nothing like coming home to find your chickens walking along the 6′ high wall that surrounds your yard! But to construct this type of set up from scratch would cost quite a bit of money in materials, not to mention all the time and sweat it would take for the hubs to actually BUILD the thing.
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So then I started scouring the internet trying to find the best deal on a “coop in a box”. I had my eye on but the price tag was a bit hefty. (It’s actually on sale for 58% off right now if you happen to be in the market for a pre-fabricated coop!) Not only was the hubs not excited about building a chicken coop, he also wasn’t excited about the idea of another “thing” in the yard. Our yard was already overrun with toys, bikes, gardening tools, a composter, and our very well-loved Little Tikes Playhouse. So as I sat in the yard one spring evening watching the kids play with everything BUT the playhouse, I got to thinking… Why couldn’t we just turn the playhouse into a chicken coop?!?! I didn’t tell hubs about the idea right away. Instead, I began looking at the structure of the playhouse to see if my idea would even work. Guys, I swear, this thing was MADE to become a chicken coop! It had everything we needed! The house is large enough for me to walk inside to rake it out, it has plenty of space for a nesting box, waterer, food, and a roosting bar. And it even came with a little cut out section near the floor (picture a doggy door) so the chickens could access the run we built behind it! I sketched out an idea of the modifications that we would need to make, and I presented my idea to the hubs. Guess what? He went for it! It was PERFECT. The structure was already built. We wouldn’t have to add another “thing” to our already tiny yard, and the best part? It’s totally incognito. No one would EVER suspect chickens were living in the playhouse! That night, I ordered our chicks! So how did we transform the playhouse? Well, let’s take a tour, shall we?
The first thing we did was cover all the openings with garden wire. Hubs had a roll of this laying around from some other project. He used drywall screws to attach the wire to the windows. The coop actually stayed like this for a while. While the chicks were still small, it was best for them to be confined to a smaller space, so not having a run wasn’t an issue.
Next the hubs built the run. You can see the “doggy door” in the bottom left corner…this is how the chickens get in and out of the house. The run is a pretty simple A-frame structure made out of 1″x 1″ pine pieces. The frame was made in sections and the wire was screwed on to each section as it was assembled. The top of the run lifts up so I can climb in and rake out the poo. I just prop it open with an upside down rake and jump on in.
The corners are all secured with these nifty . And the whole top piece is attached to the frame with some thin chains that act as a hinge. Here is a picture of the chains.
The brown plastic covering you see on this window is actually the cover to our sand and water table. The hubs cut it to fit over the largest window to break some of the wind in the winter. He used more drywall screws to attach it to the house.
Inside the coop, we attached a roosting bar (made out of an old broom handle) to the side of the house using a simple scrap of wood to attach it.
Here is a look at one side of the roosting bar. The other side just sits on the “mantle” inside the house.
My favorite part about the coop is the nesting box. Hubs attached a recycling bin to the wall using a couple brackets. It’s the PERFECT size for a comfy chicken laying box. And it’s up high so there’s a little privacy. We did cut it down a bit…chickens are not very bright creatures…they were afraid to go inside when the lip of the box was up higher.
The is hung from the ceiling by a thin chain (to keep the birds from standing on it), and the just sits on the floor. The set up is working BRILLIANTLY for us. The birds are happy and laying an egg per chicken per day (even though it’s winter), and it is all super easy to care for. The best part is that we were able to make this transformation for a whopping $46. I can’t say enough about how awesome chicken are…I’m pretty sure my kiddos would agree! Think you might transform your little tikes playhouse into a chicken coop?
Here is the complete list of materials and tools we used to make our playhouse into a chicken coop. Our chickens have been living in the coop for 8 months, and it’s still holding up great!
Hardware
- , to secure wire to playhouse
- to secure wire to wood frame
- to hang feeder from inside coop
Tools
- – for cutting the wire
- (for pounding staples)
- for cutting 1 1/2″ pieces of wood
Chicken Coop Kits in Deer Park, Texas
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Deer Park 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 Deer Park Texas chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Deer Park, Texas With the significant boost in chicken maintaining there has been an equally large surge in the variety of chicken materiel for sale. Poultry housing is a proceedings in factor. It's additionally a traditional example of the excellent old bandwagon being got on as different would-be poultry real estate experts peddle a variety of lodging claiming to be the perfect remedy to your chicken real estate requirements. Commonly the rate looks desirable, your diy-chicken-coop-planshome looks desirable, hell even the clean-cut family standing there feeding the chickens look desirable. Definitely they recognize a professional chicken house when they see one? There are many affordable as well as horrible coops swamping the marketplace. I recognize this as I've examined a number of them in the area, and seen a ewe run directly with one when the feed pail appeared. The result was just a pricey stack of fire wood and also a little group of bemused and also currently homeless bantams.
Baby Chick Care in Deer Park, Texas
Generally these standardized models are created of rapid grown lumber - come the initial drop of rainfall they swell, leaving you either defending a doorway that will not shut, or tearing the doorway furniture off in a vain effort to release the squawking citizens. The very first warm day suggests the timber dries and fractures, the felt roof bubbles and also boils, and come nightfall the chickens refuse to enter. This is not as a result of their frustration at the decline of their as soon as appealing home however because the hovel is now a place for, and also possibly crawling with, the poultry caretaker's bane, red mite. Add on that it said on the blurb that it would certainly fit 4 big hens when that stocking thickness was based upon the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, as well as exactly what are you entrusted? A number of hinges as well as some kindling. A good coop for thee to four birds need to cost you in the region of ₤ 300 though this can depend on whether you choose for a cost-free standing house or one with a run connected. Presuming you are ranging your birds in a big area and also the pop hole doorway allows sufficient for the breed you keep, after that the main demands of real estate come down to three factors which will certainly specify the variety of birds your house will hold; perches, nest boxes and also air flow. Most types of chicken will certainly perch when they visit roost during the night, this perch should ideally be 5-8cm wide with smoothed off edges so the foot sits comfortably on it. The perch must be more than the nest box access as chickens will additionally naturally search for the highest point 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 one of the most poo) resulting in stained eggs the list below day. They shouldn't nevertheless be so high off the flooring of your house that leg injuries might occur when the bird gets down in the morning. Chickens need about 20cm of perch each (in tiny types this is clearly less), plus if greater than one perch is installed in your home they need to be greater than 30cm apart. They will certainly hunker up with their next-door neighbors yet are not that crazy about roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird in front. Ideally your house ought to have a least one nest box for every single three birds and these must be off the ground and in the darkest location of the house. Your home needs to have adequate air flow: without it then condensation will certainly build up every night, also in the chilliest of weather. Realize, ventilation works with the concept of warm air leaving with a high space drawing cooler air in from a reduced gap - it's not a set of holes on other wall surfaces of your house and also at the same level, this is what's known as a draft. If you have a house with a run attached then the factors above are still true, however you need to likewise think about the run size. The EU optimum legal equipping density for a cost-free array bird is (and allow's encounter it, one of the inspirations for maintaining some chickens at home is perhaps enhanced or much better welfare) 2,500 birds per hectare, that's optimal one bird each 4m settled. Take a close check out a few of the bargain homes - it could well be the house has the right perches, correct air flow as well as enough nest boxes for an affordable number of birds, but will each of the chickens have anything more than an A4 sized item of ground to invest the day on? And so as the saying goes, "you get exactly what you pay for". You may assume you've got a deal, however you and your flock could rue the day you did. Purchase the ideal house and also it will certainly last for a couple of decades, otherwise longer given the appropriate treatment. In the long run your poultry as well as your poultry maintaining experience will be much the better for it.chickens diy
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