Chicken Coops for Sale in Kingsland, Texas
Chicken Coops for Sale in Kingsland, Texas
The Small Property Chicken Coop
Raising chickens has been one of the most rewarding activities that we’ve done on our homestead. While we don’t raise them for meat due to the city’s limitations, we reap an abundance of benefits from the eggs and the friendship we get from our girls.
In this next installment of , I’ll be sharing how my husband Todd designed and built Lucy and Ethel’s chicken coop using his ingenuity and minimal square footage on our .18 of an acre.
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, I was so excited to finally be able to raise a couple of my own “girls” to gather eggs from and get to know. I’m an animal lover, and seem to be able to make friends with any animal that will allow me, so I knew that these two sweet little chicks and I would be the best of friends. , and since there were only two of them, there was plenty of space for them to grow.
After moving some things around to set up our ‘barn’ area, Todd got to work on the chicken coop. Being a handy guy, he decided that he could design and build one that would be cheaper than a prefab one, as well as be able to fit where we needed it to on our small property homestead.
He chose to use the back of one of our sheds as the back wall, and another of our sheds as the side wall, which would save us some money on hardware cloth. He framed the rest of the coop and door with 2x4s. He also extended the side of the shed so that it would serve as the left wall of the coop.
This is the shed that is being used as the back wall of the coop. You can see on the right side of the shed where the new section was added for the left wall of the coop.
Todd designed the girls’ coop to be multi-level, rather than sprawling. He used plywood and 2x4s for the levels, and built an access ladder to both. The girls had a hard time not slipping on the sleek wood between the “steps” on the ladder, so I added a few strips of to those sections, which worked beautifully.
Here is a current photo of the two levels (please excuse the “lived in” look, I apparently hadn’t taken photos of the two levels when it was new). This is the top level, where we keep the girls’ nesting boxes. The ladder with the comes up the right side of this level, and it’s easy for the girls to hop up to the top of their nesting boxes, where they like to sleep at night. Todd also built a roost for them, which is actually a few inches offset from the edge of the level so when they poop, most of it falls to the ground.
Here is the second level, where the girls usually eat their evening treats, and where I keep their oyster shell and water (water not pictured). You can see how the ladder passes the second level up to the top level, which makes it easy for the girls to hop to the second level at snack time.
We left the bottom level as dirt, and I have been using the , which has worked out well for the most part. We haven’t had any issues with large rodents, and any mice that dare step foot into the coop are met with two hungry beaks.
Todd lined the front of the coop with 1″ hardware cloth and it has worked very well for us; however, I have heard that if you have issues with raccoons, it’s best to go with 1/2″ hardware cloth.
Another Space Saving Coop Idea
A friend of mine, Nora from , and is based on Todd’s multilevel chicken coop design. Their family has around 8-10 girls, so this brooder was a very good fit for them. It can definitely be built outdoors and used as a space-saving chicken coop for 1-3 chickens, or built indoors to use as a brooder for a larger flock.
As you can see, building a chicken coop to fit your small property needs can be a much better prospect than purchasing a prefab chicken coop. While prefab coops are beautiful and promise ease, tailoring your chicken coop to fit in just the right place on your small property can be more affordable, and in the long run, more convenient for your homestead setup. As long as your chicken coop meets , you can build a chicken coop that meets your homestead’s needed requirements as well, which will make everyone happy!
For more great information on raising chickens, please visit Fresh Eggs Daily’s Ultimate Chicken Care Guide.
What size is your property? Do you use space-saving techniques?
Chicken Coop Guides in Kingsland, Texas
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Kingsland 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 Kingsland Texas chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Kingsland, Texas With the massive increase in poultry keeping there has been a just as large surge in the variety of chicken paraphernalia on sale. Chicken real estate is a case in factor. It's also a timeless example of the excellent old bandwagon being jumped on as various potential chicken housing specialists peddle an array of accommodation asserting to be the excellent solution to your chicken housing needs. Commonly the rate looks eye-catching, your diy-chicken-coop-planshome looks desirable, hell also the clean-cut family members standing there feeding the chickens look attractive. Surely they understand a professional chicken house when they see one? There are lots of cheap and unpleasant coops flooding the market. I understand this as I've tested a number of them in the area, and also seen a ewe run straight via one when the feed pail showed up. The result was only a costly pile of fire wood as well as a small group of bemused and now homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Basics in Kingsland, Texas
More often than not these mass produced designs are constructed of fast grown up hardwood - come the very first decline of rain they swell, leaving you either barricading a doorway that won't close, or ripping the door furnishings off in a vain attempt to release the squawking occupants. The initial warm day implies the timber dries out as well as splits, the really felt roof bubbles as well as boils, and also come nightfall the chickens refuse to enter. This is not due to their disappointment at the decrease of their as soon as attractive home but since the hovel is now a place for, and most likely crawling with, the poultry caretaker's bane, red mite. Add the fact that it claimed on the blurb that it would suit four large hens when that equipping density was based on the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and also what are you entrusted? A couple of joints and also some kindling. A suitable coop for thee to 4 birds need to cost you approximately ₤ 300 though this can depend on whether you elect for a complimentary standing house or one with a run connected. Assuming you are ranging your birds in a large area and also the pop opening door is big sufficient for the breed you maintain, then the major needs of real estate boil down to 3 factors which will certainly specify the variety of birds the house will certainly hold; perches, nest boxes and ventilation. Most breeds of chicken will certainly perch when they visit roost at night, this perch ought to ideally be 5-8cm broad with smoothed off sides so the foot rests comfortably on it. The perch must be higher than the nest box entry as chickens will additionally naturally search for the acme to perch. A perch below that will certainly have the birds roosting in the nest box over night (which is incidentally when they produce one of the most poo) resulting in stained eggs the following day. They should not nonetheless be so high off the floor of your home that leg injuries might happen when the bird gets down in the early morning. Chickens require concerning 20cm of perch each (in little types this is undoubtedly much less), plus if greater than one perch is set up in the house they need to be greater than 30cm apart. They will certainly hunker up with their next-door neighbors however are not that crazy about roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird in front. Ideally the house needs to have a the very least one nest box for each 3 birds and these must be off the ground as well as in the darkest area of your house. Your home ought to have adequate ventilation: without it after that condensation will certainly develop every night, even in the chilliest of weather condition. Understand, ventilation works with the concept of cozy air leaving with a high space drawing cooler air in from a reduced void - it's not a set of holes on other walls of your house as well as at the very same level, this is just what's referred to as a draught. If you have a house with a run attached after that the factors above are still true, yet you ought to additionally think about the run size. The EU optimum lawful stocking thickness for a complimentary variety bird is (and let's encounter it, one of the inspirations for maintaining some chickens at home is perhaps enhanced or better well-being) 2,500 birds each hectare, that's optimal one bird each 4m squared. Take a close look at a few of the deal houses - it could well be the house has the ideal perches, correct ventilation and also adequate nest boxes for a reasonable number of birds, however will each of the chickens have anything more than an A4 sized piece of ground to invest the day on? And so as the saying goes, "you obtain exactly what you pay for". You could assume you've got a bargain, but you as well as your group might rue the day you did. Purchase the best house and it will last for a few years, if not longer provided the correct therapy. Eventually your chicken and also your fowl keeping experience will be a lot the better for it.diy coop
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