Chicken Coops for Sale in Oklaunion, Texas
Chicken Coops for Sale in Oklaunion, Texas
My DIY Chicken Coop and Run
One of the things I’ve missed since moving north from our country home in Texas 13 years ago has been having chickens, and our own fresh eggs. Having a new grandbaby made my chicken longing all the more compelling–I might be able to accept eating store-bought eggs for myself, but my granddaughter must have only the best and most nutritious!
Being a busy grad student and nurse meant I thought I didn’t have time for DIY projects, so my original intent was to purchase a pre-made coop and chicken run. To my amazement, I found a chicken tractor on Amazon.com–with FREE super saver shipping! I happily placed my order.
A week later, Amazon informed me my order had been canceled due to unavailability. Frustration set in. I searched in vain for another source, but couldn’t find anything I liked as much that was within my price range. It seemed that building my own was my only option, but I didn’t see how I possibly could. For one thing, we don’t have much in the way of woodworking tools. Also, finals week was fast approaching, and “spare” time was at a premium. I needed to come up with something I could do quickly and easily, without too many fancy tools. Here’s what I came up with:
I bought a Rubbermaid storage shed at Home Depot.
Inside, I added a roost and a rack to hold the “nestbuckets” made from Home Depot buckets. I also made a screened wall on one side, so that one door can be left open for ventilation during nice weather.
To secure the wooden fixtures, I drilled holes through the walls of the coop and screwed wood screws through from the outside into the wood pieces. Where possible, I took advantage of the shapes and depressions of the plastic to add additional support. The screen wall is fastened to the wall of the coop and also to the roosts. The nestbuckets are not permanently fastened to the rack they sit on — I use a bungee cord to hold them securely in place.
In the back of the coop, beneath the nestbuckets, I cut an opening for the chickens to use for going in and out. I made a mistake and made it flush with the floor, before realizing that there should be a “lip” to hold the bedding in, so I added a scrap piece of lumber across the bottom for that purpose. I used strips of trim to “frame” the opening and hide the hollow walls of the Rubbermaid container.
Since there’s no way to keep the right-hand door closed when the left-hand one is open, I added gate latches on the inside to fasten it to the screen door. I can easily reach the lower one by reaching down through the top of the coop, but for people whose arms aren’t as long as mine, a pull string could be rigged for that purpose.
The last step was to add four eye bolts to the outside of the coop, to secure it to the run (I’m using bungee cords for this purpose), and to add strips of 2×2″ lumber to use as handles, since the smooth plastic makes it hard to get a grip on it for transporting the coop.
The run is made from two cattle panels with 2×4″ openings, using pig rings to secure the pieces together. The sides and top are each a half panel. The remaining piece was cut into 3 parts. Two of them form the end of the run farthest from the coop. The bottom half is fastened permanently in place, and the top half is fastened only at the top, forming a hinge that allows it to be swung up onto the top of the run for access to the inside. Again, I used a bungee cord to fasten the access panel in place when it is closed. I’m tall enough to easily step over the lower piece, but someone without my height advantage might need to modify the design to work for them. The remaining thin piece of cattle panel was fastened vertically to one side of the end of the run next to the coop. It adds some structural stability as well as allowing for the fact that the coop is not quite as wide as the run. A 2-foot wide strip of hardware cloth with 1/2″ openings was fastened all the way around the lower portion of the run, to keep raccoons from reaching through to grab the chickens.
Finally, I fastened a tarp over the run at one end to protect the feed from rain. Here’s the finished product, complete with chickens:
Chicken Coop For 10 Chickens in Oklaunion, Texas
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Oklaunion 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 Oklaunion Texas chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Oklaunion, Texas With the significant increase in chicken keeping there has been a just as big increase in the variety of chicken materiel on sale. Fowl real estate is an instance in factor. It's additionally a classic instance of the excellent old bandwagon being got on as different potential fowl real estate professionals pitch an array of lodging asserting to be the optimal option to your chicken real estate requirements. Usually the price looks attractive, your house looks desirable, heck even the clean-cut family standing there feeding the chickens look eye-catching. Surely they understand a high quality chicken house when they see one? There are several cheap as well as horrible cages swamping the marketplace. I understand this as I've tested a number of them in the area, and also seen a ewe run straight with one when the feed bucket showed up. The result was nothing but a costly heap of fire wood and a tiny group of bemused as well as currently homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Ideas in Oklaunion, Texas
Most of the time these standardized designs are created of fast grown up timber - come the very first decline of rainfall they swell, leaving you either barricading a doorway that won't shut, or tearing the door furniture off in a vain attempt to release the squawking residents. The first cozy day suggests the wood dries and also splits, the felt roofing system bubbles as well as boils, and come nightfall the chickens choose not to enter. This is not as a result of their dissatisfaction at the decline of their when attractive commercial property but due to the fact that the hovel is currently a place for, and also possibly abounding, the fowl caretaker's bane, red mite. Add on that it said on the blurb that it would suit 4 large hens when that stocking density was based upon the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and exactly what are you left with? A couple of joints as well as some kindling. A good coop for thee to four birds ought to cost you approximately ₤ 300 though this can depend on whether you elect for a totally free standing house or one with a run affixed. Presuming you are varying your birds in a big space as well as the pop hole door is big enough for the breed you keep, after that the main demands of housing come down to three factors which will define the number of birds the house will hold; perches, nest boxes and also ventilation. A lot of types of chicken will certainly perch when they visit roost in the evening, this perch ought to ideally be 5-8cm wide with smoothed off edges so the foot sits conveniently on it. The perch should be above the nest box entry as chickens will certainly also naturally seek the highest point to perch. A perch lower than that will have the birds roosting in the nest box over night (which is incidentally when they produce the most poo) leading to soiled eggs the following day. They should not nonetheless be so high off the floor of the house that leg injuries could take place when the bird comes down in the early morning. Chickens require concerning 20cm of perch each (in small types this is clearly less), plus if greater than one perch is installed in your home they must be more than 30cm apart. They will certainly hunker up with their next-door neighbors but are not that keen on roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird ahead. Ideally your home must have a the very least one nest box for each 3 birds as well as these must be off the ground and also in the darkest location of your home. Your house ought to have appropriate ventilation: without it then condensation will develop every night, also in the chilliest of climate. Realize, air flow works with the principle of cozy air leaving with a high space attracting cooler air in from a reduced void - it's not a collection of openings on opposite walls of your home as well as at the same degree, this is just what's called a draft. If you have a house with a run connected then the factors above are still real, but you ought to also take into consideration the run dimension. The EU maximum legal stocking density for a free variety bird is (and also let's encounter it, one of the motivations for maintaining some hens at home is possibly boosted or better well-being) 2,500 birds per hectare, that's maximum one bird per 4m settled. Take a close look at some of the bargain houses - it could well be your house has the best perches, right air flow as well as ample nest boxes for an affordable number of birds, yet will each of the chickens have anything more than an A4 sized piece of ground to invest the day on? Therefore as the saying goes, "you get what you pay for". You may believe you've got a deal, yet you and your flock might rue the day you did. Purchase the appropriate house as well as it will certainly last for a couple of decades, if not longer given the appropriate therapy. In the end your chicken as well as your poultry keeping experience will be considerably the much better for it.plans for sale
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