Chicken Coops for Sale in Plano, Texas
Chicken Coops for Sale in Plano, 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 Yard Ideas in Plano, Texas
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Plano 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 Plano Texas chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Plano, Texas With the significant increase in poultry maintaining there has been an equally big rise in the variety of chicken paraphernalia for sale. Fowl real estate is a situation in point. It's likewise a classic example of the good old bandwagon being got on as different potential chicken real estate specialists pitch an array of holiday accommodation declaring to be the perfect solution to your chicken housing demands. Often the cost looks desirable, your house looks attractive, hell even the clean-cut family standing there feeding the chickens look eye-catching. Definitely they recognize a high quality chicken house when they see one? There are lots of economical as well as horrible cages flooding the marketplace. I recognize this as I've checked a number of them in the field, and also seen a ewe run straight with one when the feed container showed up. The outcome was only a costly pile of fire wood and also a tiny group of bemused and currently homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Pinterest in Plano, Texas
Generally these standardized versions are created of fast grown up timber - come the initial drop of rain they swell, leaving you either fortifying a doorway that will not shut, or ripping the doorway furnishings off in a vain effort to launch the squawking occupants. The first warm day indicates the hardwood dries out and cracks, the really felt roofing system bubbles and boils, and also come nightfall the chickens refuse to go in. This is not because of their dissatisfaction at the decrease of their as soon as eye-catching commercial property but due to the fact that the hovel is now a sanctuary for, and probably abounding, the chicken keeper's bane, red mite. Add that it said on the blurb that it would fit 4 huge chickens when that equipping density was based on the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, as well as exactly what are you entrusted? A number of hinges and some kindling. A decent coop for thee to four birds should cost you approximately ₤ 300 though this can depend upon whether you elect for a totally free standing house or one with a run connected. Assuming you are ranging your birds in a big space as well as the pop hole door is big enough for the type you maintain, then the main requirements of housing boil down to 3 points which will define the number of birds your home will certainly hold; perches, nest boxes and air flow. Most types of chicken will certainly perch when they visit roost during the night, this perch should preferably be 5-8cm vast with smoothed off sides so the foot sits pleasantly on it. The perch needs to be higher than the nest box access as chickens will additionally normally try to find the acme to perch. A perch below that will have the birds roosting in the nest box overnight (which is by the way when they produce the most poo) resulting in stained eggs the list below day. They shouldn't nonetheless be so high off the flooring of your home that leg injuries might occur when the bird gets down in the morning. Chickens need concerning 20cm of perch each (in small breeds this is undoubtedly less), plus if more than one perch is installed in your home they should be more than 30cm apart. They will certainly hunker up with their neighbors yet are not that keen on 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 every single 3 birds and these need to be off the ground and also in the darkest location of your home. Your home should have appropriate ventilation: without it then condensation will build up every night, even in the coldest of climate. Know, air flow deals with the concept of warm and comfortable air leaving via a high space drawing cooler air in from a reduced space - it's not a set of openings on opposite wall surfaces of your house and at the same level, this is exactly what's referred to as a draught. If you have a house with a run attached after that the points above are still real, yet you ought to additionally consider the run size. The EU optimum legal equipping thickness for a totally free array bird is (and also allow's encounter it, among the motivations for keeping some hens in your home is potentially enhanced or better welfare) 2,500 birds each hectare, that's maximum one bird each 4m squared. Take a close consider several of the deal homes - it could well be the house has the right perches, right air flow and enough nest boxes for a sensible number of birds, however will each of the chickens have anything greater than an A4 sized piece of ground to invest the day on? And so as the saying goes, "you get exactly what you pay for". You might assume you've grabbed a bargain, yet you and also your flock might rue the day you did. Acquisition the right house and it will certainly last for a couple of years, otherwise longer provided the right therapy. Eventually your poultry as well as your poultry maintaining experience will certainly be a lot the much better for it.chicken plans
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