Chicken Coops for Sale in Tremonton, Utah
Chicken Coops for Sale in Tremonton, Utah
Preparing Your Coop/Flock For Winter – Part 1: Roof Structure
Last week I posted a list of items that you may want to consider doing to make sure you and your flock are ready for the colder winter months. I’m going to try address one or two of these topics every Wednesday so that if you are going to work on them over the weekend you have time to plan.
Again I know it’s hard to even think of winter when the temperatures are in the 90’s in many parts of the country, but the cold weather will be on us before you know. Its much easier to take the time now to button up any issues, then trying to do it in the dead of winter. Many of you will not deal with snow and ice (lucky you!) but many of these topics effect all of us backyard chicken keepers and have a detrimental effect on the overall health of your coop…As I always say if what I post pertains to you and helps, great, if not just forget about it and move on…
Coop Roof Structure:
The roof of your coop is the first line of defense against the elements. A sound roof will not only prevent water penetration but will help in keeping your coop warm during the winter. As we all know heat rises (check our second floor of the house out in the summer!) and a solid roof can help trap some of this heat keeping the inside of the coop warmer. The important thing to remember is that you do not want to trap all of the heat by cutting off ventilation. Heat develops moisture and condensation so it’s important to have a balance. Ventilation is an important aspect of the coop, without it moisture builds, ammonia fumes become overpowering and your birds health will suffer. There is a huge difference between ventilation and a draft, we will be discussing “drafts” in a later post.
Having controllable ventilation at the peak of the roof structure will help to maintain a healthy coop. This can easily be accomplished with some screen covered holes on the side walls of the peak and using a piece of plywood to control how much of an opening you want. There are some much more elaborate systems out there but they all accomplish the same thing, controllable ventilation. If you don’t have ventilation at the peak you may want to consider it. There is a reason why so many homes have ventilation at the eves and peaks, it helps to control moisture in the home during the winter as well keeping the home cooler in the summer months.
Ensuring that your roof is leak free is also very important. That little leak you have been dealing with all summer may become a big issue during the winter when you get the “freeze/thaw effects”. During the day as snow and ice melt, water can leak into the the roof structure. At night this water freezes and expands resulting in a larger and larger leak as the days go by. There are many products out there that can help seal up these leaks but be careful some have toxic fumes that could be harmful to your flock. Sometimes just using a new shingle on asphalt roofs does the trick. Metal roofs typically leak at the seams or nail heads, a good quality sealer should handle these areas. Just remember most of the time the leak you see dripping on the underside of the roof came from a hole or crack above where you see the dripping. When water leaks in, gravity causes the water to run to the lowest point. It may take some investigation to find where the leak is actually coming from but a good starting point is to start above the spot you see the leak dripping.
If the wood on your coop roof is rotted it should be replaced. Rotted wood normally contains a large amount of moisture. The moisture in this wood adds moisture to the coop (remember, it’s a bad thing). “Freeze/Thaw” effects can take place on this rotted wood causing it to deteriorate even quicker. Snow loads can add significant weight to the top of the coop and a unstable structure runs the risk of collapse. I can only imagine how difficult it would be dealing with a roof collapse in the dead of winter! If the snow and ice get to heavy for the roof on your coop, you should remove it. When removing it be careful not to damage the roof shingles or other covering! Stand on a steady surface with both feet firmly planted on the ground or step when attempting to remove snow and ice.
A roof leak also adds unwanted moisture to you coop by letting water in and keeping the litter wet. The interior of a coop has enough moisture from bird droppings and the moisture a chicken itself gives off by breathing, you don’t need or want the added moisture from a leak. If the litter in the coop becomes wet from any source during the winter you should remove it and replace it with fresh as quickly as possible. Placing a bucket under the leak to catch the drip is not a good fix. When water drips into the bucket it can splash a fine mist a considerable distance. This mist keeps the litter wet and the air inside the coop too moist.
A well ventilated, leak free, structurally sound roof on your coop is a extremely important part in maintaining the overall health of your coop. This is not an area that you want to just “make do” and cut corners. There are many materials that you can use for a roof. Some, like scrap metal roofing or end cut pieces of tar paper and shingles can be found at a local building site (ask first, you don’t want the end up in jail!) or a recycling center. I would avoid using a tarp, although these are good in an emergency should you find a leak. And never use pressure treated wood which can give off toxic fumes in a enclosed area like a coop. If your roof membrane is water tight there is no need for pressure treated plywood or lumber as a deck surface.
By addressing the coops roof now you can prevent dealing with the effects of a wet environment in the dead cold of the winter months…Hope this helps….
FrankThe Chicken Fountain™
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Chicken Coop Enclosures in Tremonton, Utah
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Tremonton Utah" 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 Tremonton Utah chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Tremonton, Utah With the massive boost in poultry keeping there has been a just as huge increase in the range of poultry materiel on sale. Chicken housing is a situation in factor. It's likewise a traditional instance of the great old bandwagon being got on as numerous would-be fowl housing specialists peddle a selection of holiday accommodation asserting to be the ideal remedy to your chicken real estate demands. Frequently the cost looks desirable, your house looks desirable, hell also the clean-cut family members standing there feeding the chickens look eye-catching. Certainly they know a professional chicken house when they see one? There are lots of inexpensive and awful coops swamping the market. I recognize this as I've checked a variety of them in the field, and also seen a ewe run directly through one when the feed pail showed up. The result was nothing but a costly heap of fire wood as well as a small flock of bemused and also currently homeless bantams.
Baby Chick Hatching in Tremonton, Utah
Typically these mass produced designs are built of fast grown up lumber - come the first decline of rain they swell, leaving you either fortifying a doorway that will not close, or ripping the door furniture off in a vain attempt to release the squawking residents. The very first warm and comfortable day suggests the wood dries as well as fractures, the felt roofing bubbles and boils, and come nightfall the hens refuse to go in. This is not due to their dissatisfaction at the decrease of their when attractive residential property however because the hovel is now a sanctuary for, and probably abounding, the chicken caretaker's nemesis, red mite. Add on that it claimed on the blurb that it would certainly suit four huge hens when that equipping density was based on the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and just what are you entrusted? A couple of joints and also some kindling. A respectable coop for thee to 4 birds should cost you in the region of ₤ 300 though this could depend on whether you choose for a free standing house or one with a run affixed. Thinking you are varying your birds in a huge space and the pop hole doorway is big enough for the breed you keep, after that the main requirements of housing boil down to three points which will certainly specify the variety of birds the house will hold; perches, nest boxes as well as ventilation. Most breeds of chicken will perch when they go to roost in the evening, this perch must ideally be 5-8cm vast with smoothed off sides so the foot rests conveniently on it. The perch should be more than the nest box entrance as chickens will additionally naturally search for the acme to perch. A perch less than that will have the birds roosting in the nest box overnight (which is incidentally when they create the most poo) bring about dirtied eggs the following day. They should not however be so high off the flooring of the house that leg injuries can occur when the bird comes down in the morning. Chickens need regarding 20cm of perch each (in little breeds this is obviously less), plus if more than one perch is installed in your home they should be greater than 30cm apart. They will certainly hunker up with their neighbors yet are not that crazy about roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird ahead. Preferably the house must have a the very least one nest box for every single three birds and also these should be off the ground and also in the darkest location of the house. Your house needs to have adequate air flow: without it after that condensation will develop every night, even in the coldest of weather. Realize, ventilation works with the concept of warm and comfortable air leaving with a high gap attracting cooler air in from a lower void - it's not a set of holes on opposite wall surfaces of your house and at the very same level, this is just what's known as a draught. If you have a house with a run attached then the factors above are still real, however you must also take into consideration the run size. The EU maximum lawful equipping density for a free variety bird is (and allow's encounter it, among the inspirations for keeping some chickens in your home is possibly improved or much better well-being) 2,500 birds per hectare, that's optimal one bird per 4m settled. Take a close consider some of the bargain homes - it could well be your home has the appropriate perches, correct air flow as well as enough nest boxes for a reasonable number of birds, but will each of the chickens have anything greater than an A4 sized piece of ground to spend the day on? Therefore as the saying goes, "you obtain what you spend for". You might believe you've got a bargain, however you as well as your group might rue the day you did. Acquisition the appropriate house and also it will certainly last for a couple of years, otherwise longer offered the appropriate treatment. In the long run your fowl and your chicken maintaining experience will be considerably the far better for it.chicken plan
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