Chicken Coops for Sale in Austinville, Virginia
Chicken Coops for Sale in Austinville, Virginia
Tour of the Chicken Coop
After nearly three months of work, the coop is DONE! That makes me happy because 1.) we’re getting chickens TOMORROW, and 2.) Karl will maaaaybe start working on some indoor house projects. The coop has been a labor of love for Karl. I’ve never seen such perfectionist tendencies in him before! Maybe he just wanted to avoid housework and unpacking? Who knows. But the coop is pretty swanky.
We’re modeling much of what we do on the farm on ’s theories. In case you’ve never heard of him, Salatin is the farmer profiled in the film and the book . He’s a prolific, engaging writer and we’re making our way through most of his . He believes in diversity and symbiosis on a farm, not monoculture. Fruits and vegetables do best if there is some animal component with them – “manure is magic.” His farming practices make the land better and the products better nutritionally.
He uses “Eggmobiles” for his laying hens – movable coops. By moving the coop regularly to a fresh piece of pasture, you first of all save your grass from being torn up (a common complaint amongst backyard chicken owners). Second of all, the chickens get fresh grass and bugs with each new patch of grass. Third of all, the chickens fertilize your entire property by moving them around.
In Salatin’s system, the chickens follow the cows. They scratch through the cow patties, breaking them up and fertilizing the grass, and they eat all the bugs in the cow patties, making super-nutritious eggs. But, we’re not quite ready for cows yet. That’s on the “one day” list!
Karl found an old hitch in the woods on our property. All he had to do was buy new tires. It hooks to the back of our riding lawnmower. He built a basic four-sided, square structure with a flat roof. The laying boxes have access from the outside, so we can easily collect our eggs everyday. The bungees close the coop tight, keeping out the raccoons and foxes.
There are 2×4’s on the second level for the chickens to roost at night. I love the “ladder” Karl made with sticks from the yard.
There are windows lined in chicken wire to get air in the summer, and they close tight in the winter. The water container is high and covered, using gravity to distribute water and keeping the chickens from getting food and poop in their water. The food container travels with the coop, and it closes tight, keeping it safe from raccoons and foxes. A hoe also travels with the coop, making it easy to scrape out the bottom and clean the coop every week.
But the piece de la resistance? The real reason Karl has been tinkering in the garage for three months? An automatic door on a timer!
You see, we’re lazy farmers. We have no desire to traipse outside at the crack of dawn to let the chickens out in the morning, especially while we’re both still working full-time! Karl and his engineer sister spent weeks talking about circuits and volts. Karl also did a lot of farm blog reading. Questions on his design? Contact me and I’ll connect you with him. It’s all over my head, but I’m grateful we’ll be able to sleep in Saturday mornings. At least until the baby comes!
Next update? Life with chickens! I’m very excited to meet them tomorrow!
Baby Yellow Chick in Austinville, Virginia
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Austinville Virginia" 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 Austinville Virginia chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Austinville, Virginia With the substantial increase in chicken maintaining there has actually been an equally huge surge in the array of chicken stuff for sale. Fowl housing is a proceedings in factor. It's also a traditional instance of the excellent old bandwagon being got on as numerous potential fowl housing experts peddle a variety of cottage declaring to be the excellent option to your chicken real estate requirements. Commonly the price looks desirable, your house looks appealing, hell even the clean-cut household standing there feeding the chickens look desirable. Definitely they recognize a high quality chicken house when they see one? There are lots of low-cost as well as nasty cages swamping the market. I understand this as I've tested a variety of them in the field, and seen a ewe run directly via one when the feed pail showed up. The result was nothing but a pricey heap of firewood and also a tiny group of bemused as well as currently homeless bantams.
Baby Chick Hatching in Austinville, Virginia
Most of the time these mass produced models are created of fast grown wood - come the very first decline of rain they swell, leaving you either defending a door that will not close, or ripping the doorway furnishings off in a vain effort to launch the squawking residents. The very first cozy day means the wood dries and also fractures, the really felt roofing bubbles and boils, and also come nightfall the chickens refuse to go in. This is not due to their frustration at the decline of their as soon as attractive building but due to the fact that the hovel is currently a place for, as well as probably crawling with, the poultry caretaker's bane, red mite. Add the fact that it claimed on the blurb that it would certainly fit 4 big chickens when that stocking thickness was based upon the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and what are you left with? A number of hinges and some kindling. A respectable coop for thee to four birds should cost you in the region of ₤ 300 though this could rely on whether you choose for a complimentary standing house or one with a run connected. Presuming you are varying your birds in a huge area as well as the pop hole door allows enough for the type you maintain, then the major demands of real estate boil down to three factors which will specify the variety of birds your home will certainly hold; perches, nest boxes and also ventilation. Many types of chicken will certainly perch when they go to roost at night, this perch must preferably be 5-8cm broad with smoothed off sides so the foot rests easily on it. The perch ought to be above the nest box entrance as chickens will certainly additionally naturally try to find the acme to perch. A perch less than that will certainly have the birds roosting in the nest box overnight (which is incidentally when they create one of the most poo) resulting in dirtied eggs the list below day. They should not nevertheless be so high off the floor of your house that leg injuries could occur when the bird comes down in the morning. Chickens require regarding 20cm of perch each (in little types this is certainly less), plus if more than one perch is mounted in your house they must be greater than 30cm apart. They will hunker up with their next-door neighbors yet are not that keen on roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird ahead. Preferably your house should have a the very least one nest box for every 3 birds and also these need to be off the ground and also in the darkest area of your home. Your home ought to have adequate ventilation: without it then condensation will accumulate every evening, even in the chilliest of weather. Be aware, ventilation works with the concept of warm and comfortable air leaving via a high gap attracting cooler air in from a lower space - it's not a collection of holes on opposite walls of your house and at the same degree, this is just what's known as a draught. If you have a house with a run connected then the factors above are still real, however you need to additionally consider the run dimension. The EU optimum legal equipping density for a free range bird is (as well as allow's encounter it, one of the motivations for maintaining some hens in the house is perhaps boosted or far better welfare) 2,500 birds per hectare, that's optimal one bird per 4m made even. Take a close check out several of the deal homes - it could well be the house has the ideal perches, appropriate air flow as well as sufficient nest boxes for an affordable 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 spend for". You may think you've got a bargain, however you as well as your flock could rue the day you did. Acquisition the best house and also it will last for a few decades, if not longer provided the right treatment. In the end your chicken and also your chicken maintaining experience will be much the better for it.build coop
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