Chicken Coops for Sale in Axton, Virginia
Chicken Coops for Sale in Axton, Virginia
Transform Your Little Tikes Playhouse into a Chicken Coop
When I started pestering my husband about chickens (again), I knew I was fighting an uphill battle. He did not want to spend a bunch of money and time on the construction of a suitable coop. We’d already been down the road of improper chicken housing before, and it wasn’t a road that either of us wanted to travel again. But I really, REALLY wanted to give chicken keeping another try. And I thought that with a little bit of forethought, we could eliminate the challenges we ran into before. For starters, the birds would need enough space. And the coop would need to be easy to clean. And most importantly, the coop would need to be secure. Nothing like coming home to find your chickens walking along the 6′ high wall that surrounds your yard! But to construct this type of set up from scratch would cost quite a bit of money in materials, not to mention all the time and sweat it would take for the hubs to actually BUILD the thing.
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So then I started scouring the internet trying to find the best deal on a “coop in a box”. I had my eye on but the price tag was a bit hefty. (It’s actually on sale for 58% off right now if you happen to be in the market for a pre-fabricated coop!) Not only was the hubs not excited about building a chicken coop, he also wasn’t excited about the idea of another “thing” in the yard. Our yard was already overrun with toys, bikes, gardening tools, a composter, and our very well-loved Little Tikes Playhouse. So as I sat in the yard one spring evening watching the kids play with everything BUT the playhouse, I got to thinking… Why couldn’t we just turn the playhouse into a chicken coop?!?! I didn’t tell hubs about the idea right away. Instead, I began looking at the structure of the playhouse to see if my idea would even work. Guys, I swear, this thing was MADE to become a chicken coop! It had everything we needed! The house is large enough for me to walk inside to rake it out, it has plenty of space for a nesting box, waterer, food, and a roosting bar. And it even came with a little cut out section near the floor (picture a doggy door) so the chickens could access the run we built behind it! I sketched out an idea of the modifications that we would need to make, and I presented my idea to the hubs. Guess what? He went for it! It was PERFECT. The structure was already built. We wouldn’t have to add another “thing” to our already tiny yard, and the best part? It’s totally incognito. No one would EVER suspect chickens were living in the playhouse! That night, I ordered our chicks! So how did we transform the playhouse? Well, let’s take a tour, shall we?
The first thing we did was cover all the openings with garden wire. Hubs had a roll of this laying around from some other project. He used drywall screws to attach the wire to the windows. The coop actually stayed like this for a while. While the chicks were still small, it was best for them to be confined to a smaller space, so not having a run wasn’t an issue.
Next the hubs built the run. You can see the “doggy door” in the bottom left corner…this is how the chickens get in and out of the house. The run is a pretty simple A-frame structure made out of 1″x 1″ pine pieces. The frame was made in sections and the wire was screwed on to each section as it was assembled. The top of the run lifts up so I can climb in and rake out the poo. I just prop it open with an upside down rake and jump on in.
The corners are all secured with these nifty . And the whole top piece is attached to the frame with some thin chains that act as a hinge. Here is a picture of the chains.
The brown plastic covering you see on this window is actually the cover to our sand and water table. The hubs cut it to fit over the largest window to break some of the wind in the winter. He used more drywall screws to attach it to the house.
Inside the coop, we attached a roosting bar (made out of an old broom handle) to the side of the house using a simple scrap of wood to attach it.
Here is a look at one side of the roosting bar. The other side just sits on the “mantle” inside the house.
My favorite part about the coop is the nesting box. Hubs attached a recycling bin to the wall using a couple brackets. It’s the PERFECT size for a comfy chicken laying box. And it’s up high so there’s a little privacy. We did cut it down a bit…chickens are not very bright creatures…they were afraid to go inside when the lip of the box was up higher.
The is hung from the ceiling by a thin chain (to keep the birds from standing on it), and the just sits on the floor. The set up is working BRILLIANTLY for us. The birds are happy and laying an egg per chicken per day (even though it’s winter), and it is all super easy to care for. The best part is that we were able to make this transformation for a whopping $46. I can’t say enough about how awesome chicken are…I’m pretty sure my kiddos would agree! Think you might transform your little tikes playhouse into a chicken coop?
Here is the complete list of materials and tools we used to make our playhouse into a chicken coop. Our chickens have been living in the coop for 8 months, and it’s still holding up great!
Hardware
- , to secure wire to playhouse
- to secure wire to wood frame
- to hang feeder from inside coop
Tools
- – for cutting the wire
- (for pounding staples)
- for cutting 1 1/2″ pieces of wood
Chicken Coop Free Plans in Axton, Virginia
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Axton 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 Axton Virginia chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Axton, Virginia With the substantial boost in chicken keeping there has actually been a similarly huge increase in the variety of poultry paraphernalia for sale. Fowl housing is an instance in factor. It's additionally a classic instance of the good old bandwagon being jumped on as different would-be fowl real estate specialists market a variety of cottage claiming to be the suitable solution to your chicken real estate requirements. Often the rate looks eye-catching, your diy-chicken-coop-planshome looks attractive, heck also the clean-cut household standing there feeding the chickens look appealing. Definitely they understand a quality chicken house when they see one? There are several affordable as well as awful cages flooding the marketplace. I understand this as I've tested a variety of them in the field, as well as seen a ewe run straight with one when the feed container appeared. The outcome was nothing but an expensive stack of firewood as well as a tiny flock of bemused and now homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop House Plans in Axton, Virginia
Generally these standardized designs are constructed of quick grown hardwood - come the initial drop of rain they swell, leaving you either defending a door that won't close, or ripping the door furniture off in a vain effort to release the squawking occupants. The very first warm and comfortable day indicates the timber dries and also fractures, the really felt roofing system bubbles and boils, and also come nightfall the chickens choose not to enter. This is not because of their dissatisfaction at the decline of their once attractive home however due to the fact that the hovel is now a place for, and possibly abounding, the poultry caretaker's nemesis, red mite. Add on that it stated on the blurb that it would fit 4 large chickens when that stocking density was based upon the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and also what are you left with? A number of joints as well as some kindling. A good coop for thee to four birds ought to cost you in the region of ₤ 300 though this can depend upon whether you elect for a totally free standing house or one with a run attached. Assuming you are varying your birds in a huge area and the pop hole door is big enough for the breed you keep, after that the major demands of housing boil down to 3 factors which will define the variety of birds your house will hold; perches, nest boxes and also air flow. Most types of chicken will perch when they visit roost at night, this perch must preferably be 5-8cm wide with smoothed off edges so the foot sits pleasantly on it. The perch ought to be more than the nest box entry as chickens will certainly also naturally look for 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 produce the most poo) bring about dirtied eggs the following day. They should not nonetheless be so high off the floor of the house that leg injuries can occur when the bird comes down in the morning. Chickens require regarding 20cm of perch each (in small types this is certainly much less), plus if greater than one perch is installed in your home they should be more than 30cm apart. They will hunker up with their neighbors yet are not that keen on roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird ahead. Preferably your house must have a least one nest box for every 3 birds and also these need to be off the ground and also in the darkest location of the house. Your house should have ample air flow: without it after that condensation will certainly accumulate every night, also in the coldest of climate. Understand, air flow deals with the concept of warm and comfortable air leaving via a high gap attracting cooler air in from a reduced void - it's not a set of holes on other walls of your house and also at the very same degree, this is what's known as a draft. If you have a house with a run attached after that the factors above are still real, but you must likewise consider the run dimension. The EU optimum legal stocking thickness for a free range bird is (and also allow's encounter it, one of the motivations for maintaining some hens in your home is perhaps improved or far better well-being) 2,500 birds each hectare, that's optimal one bird each 4m settled. Take a close look at several of the deal homes - it could well be your house has the best perches, right air flow as well as adequate nest boxes for a practical variety of birds, but will each of the chickens have anything greater than an A4 sized item of ground to spend the day on? Therefore as the claiming goes, "you get just what you pay for". You might believe you've grabbed a deal, but you and your group could rue the day you did. Purchase the ideal house as well as it will certainly last for a couple of decades, if not longer given the proper treatment. Eventually your poultry and also your fowl keeping encounter will certainly be much the far better for it.diy plans
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