Chicken Coops for Sale in Edinburg, Virginia
Chicken Coops for Sale in Edinburg, Virginia
How much space do chickens need?
*This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a small percentage if you make a purchase using the link at no additional cost to you. I try to feature products useful & relevant to the posts, so hopefully you will find them helpful too! You get supplies you need, I get money for chicken feed. Win, win!*
When I first started thinking seriously about keeping chickens in my almost half acre suburban yard it was after seeing this adorable chicken coop on Pinterest. The coop was super adorable with a cute little picket fence in front of it, who wouldn’t fall in love with this??
If you have done any research on chicken coops, you have probably seen it too. It’s adorable, and I always see it on “Top Beautiful Chicken Coops” type posts. I am thankful to this cute little coop for making me realize you don’t need 20 acres to own chickens, and for showing me chicken coops can add to the beauty of your yard, not detract from it. But unless you have a larger area for the chickens to free range in on a daily basis, or you have a very small flock, the chickens would be very cramped. You can read more about the construction of this beautiful coop (and purchase plans to make your own!) on .
I suppose the answer to the space question depends on how happy you want your chickens to be. Hens on commercial egg laying farms are often crammed up to a dozen hens in one cage, with each bird given about 67 square inches of space each – about the size of standard letter size piece of paper. They live their whole lives in that cage with no outdoor access. So technically, that is all they need to live, to survive. That is a life I would never wish on a chicken, and I am sure as a chicken owner you would not want that either. Most sources recommend having 4 square feet of indoor space per standard size bird. If you get they only need about half as much room. I don’t know the dimensions of the coop above, but I would guess it would be appropriate for 5-6 standard birds inside. In addition to the indoor space, most recommend 10 square feet of outdoor space per bird (personally, I don’t think that is enough). So the run for this cute coop is probably appropriate for 1-2 birds. 1-2 chickens is an awfully small flock for the rather large investment of building this beautiful coop! Trevor at told me in addition to the adorable picket fence attached run they have a larger 30′ x 18′ enclosure where their chickens can safely roam. I love to let my girls out of their run to free range around the yard, but I only do it when I can be home to supervise them. As a good neighbor you want to keep your chickens out of your neighbor’s yard (plus, you don’t know if your neighbor is using harmful fertilizers on their lawn – you don’t want your laying hens ingesting chemicals). You also need to keep them safe from predators and out of the road. Letting your chickens run wild around the neighborhood is sure to get you some angry knocks on the door. I work from home, but it is a full time job and I have four school aged kids who need attention and to be driven around to activities, so I don’t have the time to be out there with my chickens everyday for hours on end while they happily scratch through the leaves. So, a secure, large chicken run is necessary for the busy backyard chicken keeper to keep your chickens happy. Happy chickens have room to roam, and happy chickens lay healthy eggs!
Chickens like to be outside. They like to scratch in the dirt, snooze in the sun and dust bathe. For the most part, they go inside to sleep at night, lay their eggs and to escape the elements and that is about it. The more outdoor space you can give your chickens the happier they are. Living in New England, when we have blizzards there are days when I don’t let my chickens outside of their coop at all. Bored, cooped up chickens can resort to fighting. Giving them enough space inside keeps everyone safe & happy, so having adequate indoor space is also important.
Right now, my flock is 8 standard size hens and 4 bantams. The bantams only need half the space, so for this calculation, we’ll just call it 10 standard size birds. My current chicken set up is a 4 ft x 8 ft coop plus an attached 2 ft x 4 ft nest box area. So that is 40 square feet total of indoor space. My enclosed, secure run is 11 ft x 16 ft plus the 40 sq ft that is under the coops is also enclosed for them, so that is 216 square feet of outdoor space. So my chickens have 4 square feet per bird inside, and 21 square feet per bird outside, and I am at my chicken limit (boo!).
Chicken Incubator in Edinburg, Virginia
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Edinburg 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 Edinburg Virginia chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Edinburg, Virginia With the huge boost in poultry keeping there has been an equally huge increase in the variety of poultry materiel on sale. Poultry housing is a case in factor. It's likewise a traditional instance of the great old bandwagon being got on as various prospective fowl housing experts pitch an array of lodging asserting to be the suitable remedy to your chicken real estate demands. Commonly the cost looks desirable, your house looks desirable, hell even the clean-cut family members standing there feeding the chickens look attractive. Certainly they recognize a top quality chicken house when they see one? There are lots of cheap and horrible coops swamping the marketplace. I know this as I've checked a number of them in the field, and also seen a ewe run directly via one when the feed pail appeared. The result was just a pricey pile of firewood as well as a small flock of bemused and currently homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Ideas in Edinburg, Virginia
More often than not these standardized designs are created of quick grown up timber - come the initial decline of rain they swell, leaving you either blockading a doorway that will not close, or ripping the door furniture off in a vain attempt to release the squawking inhabitants. The very first cozy day indicates the wood dries and also fractures, the felt roof bubbles and also boils, as well as come nightfall the chickens refuse to enter. This is not as a result of their frustration at the decline of their once attractive apartment yet considering that the hovel is now a sanctuary for, and possibly crawling with, the fowl caretaker's nemesis, red mite. Add on the fact that it claimed on the blurb that it would certainly fit 4 large hens when that equipping density was based on the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and also what are you entrusted? A few hinges and some kindling. A good coop for thee to 4 birds need to cost you around ₤ 300 though this can depend on whether you elect for a free standing house or one with a run attached. Assuming you are varying your birds in a huge area as well as the pop hole door is big sufficient for the type you maintain, then the main demands of housing boil down to three points which will certainly specify the number of birds the house will certainly hold; perches, nest boxes and also ventilation. The majority of breeds of chicken will perch when they visit roost in the evening, this perch needs to ideally be 5-8cm vast with smoothed off sides so the foot rests pleasantly on it. The perch ought to be above the nest box access as chickens will certainly additionally naturally seek the highest point to perch. A perch below that will 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 following day. They should not however be so high off the floor of the house that leg injuries can happen when the bird comes down in the morning. Chickens need regarding 20cm of perch each (in little types this is undoubtedly much less), plus if more than one perch is mounted in the house they need to 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. Ideally the house should have a the very least one nest box for every three birds and these ought to be off the ground and in the darkest location of your house. Your house should have ample air flow: without it then condensation will build up every night, also in the chilliest of weather. Understand, ventilation deals with the principle of warm air leaving via a high space drawing cooler air in from a lower space - it's not a collection of openings on contrary wall surfaces of your house as well as at the very same level, this is exactly what's known as a draught. If you have a house with a run affixed then the points above are still true, yet you need to also consider the run size. The EU optimum legal stocking density for a free array bird is (and also allow's encounter it, one of the inspirations for maintaining some hens in your home is possibly enhanced or far better well-being) 2,500 birds each hectare, that's maximum one bird per 4m made even. Take a close check out a few of the bargain residences - it could well be the house has the best perches, proper ventilation and adequate nest boxes for an affordable number of birds, yet will each of the chickens have anything more than an A4 sized item of ground to spend the day on? And so as the stating goes, "you obtain exactly what you spend for". You could believe you've got a bargain, yet you and also your group can rue the day you did. Acquisition the appropriate house and also it will last for a couple of years, if not longer provided the appropriate treatment. Eventually your fowl and your chicken keeping experience will be much the far better for it.chickens chickens
More Posts
Chicken Coops for Sale in Atkins, Virginia
Chicken Coops for Sale in Bowling Green, Virginia
Chicken Coops for Sale in Augusta Springs, Virginia
Chicken Coops for Sale in Dryden, Virginia
Chicken Coops for Sale in Craigsville, Virginia