Chicken Coops for Sale in Gum Spring, Virginia
Chicken Coops for Sale in Gum Spring, Virginia
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 Run Plans in Gum Spring, Virginia
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Gum Spring 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 Gum Spring Virginia chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Gum Spring, Virginia With the big increase in chicken maintaining there has actually been a just as huge increase in the array of chicken materiel for sale. Fowl housing is a situation in factor. It's also a classic instance of the great old bandwagon being jumped on as numerous would-be chicken housing professionals pitch a selection of accommodation declaring to be the optimal solution to your chicken real estate needs. Frequently the cost looks desirable, the house looks appealing, hell also the clean-cut family members standing there feeding the chickens look appealing. Undoubtedly they understand a quality chicken house when they see one? There are several economical and also horrible cages flooding the market. I recognize this as I've tested a number of them in the field, as well as seen a ewe run directly via one when the feed container appeared. The outcome was nothing but an expensive pile of firewood as well as a small flock of bemused as well as now homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop For 10 Chickens in Gum Spring, Virginia
Generally these standardized designs are created of rapid grown wood - come the initial decrease of rainfall they swell, leaving you either defending a door that will not shut, or ripping the door furniture off in a vain attempt to launch the squawking citizens. The initial cozy day suggests the lumber dries as well as cracks, the really felt roof bubbles and also boils, and come nightfall the hens choose not to go in. This is not due to their dissatisfaction at the decline of their as soon as appealing apartment yet due to the fact that the hovel is now a haven for, and most likely crawling with, the fowl caretaker's nemesis, red mite. Add the fact that it claimed on the blurb that it would certainly match 4 huge chickens when that stocking density was based upon the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and what are you left with? A couple of joints and some kindling. A respectable coop for thee to four birds need to cost you in the region of ₤ 300 though this can depend upon whether you choose for a complimentary standing house or one with a run attached. Thinking you are varying your birds in a large room and the pop opening doorway allows enough for the type you keep, after that the primary demands of real estate boil down to three points which will specify the number of birds the house will certainly hold; perches, nest boxes and air flow. The majority of types of chicken will certainly perch when they visit roost at night, this perch ought to ideally be 5-8cm large with smoothed off edges so the foot sits comfortably on it. The perch must be more than the nest box entrance as chickens will also normally search for the highest point to perch. A perch lower than that will have the birds roosting in the nest box overnight (which is incidentally when they generate the most poo) causing dirtied eggs the following day. They shouldn't nevertheless be so high off the floor of your house that leg injuries could take place when the bird comes down in the early morning. Chickens require about 20cm of perch each (in small types this is obviously less), plus if greater than one perch is set up in your house they need to be greater than 30cm apart. They will hunker up with their next-door neighbors but are not that crazy about 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 three birds and these need to be off the ground and also in the darkest area of the house. Your house should have sufficient ventilation: without it after that condensation will certainly build up every evening, also in the chilliest of weather condition. Understand, ventilation deals with the concept of cozy air leaving with a high space attracting cooler air in from a reduced void - it's not a collection of holes on opposite wall surfaces of your house and also at the very same level, this is what's known as a draught. If you have a house with a run affixed then the points above are still true, but you must additionally consider the run dimension. The EU maximum legal stocking thickness for a free array bird is (and also let's encounter it, one of the motivations for maintaining some chickens at home is perhaps boosted or much better welfare) 2,500 birds each hectare, that's optimal one bird each 4m settled. Take a close look at several of the bargain homes - it could well be your home has the right perches, right air flow and also enough nest boxes for an affordable variety of birds, however will each of the chickens have anything more than an A4 sized piece of ground to invest the day on? And so as the claiming goes, "you obtain just what you spend for". You could think you've got hold of a deal, yet you as well as your flock could rue the day you did. Acquisition the appropriate house and it will certainly last for a couple of years, otherwise longer offered the right treatment. Eventually your fowl and also your chicken keeping encounter will certainly be considerably the far better for it.plans coops
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