Chicken Coops for Sale in Rich Creek, Virginia
Chicken Coops for Sale in Rich Creek, Virginia
Metal Siding on Chicken Coops
My chicken coops have always had metal roofs, and now I’m trying out metal siding, on the grounds that I want anything I build to last 20 years without maintenance, and the exterior plywood I’ve been using doesn’t deliver that.
[Update: Seven years after writing this blog post, the corrugated metal walls are holding up well. Seven years is long enough for plywood walls to start falling to pieces, but the metal walls are holding up well, with only a bit of rust here and there.]
One of my old pasture houses, with a 15-year-old metal roof and 7-year-old metal siding.
Does Metal Promote Condensation and Wetness?
People will tell you that metal siding sweats, because of condensation. This is true if the inside of the house is warmer than the outside, since moisture from the warm house will condense on the cold walls and ceiling. But it’s not about metal vs. wood, since condensation forms on any kind of roof or wall, no matter what it’s made of. In marginal cases, it’s more visible on metal because it’s 100% non-absorbent.
A Fresh-Air House is a Dry House
But you can dodge the problem with a fresh-air poultry house. If you add enough ventilation, the inside of the house is just as cold as the outside, and you get no condensation. My metal roofs don’t have condensation unless there’s snow on the roof and temperatures are above freezing. The rest of the time, my highly ventilated houses have dry ceilings and walls.
Fresh-Air Poultry Houses, by Prince T. Woods. Reprinted by me!
This is one of the main points of , the chicken-coop book I’ve republished (check out the if you haven’t already). It focuses on the advantage of well-ventilated houses, a concept that still needs to be repeated constantly today. You won’t read anything about metal walls or roofs in this book, since it predates their use, but it’s a treasure trove in other ways.
You can also prevent condensation with insulation, but I don’t do that.
Can you really prevent damp chicken houses through ventilation alone? Well, it works for me, and I live in Oregon, which has a famously wet climate!
Installing Corrugated Sheet Metal Walls
Back to the construction project. In keeping with my other rule of construction (never use a saw when you can buy stuff that’s already the right size), I ignored my existing stock of 10-foot metal roofing and obtained some cheap 8-foot corrugated roofing from Home Depot. My chicken houses are 8×8 feet.
Karen and I banged these sheets onto a couple of sides of a chicken house where the old OSB siding was falling to pieces. We used roofing screws. These are hex drive screws with neoprene washers. We used to use roofing nails, but they pull loose too easily and we hate having roofing panels flapping loose in the breeze! And using power tools instead of a hammer keeps my shoulders and back from seizing up. I bang the screw in a short way with a hammer, then drive it home with a cordless drill.
I’m told that roofing screws have three times the holding power of nails.
These panels went on very quickly, and if they ever rust through (which they will, at the bottom edges anyway, if I allow chicken manure to pile up against them), I can take the screws out and replace them just as easily.
So far, so good. The shiny metal really brightens up the interior of the chicken house, and because it’s non-porous, it provides no place for roost mites to accumulate.
Cheap Roofing is Good Enough
Plain old “ripple metal” (corrugated steel) is less rigid than V-channel roofing, but it’s proven to be stiff enough, even for a house that gets dragged around behind a tractor, which can put all sorts of stresses on it, especially if it gets hung up on holes and bumps along the way. So far, so good. That means that, so far, the cheapest possible corrugated metal has been perfectly adequate.
Watch out for translucent corrugated fiberglass. In my experience, it’s not very strong and becomes increasingly brittle over time. I’m sure it has its uses, but don’t think of it as being structural in the way that plywood and corrugated steel are.
You Don’t Have to Settle for Ugly
Of course, you can build a much prettier house with metal roofing with baked-enamel finishes in designer colors, and you should probably do this if you don’t want a silver house, since it’s hard to get paint to stick to galvanized steel. While I’m always looking for the cheapest, longest-lasting, easiest-to-build designs, there are plenty of other ways of approaching the problem of chicken-coop design.
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Chicken Coop Plans in Rich Creek, Virginia
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Rich Creek 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 Rich Creek Virginia chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Rich Creek, Virginia With the substantial rise in poultry keeping there has been a just as large rise in the variety of chicken stuff on sale. Chicken real estate is a case in point. It's additionally a timeless example of the great old bandwagon being got on as various potential fowl housing professionals pitch a selection of lodging asserting to be the ideal solution to your chicken housing needs. Commonly the price looks eye-catching, your diy-chicken-coop-planshome looks appealing, hell also the clean-cut family standing there feeding the chickens look appealing. Surely they understand a high quality chicken house when they see one? There are many inexpensive and unpleasant coops swamping the market. I know this as I've checked a number of them in the field, and also seen a ewe run directly through one when the feed bucket showed up. The outcome was only an expensive heap of firewood and also a little group of bemused as well as currently homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Necessities in Rich Creek, Virginia
Generally these mass produced versions are created of quick grown timber - come the initial decline of rainfall they swell, leaving you either barricading a doorway that won't close, or tearing the door furnishings off in a vain attempt to launch the squawking citizens. The initial warm day suggests the hardwood dries and also fractures, the really felt roofing bubbles as well as boils, as well as come nightfall the hens choose not to enter. This is not because of their disappointment at the decrease of their when eye-catching property yet because the hovel is currently a sanctuary for, and probably abounding, the chicken keeper's bane, red mite. Add the fact that it stated on the blurb that it would suit 4 large hens when that equipping density was based on the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and what are you left with? A couple of hinges as well as some kindling. A good coop for thee to four birds ought to cost you around ₤ 300 though this could depend upon whether you choose for a complimentary standing house or one with a run affixed. Presuming you are ranging your birds in a large space and the pop opening door is big sufficient for the type you maintain, then the primary requirements of real estate come down to three factors which will define the variety of birds the house will certainly hold; perches, nest boxes and also air flow. Most types of chicken will perch when they go to roost at night, this perch should preferably be 5-8cm wide with smoothed off sides so the foot rests easily on it. The perch needs to be above the nest box entry as chickens will certainly additionally naturally try to find the acme to perch. A perch below that will have the birds roosting in the nest box overnight (which is by the way when they create one of the most poo) causing stained eggs the following day. They shouldn't however be so high off the flooring of your home that leg injuries can take place 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 more than one perch is installed in your house they must be greater than 30cm apart. They will hunker up with their neighbors yet are not that crazy about roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird ahead. Preferably your home must have a the very least one nest box for every single 3 birds and these need to be off the ground as well as in the darkest location of the house. Your home needs to have appropriate ventilation: without it then condensation will certainly develop every night, also in the chilliest of weather condition. Realize, air flow works with the concept of warm air leaving with a high space drawing cooler air in from a lower void - it's not a collection of holes on other wall surfaces of your house as well as at the exact same degree, this is just what's referred to as a draught. If you have a house with a run connected then the factors above are still real, but you ought to additionally take into consideration the run dimension. The EU maximum legal stocking thickness for a cost-free variety bird is (as well as allow's face it, one of the motivations for keeping some hens in the house is potentially enhanced or much better well-being) 2,500 birds each hectare, that's maximum one bird each 4m squared. Take a close take a look at a few of the deal homes - it could well be your home has the right perches, correct air flow as well as adequate nest boxes for a sensible number of birds, but will each of the chickens have anything greater than an A4 sized item of ground to invest the day on? Therefore as the saying goes, "you get exactly what you spend for". You might assume you've grabbed a bargain, but you and also your group could rue the day you did. Purchase the appropriate house and also it will last for a few decades, if not longer offered the appropriate treatment. In the end your chicken as well as your chicken maintaining encounter will be much the much better for it.chick chick
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