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Chicken Coops for Sale in Ruby, Virginia

Chicken Coops for Sale in Ruby, Virginia

Our Finished Chicken Coop

These past few days had us outside enjoying the beautiful weather. One of the jobs I crossed off the list was to clean out our new chicken coop.

Because of our over the past year or so, our family was going through several dozen eggs a week. (I can’t help it – I’m hooked on !)

So last summer we quit “planning” to get our own chickens, and actually did it. The whole family pitched in to build a little abode for our egg-laying beauties. And because we were first-time chicken owners and newbies in all chicken-related topics, we joined and gleaned months worth of ideas, do’s and don’ts, and building plans. (I can’t recommend this site highly enough! If you have the slightest inclination of doing chicken anything, go here and read to your heart’s content.)

It was so helpful to see photos and designs when we were in the planning stages, I thought I’d share pictures of our coop and the hows and whys of what we did.

The chicken coop

Instead of starting from scratch, we bought a small granary from my brother-in-law; about 9’x7′ inside measurements. This gave us about 3 sq. ft. per bird. The coop is nothing fancy really. It isn’t visible from the road and we don’t live in town with neighbors to care about the view from their back window, so we used as much scrap material as possible. Plus we didn’t think the chickens would mind.

So far they haven’t rebelled.

We re-tinned the roof (that’s my honey!) and I got to use the saw sawl to make holes for the windows and vents. You can call me Mrs. Handyman. . .

Inside the chicken coop

Framing the windows and vents was the most time consuming part since the building wasn’t square. We used insulation and vapor barrier for the walls for added moisture protection and warmth because the windchill can get -40 below or more in the winter.

We made the roosting boards parallel and the same height because apparently hens will act like old biddies and fight for the top most board. (Some people’s kids. . .)

We rounded the edges of the roosting boards so it’s easier on the hens’ feet. The boards can be removed for ease of cleaning the poop boards underneath.

Poop boards seemed quite popular among chicken peoples and we’ve quickly learned why. First, chickens poop more when roosting, so the roosting boards are placed above the poop board. This makes clean up as simple as buying a wide sheetrock mudding tool and scraping the droppings into a bucket each day. We then add the droppings to our compost pile.

We originally built a rollaway community nesting box directly underneath the poop board, but the chickens ended up laying eggs everywhere but there. Eventually we added a ‘normal’ set of 12″x12″x12″ nesting boxes and they’re happy campers again.

We decided to use the deep litter method. We spread a bag of wood chips on the floor and because the hens leave most of their droppings on the poop boards, there’s minimal waste on the floor. The chickens like to scratch and fluff the wood chips so it gets stirred up and aerated. This means the coop is less smelly, and there’s only a few minutes of daily cleaning of the boards. If needed, you can add more wood chips throughout the year.

We clean the coop out fully in the spring and fall. So far it’s worked wonderfully.

We nailed a board across the doorway to prevent the rising litter from falling out every time we opened the door.

The feeders are gravity fed. They’re made of PVC pipe with a 90 degree corner and a cap at the end. We like that we can leave for several days at a time and don’t have to worry about having someone come out to do chicken chores for us.

This water stand was Travis’s idea. The hens have a platform to stand on so no matter how high the litter gets, they can reach the water comfortably.

The chicken nipples underneath are another idea shared by BYC that I LOVE. The water doesn’t drip, there is no poop or mud to worry about, and our full grown hens figured it out within 24 hrs. The pails are covered with lids to prevent the water from getting dirty and it lasts for at least a week (we add apple cider vinegar).

When we’re home, we clean them out and give them fresh water every few days.

There’s electricity on the wall above the waterers with a timed light switch. We use bird bath heaters to keep the water from freezing during the winter. We had to add the slanted plywood because the hens were roosting on the pails. (I told you they fought for highest roosting privileges.)

The pop door is a simple design, and it works great. It slides up and down, held in by L shaped boards.

When in the closed position, the hook and eye on the right prevent racoons (or children!) from trying to lift the door from the outside.

We used 1/2″ x 1/2″ hardware cloth to cover the insides of the windows and vents. . .

. . .and plexiglass for the actual windows.

We made sure to have plenty of vents (thanks to sage advice from Pat’s Ventilation Page) and used eyes and rope to open and close them at different heights.

Finally, we added a small lean-to to the side so the hens could come out in the winter. This helps block snow drifts right in front of the pop door, and they can still come out for fresh air and sunshine when they get cabin fever.

It might not win a beauty contest – but there’s something to be said for function-ability  Hope this gave you some ideas!

What have you done to your chicken coop? We’d love to hear your ideas and suggestions!

 

 

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I’m Paula - like many of you I wear a lot of hats. Child of God, wife of 19 years, mother of 5 earthly children (and another on the way), reluctant cook, chocolate-snatcher, and health and fitness coach at . Various family health issues including Lyme disease and candida has turned me into a 'researcher' with a passion for understanding how our God-created bodies thrive or deteriorate based on what we put in it.

Latest posts by Paula ()

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Chicken coops for sale in Ruby Virginia can be found in agricultural newspapers and community newspapers. The coops are designed for housing for chickens in a safe and secure environment. They generally consist of a small building or large box that is then sectioned off to smaller boxes where the chickens go to roost (or sleep). Chicken coops are a must for raising chickens. Ruby Virginia chicken coops are commonly constructed from wood products. They are not very stable buildings and provide only minimal protection from the elements. Now chicken houses used for large production facilities are a entirely different structure, they are huge and can hold up to 10000 chickens. The coops are typically used for backyard operations, or small family farms. They vary in size depending on the number of residents they house. chicken-coops-in-Ruby-VAFinding chicken coops for sale in Ruby Virginia is probably not one of the easiest of items to find. There are manufacturers of chicken houses and coops that sell them out right and Ruby Virginia farm supply stores that they can also be purchased through, but generally speaking it will take some effort to find a chicken coop for sale in Ruby Virginia, especially if your location is not a typically rural location. In rural locations that are much more abundant and easily had. Chicken Coops for sale in Ruby VA

Chicken Coop Guides in Ruby, Virginia

A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Ruby 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 Ruby Virginia chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Ruby, Virginia With the significant boost in poultry keeping there has actually been a just as huge increase in the variety of chicken paraphernalia on sale. Fowl housing is a proceedings in point. It's also a traditional instance of the great old bandwagon being jumped on as various prospective chicken real estate experts market a variety of cottage claiming to be the suitable remedy to your chicken real estate demands. Often the rate looks appealing, your diy-chicken-coop-planshome looks appealing, heck even the clean-cut family standing there feeding the chickens look desirable. Surely they understand a top quality chicken house when they see one? There are many cheap as well as horrible coops flooding the marketplace. I know this as I've examined a number of them in the area, as well as seen a ewe run straight through one when the feed pail showed up. The result was nothing but a pricey stack of firewood as well as a tiny flock of bemused and currently homeless bantams. Chickens for sale in Ruby VA

Chicken Coop Used in Ruby, Virginia

Typically these mass produced designs are created of rapid grown timber - come the very first drop of rain they swell, leaving you either defending a door that won't close, or tearing the door furniture off in a vain effort to release the squawking occupants. The first warm day means the timber dries out and also splits, the felt roofing bubbles and boils, and come nightfall the hens refuse to enter. This is not as a result of their frustration at the decrease of their as soon as attractive property however due to the fact that the hovel is currently a sanctuary for, as well as most likely crawling with, the poultry keeper's nemesis, red mite. Add on that it claimed on the blurb that it would certainly match 4 huge hens when that stocking thickness was based on the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and also exactly what are you left with? A number of joints and also some kindling. A decent coop for thee to four birds should cost you around ₤ 300 though this can rely on whether you choose for a complimentary standing house or one with a run connected. Assuming you are ranging your birds in a huge space and also the pop hole door is big enough for the type you maintain, then the major needs of housing boil down to three factors which will specify the variety of birds your home will hold; perches, nest boxes and air flow. Many breeds of chicken will certainly perch when they go to roost during the night, this perch needs to ideally be 5-8cm vast with smoothed off edges so the foot sits easily on it. The perch should be higher than the nest box access as chickens will certainly also naturally search for the acme to perch. A perch lower than that will have the birds roosting in the nest box over night (which is incidentally when they create one of the most poo) resulting in stained eggs the list below day. They should not nonetheless be so high off the flooring of your home that leg injuries might take place when the bird comes down in the early morning. Chickens require about 20cm of perch each (in little types this is obviously much 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 crazy about roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird in front. Preferably the house needs to have a least one nest box for every 3 birds as well as these ought to be off the ground and in the darkest area of the house. The house needs to have sufficient ventilation: without it then condensation will certainly accumulate every night, also in the chilliest of climate. Know, air flow works on the principle of warm and comfortable air leaving via a high void drawing cooler air in from a reduced space - it's not a collection of openings on opposite walls of your home and at the exact same level, this is exactly what's known as a draft. If you have a house with a run attached then the factors above are still true, but you should also take into consideration the run size. The EU optimum lawful equipping thickness for a totally free variety bird is (and also allow's encounter it, among the inspirations for keeping some hens in your home is perhaps enhanced or much better welfare) 2,500 birds per hectare, that's maximum one bird per 4m settled. Take a close consider some of the deal residences - it could well be your house has the best perches, appropriate ventilation and sufficient nest boxes for a reasonable number 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 stating goes, "you get exactly what you spend for". You may think you've got a deal, however you and your group could rue the day you did. Acquisition the appropriate house and it will certainly last for a couple of years, otherwise longer provided the correct treatment. In the end your fowl as well as your chicken maintaining experience will be much the better for it.
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