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Chicken Coops for Sale in Strasburg, Virginia

Chicken Coops for Sale in Strasburg, Virginia

Tropical Chicken Coop Construction – Ch.1

Tropical Chicken Coop Construction – Ch.1

January 9, 2011 by in , , with

I have been helping our friends build a chicken coop so that they can start raising there own hens and producing their own eggs. The week before I helped them build a compost pile so that they could start composting their yard waist on a larger scale, now we move into coop development. After researching different designs and methods for building a coop I decided to go with one that would fit well in the tropics. Much like San Diego, you don’t have to worry about  a freeze or the chickens getting to cold, however you do need to be concerned with other natural elements like predators, tropical rain storms, gusty winds and too much heat. Taking this into consideration  I designed a coop that would protect the hens from the elements, yet be opened up enough to allow a breeze and shade for the hens to grow in.

Chicken Coop Design

Chicken Coop Plans

The structure of the coop is 4x8x8. It is 4 ft wide by 8ft long and 8ft high at its highest point. The floor of the hen house is three feet off of the ground. There is a thatched roof covering the length of the coop to keep out the rain and sun. The roofs highest point is at 8ft (in the center) dropping down to 6ft on the front side, and 7ft  on the back side. This allows for a consistent air flow throughout the coop

Chicken Coop Plans (Side Views)

I designed the coop on paper, worked out the measurements and then we started putting it together after we picked up the supplies. As expected we made a few adjustments as we began to put the coop together to fit the surroundings a little better. One thing that I didn’t keep in mind was the slope that we would be working on, this eventually elevated the ‘run’ side a little more giving the hens an extra 6 inches to play around in.

Chicken Coop Supplies (So Far)

  • 3  4×8′ 1/2″ pieces of plywood
  • 20  2x4x8′ studs
  • 12 2x2x8′ studs
  • 1 6x2x8′ stud
  • 2 4×8′ roofing sheets
  • 1 4×50′ roll of chicken wire
  • 1 box 3.5″ screws
  • 1 box 2″ screws
  • 6 hinges
  • 3 latches
  • 4 cinder blocks

Chicken Coop Structure

Putting up the Frame

After we picked a location by the mango tree, the first thing that we did was put together the frame. This would be our skeleton if you will, everything else would be built off of the frame. As mentioned before the frame of the structure is 4ft wide by 8ft long. We put 6ft posts on the front side, 7ft posts on the back side, and two 8ft posts on the ends (for the roof). Notice the cinder blocks used to give us a level playing field, not the prettiest look, this is something that we will fix up as we finish the project.

Chicken Coop Construction

Putting Up the Walls

After we got the frame up we started to work on the hen house itself, this is where then hens will go to lay their many eggs in the future. We closed off the floor and the back wall first because these are permanent, no doors or latches needed. In this picture you can see that we also added a few more frame pieces for the roof, this was because of the type of roofing that we decided to go with. You will be able to see why when we finish.

Hen House Layout

Building the Hen House

Once we put in the permanent walls and floor we began building the doors that would allow us access into the hen house for cleaning and feeding. This front door section will open up giving us plenty of room to work around the hen house.

Nesting Boxes

The Nesting Boxes

The Nesting Boxes came next on our plans. We decided to do two rows of boxes 4 boxes deep. This gives us a total of 8 nesting boxes. Each box is 12″x12″12″. We started the bottom row 6 inches off of the floor and the next row 12 inches above that. We left a 3″ over hang to give the hens something to climb up to before entering their boxes. We also put a 4.5 inch lip on the front of the boxes making the entrance to the boxes 7.5″x12″. We did this to give the hens more protection and less room to move around. This should prevent them or the other hens from eating their eggs once they began producing.

Entrance for Eggs

Behind the nesting boxes, on the outside of the hen house we installed two barn style doors to give us easy access to all of the boxes, thus giving us easy access to the eggs down the road. This will also make it easier for cleaning an maintenance when the time comes.

Hen House Entrance

Hen House Entrance

This last image is of the entrance into the hen house, this was the last thing that we finished up to this point. We still have the roof, chicken wire enclosure and last minute adjustments. As you can see the Tropical Chicken Coop is coming along just fine. We are almost there but not quite yet. Once we get some more time to work on it we should be able to wrap up this project and move the hens in. Eggs are on their way!

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Chicken coops for sale in Strasburg 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. Strasburg 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-Strasburg-VAFinding chicken coops for sale in Strasburg 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 Strasburg 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 Strasburg 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 Strasburg VA

Chicken Coop With Run in Strasburg, Virginia

A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Strasburg 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 Strasburg Virginia chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Strasburg, Virginia With the substantial rise in poultry maintaining there has been a similarly huge surge in the array of fowl paraphernalia for sale. Poultry housing is a case in factor. It's also a timeless example of the good old bandwagon being got on as different prospective chicken housing specialists pitch an array of accommodation asserting to be the suitable option to your chicken real estate needs. Commonly the rate looks attractive, the house looks eye-catching, hell also the clean-cut family members standing there feeding the chickens look appealing. Certainly they know a high quality chicken house when they see one? There are lots of cheap as well as unpleasant coops swamping the marketplace. I understand this as I've examined a number of them in the field, as well as seen a ewe run directly through one when the feed container showed up. The result was just a pricey stack of firewood as well as a little flock of bemused and also currently homeless bantams. Chickens for sale in Strasburg VA

Baby Yellow Chick For Sale in Strasburg, Virginia

Generally these standardized models are constructed of quick grown up timber - come the initial decline of rain they swell, leaving you either barricading a doorway that won't shut, or ripping the door furniture off in a vain attempt to release the squawking citizens. The very first cozy day suggests the lumber dries out and cracks, the felt roof bubbles and also boils, and come nightfall the chickens choose not to enter. This is not because of their frustration at the decline of their when desirable building but considering that the hovel is currently a sanctuary for, and possibly abounding, the fowl caretaker's bane, red mite. Add that it claimed on the blurb that it would certainly match 4 huge hens when that equipping thickness was based on the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and also just what are you entrusted? A couple of hinges and also some kindling. A suitable coop for thee to four birds need to cost you around ₤ 300 though this could depend upon whether you choose for a cost-free standing house or one with a run connected. Assuming you are varying your birds in a huge room as well as the pop hole door allows sufficient for the breed you maintain, after that the main needs of housing boil down to three factors which will certainly define the variety of birds the house will hold; perches, nest boxes and ventilation. The majority of types of chicken will perch when they visit roost at night, this perch must preferably be 5-8cm large with smoothed off edges so the foot rests comfortably on it. The perch must be above the nest box entry as chickens will likewise naturally look for the acme to perch. A perch below that will certainly have the birds roosting in the nest box overnight (which is incidentally when they generate one of the most poo) leading to stained eggs the list below day. They should not nevertheless be so high off the floor of your home that leg injuries might take place when the bird gets down in the morning. Chickens require about 20cm of perch each (in tiny types this is obviously much less), plus if greater than one perch is set up in your house they need to be greater than 30cm apart. They will certainly hunker up with their next-door neighbors but are not that keen on roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird ahead. Preferably the house needs to have a least one nest box for each 3 birds and these ought to be off the ground and in the darkest location of your home. Your house needs to have ample ventilation: without it after that condensation will accumulate every evening, even in the coldest of weather. Be aware, ventilation deals with the principle of cozy air leaving through a high gap attracting cooler air in from a lower space - it's not a set of openings on contrary wall surfaces of the house as well as at the exact same degree, this is what's called a draft. If you have a house with a run attached then the factors above are still real, however you must additionally take into consideration the run dimension. The EU maximum legal equipping thickness for a totally free range bird is (as well as let's encounter it, one of the inspirations for keeping some chickens in your home is perhaps boosted or far better well-being) 2,500 birds each hectare, that's maximum one bird each 4m squared. Take a close look at a few of the deal homes - it could well be your home has the ideal perches, appropriate air flow and also sufficient nest boxes for a practical 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 saying goes, "you get exactly what you pay for". You might assume you've got hold of a bargain, but you and also your flock can rue the day you did. Acquisition the ideal house as well as it will certainly last for a few years, if not longer offered the proper treatment. In the long run your poultry as well as your fowl maintaining experience will certainly be considerably the better for it.
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