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Chicken Coops for Sale in Loon Lake, Washington

Chicken Coops for Sale in Loon Lake, Washington

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 ()

  • - March 22, 2016
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Chicken coops for sale in Loon Lake Washington 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. Loon Lake Washington 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-Loon Lake-WAFinding chicken coops for sale in Loon Lake Washington 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 Loon Lake Washington 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 Loon Lake Washington, 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 Loon Lake WA

Chicken Coop Basics in Loon Lake, Washington

A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Loon Lake Washington" 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 Loon Lake Washington chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Loon Lake, Washington With the substantial boost in chicken keeping there has been an equally large increase in the variety of chicken paraphernalia on sale. Poultry real estate is a proceedings in point. It's additionally a classic example of the great old bandwagon being got on as different potential chicken real estate specialists pitch an array of holiday accommodation asserting to be the ideal remedy to your chicken housing requirements. Often the price looks desirable, your diy-chicken-coop-planshome looks desirable, heck even the clean-cut family members standing there feeding the chickens look desirable. Definitely they recognize a quality chicken house when they see one? There are several low-cost and nasty cages flooding the market. I recognize this as I've checked a number of them in the field, as well as seen a ewe run straight via one when the feed container appeared. The outcome was nothing but an expensive stack of firewood and also a tiny group of bemused and currently homeless bantams. Chickens for sale in Loon Lake WA

Baby Chickens For Sale in Loon Lake, Washington

Most of the time these standardized designs are created of fast grown hardwood - come the very first decline of rain they swell, leaving you either defending a door that won't shut, or ripping the door furnishings off in a vain attempt to release the squawking citizens. The first cozy day means the wood dries out as well as fractures, the felt roof covering bubbles as well as boils, as well as come nightfall the hens refuse to go in. This is not due to their dissatisfaction at the decline of their when eye-catching building but considering that the hovel is now a place for, as well as probably abounding, the chicken caretaker's bane, red mite. Add on that it said on the blurb that it would fit 4 big chickens 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 joints and some kindling. A good coop for thee to 4 birds should cost you around ₤ 300 though this could depend on whether you elect for a cost-free standing house or one with a run attached. Thinking you are ranging your birds in a large area and also the pop opening doorway is big sufficient for the breed you maintain, then the primary needs of real estate boil down to 3 points which will certainly specify the variety of birds your home will certainly hold; perches, nest boxes and air flow. Many types of chicken will certainly perch when they visit roost in the evening, this perch must ideally be 5-8cm wide with smoothed off edges so the foot rests conveniently on it. The perch ought to be above the nest box entry as chickens will also naturally try to find the acme to perch. A perch less than that will certainly have the birds roosting in the nest box overnight (which is incidentally when they generate the most poo) bring about soiled eggs the following day. They should not however be so high off the floor of the house that leg injuries could occur when the bird comes down in the morning. Chickens require about 20cm of perch each (in small types this is certainly less), plus if more than one perch is set up in the house they should be greater than 30cm apart. They will hunker up with their neighbors but are not that crazy about roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird ahead. Ideally the house ought to have a least one nest box for each 3 birds and these must be off the ground and in the darkest area of your home. Your home needs to have ample ventilation: without it after that condensation will certainly accumulate every evening, even in the coldest of weather. Understand, air flow deals with the principle of cozy air leaving with a high space drawing cooler air in from a reduced void - it's not a collection of holes on other wall surfaces of your home and at the exact same level, this is what's called a draught. If you have a house with a run connected then the points above are still real, however you must also think about the run size. The EU maximum lawful stocking density for a cost-free variety bird is (and let's encounter it, one of the inspirations for maintaining some chickens at home is perhaps improved or far better well-being) 2,500 birds each hectare, that's optimal one bird each 4m settled. Take a close check out a few of the bargain residences - it could well be your house has the best perches, right ventilation and also enough nest boxes for an affordable variety of birds, yet will each of the chickens have anything greater than an A4 sized item of ground to spend the day on? Therefore as the claiming goes, "you get just what you spend for". You could think you've got hold of a bargain, but you and your flock could rue the day you did. Acquisition the right house and it will last for a few decades, otherwise longer provided the proper therapy. In the long run your poultry and also your chicken keeping experience will be much the much better for it.
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