Chicken Coops for Sale in Ballengee, West Virginia
Chicken Coops for Sale in Ballengee, West 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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Chicken Coop On Wheels Designs in Ballengee, West Virginia
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Ballengee West 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 Ballengee West Virginia chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Ballengee, West Virginia With the big increase in poultry maintaining there has actually been a just as huge surge in the array of poultry materiel on sale. Fowl real estate is a case in factor. It's also a traditional instance of the great old bandwagon being got on as various would-be chicken real estate specialists market a variety of holiday accommodation asserting to be the suitable solution to your chicken real estate requirements. Frequently the cost looks eye-catching, your house looks attractive, heck even the clean-cut family members standing there feeding the chickens look eye-catching. Definitely they recognize a high quality chicken house when they see one? There are numerous affordable and also horrible cages swamping the marketplace. I know this as I've tested a variety of them in the field, as well as seen a ewe run directly via one when the feed bucket showed up. The outcome was nothing but an expensive stack of firewood and also a small flock of bemused and also currently homeless bantams.
Chicken House in Ballengee, West Virginia
More often than not these standardized models are constructed of fast grown hardwood - come the first decline of rain they swell, leaving you either fortifying a door that will not close, or tearing the doorway furniture off in a vain attempt to launch the squawking residents. The first cozy day suggests the timber dries as well as fractures, the felt roofing system bubbles and boils, as well as come nightfall the chickens refuse to enter. This is not due to their frustration at the decline of their once desirable property yet because the hovel is now a place for, and also possibly abounding, the fowl keeper's nemesis, red mite. Add the fact that it claimed on the blurb that it would certainly match 4 large hens when that stocking thickness was based on the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, as well as just what are you left with? A number of joints as well as some kindling. A suitable coop for thee to four birds must cost you approximately ₤ 300 though this could rely on whether you elect for a free standing house or one with a run affixed. Thinking you are ranging your birds in a huge room and the pop hole doorway is big enough for the breed you maintain, then the primary demands of real estate boil down to 3 factors which will certainly define the number of birds the house will hold; perches, nest boxes as well as ventilation. A lot of breeds of chicken will perch when they go to roost at night, this perch must ideally be 5-8cm vast with smoothed off sides so the foot sits easily on it. The perch ought to be higher than the nest box entrance as chickens will certainly also naturally look for the highest point to perch. A perch below that will have the birds roosting in the nest box over night (which is incidentally when they generate the most poo) causing dirtied eggs the following day. They should not nevertheless be so high off the floor of the house that leg injuries could happen when the bird comes down in the early morning. Chickens need about 20cm of perch each (in little breeds this is obviously much less), plus if greater than one perch is installed in your home they need to be greater than 30cm apart. They will certainly 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 should have a the very least one nest box for each three birds as well as these need to be off the ground and in the darkest area of your home. Your home needs to have sufficient air flow: without it after that condensation will build up every night, also in the coldest of weather condition. Understand, air flow works with the concept of cozy air leaving with a high void attracting cooler air in from a lower space - it's not a set of openings on other walls of your house as well as at the exact same degree, this is just what's called a draught. If you have a house with a run affixed then the factors above are still real, yet you need to additionally take into consideration the run size. The EU maximum lawful stocking density for a free range bird is (and also let's face it, among the inspirations for keeping some chickens in your home is potentially enhanced or much better welfare) 2,500 birds each hectare, that's optimal one bird per 4m settled. Take a close consider several of the deal homes - it could well be your home has the ideal perches, proper air flow and sufficient nest boxes for an affordable number of birds, however 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 obtain what you pay for". You might think you've got a bargain, however you and also your group could rue the day you did. Acquisition the ideal house as well as it will certainly last for a few decades, otherwise longer offered the correct treatment. Eventually your fowl as well as your chicken maintaining experience will be a lot the better for it.chick plan
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