Chicken Coops for Sale in Belleville, West Virginia
Chicken Coops for Sale in Belleville, West Virginia
Preparing Your Coop/Flock For Winter – Part 1: Roof Structure
Last week I posted a list of items that you may want to consider doing to make sure you and your flock are ready for the colder winter months. I’m going to try address one or two of these topics every Wednesday so that if you are going to work on them over the weekend you have time to plan.
Again I know it’s hard to even think of winter when the temperatures are in the 90’s in many parts of the country, but the cold weather will be on us before you know. Its much easier to take the time now to button up any issues, then trying to do it in the dead of winter. Many of you will not deal with snow and ice (lucky you!) but many of these topics effect all of us backyard chicken keepers and have a detrimental effect on the overall health of your coop…As I always say if what I post pertains to you and helps, great, if not just forget about it and move on…
Coop Roof Structure:
The roof of your coop is the first line of defense against the elements. A sound roof will not only prevent water penetration but will help in keeping your coop warm during the winter. As we all know heat rises (check our second floor of the house out in the summer!) and a solid roof can help trap some of this heat keeping the inside of the coop warmer. The important thing to remember is that you do not want to trap all of the heat by cutting off ventilation. Heat develops moisture and condensation so it’s important to have a balance. Ventilation is an important aspect of the coop, without it moisture builds, ammonia fumes become overpowering and your birds health will suffer. There is a huge difference between ventilation and a draft, we will be discussing “drafts” in a later post.
Having controllable ventilation at the peak of the roof structure will help to maintain a healthy coop. This can easily be accomplished with some screen covered holes on the side walls of the peak and using a piece of plywood to control how much of an opening you want. There are some much more elaborate systems out there but they all accomplish the same thing, controllable ventilation. If you don’t have ventilation at the peak you may want to consider it. There is a reason why so many homes have ventilation at the eves and peaks, it helps to control moisture in the home during the winter as well keeping the home cooler in the summer months.
Ensuring that your roof is leak free is also very important. That little leak you have been dealing with all summer may become a big issue during the winter when you get the “freeze/thaw effects”. During the day as snow and ice melt, water can leak into the the roof structure. At night this water freezes and expands resulting in a larger and larger leak as the days go by. There are many products out there that can help seal up these leaks but be careful some have toxic fumes that could be harmful to your flock. Sometimes just using a new shingle on asphalt roofs does the trick. Metal roofs typically leak at the seams or nail heads, a good quality sealer should handle these areas. Just remember most of the time the leak you see dripping on the underside of the roof came from a hole or crack above where you see the dripping. When water leaks in, gravity causes the water to run to the lowest point. It may take some investigation to find where the leak is actually coming from but a good starting point is to start above the spot you see the leak dripping.
If the wood on your coop roof is rotted it should be replaced. Rotted wood normally contains a large amount of moisture. The moisture in this wood adds moisture to the coop (remember, it’s a bad thing). “Freeze/Thaw” effects can take place on this rotted wood causing it to deteriorate even quicker. Snow loads can add significant weight to the top of the coop and a unstable structure runs the risk of collapse. I can only imagine how difficult it would be dealing with a roof collapse in the dead of winter! If the snow and ice get to heavy for the roof on your coop, you should remove it. When removing it be careful not to damage the roof shingles or other covering! Stand on a steady surface with both feet firmly planted on the ground or step when attempting to remove snow and ice.
A roof leak also adds unwanted moisture to you coop by letting water in and keeping the litter wet. The interior of a coop has enough moisture from bird droppings and the moisture a chicken itself gives off by breathing, you don’t need or want the added moisture from a leak. If the litter in the coop becomes wet from any source during the winter you should remove it and replace it with fresh as quickly as possible. Placing a bucket under the leak to catch the drip is not a good fix. When water drips into the bucket it can splash a fine mist a considerable distance. This mist keeps the litter wet and the air inside the coop too moist.
A well ventilated, leak free, structurally sound roof on your coop is a extremely important part in maintaining the overall health of your coop. This is not an area that you want to just “make do” and cut corners. There are many materials that you can use for a roof. Some, like scrap metal roofing or end cut pieces of tar paper and shingles can be found at a local building site (ask first, you don’t want the end up in jail!) or a recycling center. I would avoid using a tarp, although these are good in an emergency should you find a leak. And never use pressure treated wood which can give off toxic fumes in a enclosed area like a coop. If your roof membrane is water tight there is no need for pressure treated plywood or lumber as a deck surface.
By addressing the coops roof now you can prevent dealing with the effects of a wet environment in the dead cold of the winter months…Hope this helps….
FrankThe Chicken Fountain™
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Chicken Coop For 10 Chickens in Belleville, West Virginia
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Belleville 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 Belleville West Virginia chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Belleville, West Virginia With the massive boost in chicken keeping there has been an equally big surge in the variety of poultry paraphernalia on sale. Poultry real estate is a proceedings in factor. It's additionally a timeless example of the great old bandwagon being jumped on as various potential chicken housing professionals pitch a variety of accommodation declaring to be the ideal solution to your chicken real estate needs. Typically the price looks attractive, the house looks attractive, hell even the clean-cut family members standing there feeding the chickens look eye-catching. Undoubtedly they recognize a high quality chicken house when they see one? There are many affordable as well as horrible cages swamping the marketplace. I know this as I've checked a variety of them in the area, and also seen a ewe run straight via one when the feed container showed up. The result was just a costly heap of fire wood and also a small flock of bemused as well as currently homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Kits in Belleville, West Virginia
Generally these standardized models are built of rapid grown timber - come the first decrease of rain they swell, leaving you either defending a door that will not shut, or ripping the doorway furniture off in a vain effort to release the squawking inhabitants. The first cozy day suggests the timber dries as well as fractures, the felt roof bubbles and also boils, as well as come nightfall the hens refuse to go in. This is not as a result of their dissatisfaction at the decrease of their when attractive home however since the hovel is currently a haven for, as well as most likely crawling with, the chicken keeper's nemesis, red mite. Add on that it said on the blurb that it would certainly fit 4 huge chickens when that equipping thickness was based upon the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, as well as exactly what are you entrusted? A few hinges and some kindling. A decent coop for thee to four birds must cost you approximately ₤ 300 though this can depend upon whether you elect for a free standing house or one with a run affixed. Presuming you are ranging your birds in a big room and the pop opening door is big enough for the breed you maintain, then the primary needs of housing boil down to 3 factors which will define the number of birds the house will certainly hold; perches, nest boxes and ventilation. Most breeds of chicken will perch when they visit roost in the evening, this perch should ideally be 5-8cm vast with smoothed off sides so the foot rests pleasantly on it. The perch should be more than the nest box entrance as chickens will certainly likewise normally seek the highest point 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 soiled eggs the following day. They should not nonetheless be so high off the flooring of the house that leg injuries could take place when the bird comes down in the early morning. Chickens need regarding 20cm of perch each (in tiny breeds this is clearly much less), plus if greater than one perch is set up in your house they must be more than 30cm apart. They will hunker up with their next-door neighbors but are not that crazy about roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird in front. Preferably your house ought to have a the very least one nest box for every three birds and these should be off the ground and in the darkest area of the house. Your home must have ample ventilation: without it then condensation will certainly accumulate every evening, also in the chilliest of weather. Understand, air flow works on the principle of warm and comfortable air leaving through a high gap attracting cooler air in from a reduced void - it's not a set of openings on contrary walls of your home and also at the exact same level, this is exactly what's referred to as a draught. If you have a house with a run attached after that the factors above are still real, however you must additionally take into consideration the run dimension. The EU maximum legal stocking density for a cost-free variety bird is (and also let's face it, one of the inspirations for keeping some chickens at home is perhaps enhanced or far better welfare) 2,500 birds per hectare, that's optimal one bird per 4m settled. Take a close check out a few of the deal residences - it could well be the house has the appropriate perches, appropriate air flow as well as enough nest boxes for a sensible number of birds, yet will each of the chickens have anything more than an A4 sized item of ground to spend the day on? And so as the stating goes, "you get exactly what you spend for". You might think you've grabbed a bargain, yet you as well as your group could possibly rue the day you did. Purchase the appropriate house as well as it will certainly last for a few years, if not longer provided the right treatment. In the long run your chicken and also your chicken keeping experience will certainly be much the far better for it.chicken coops
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