Chicken Coops for Sale in Burton, West Virginia
Chicken Coops for Sale in Burton, West Virginia
Tropical Chicken Coop Construction – Ch.1
Tropical Chicken Coop Construction – Ch.1
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 Coop Basics in Burton, West Virginia
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Burton 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 Burton West Virginia chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Burton, West Virginia With the massive rise in chicken maintaining there has actually been an equally huge rise in the variety of chicken stuff for sale. Poultry real estate is a proceedings in factor. It's likewise a traditional example of the good old bandwagon being jumped on as numerous prospective poultry real estate specialists market a range of accommodation declaring to be the excellent solution to your chicken housing demands. Usually the rate looks eye-catching, your diy-chicken-coop-planshome looks appealing, hell also the clean-cut family standing there feeding the chickens look desirable. Certainly they recognize a high quality chicken house when they see one? There are several cheap and awful coops swamping the market. I understand this as I've examined a number of them in the area, and seen a ewe run directly with one when the feed bucket showed up. The outcome was only a pricey stack of firewood as well as a tiny flock of bemused as well as currently homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Sale in Burton, West Virginia
Generally these standardized models are constructed of quick grown up timber - come the very first drop of rain they swell, leaving you either defending a doorway that won't close, or ripping the doorway furnishings off in a vain attempt to launch the squawking citizens. The first warm and comfortable day suggests the hardwood dries as well as cracks, the felt roof bubbles as well as boils, as well as come nightfall the chickens refuse to enter. This is not due to their frustration at the decrease of their when appealing residential property but due to the fact that the hovel is currently a haven for, and also most likely abounding, the poultry keeper's nemesis, red mite. Add on that it stated on the blurb that it would suit 4 big hens when that stocking thickness was based upon the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and just what are you entrusted? A few hinges as well as some kindling. A decent coop for thee to four birds must cost you around ₤ 300 though this could rely on whether you elect for a complimentary standing house or one with a run connected. Presuming you are varying your birds in a big area and the pop hole doorway allows sufficient for the breed you maintain, then the main requirements of housing boil down to three factors which will certainly specify the variety of birds the house will certainly hold; perches, nest boxes and also air flow. A lot of breeds of chicken will certainly perch when they visit roost during the night, this perch ought to preferably be 5-8cm broad with smoothed off sides so the foot sits conveniently on it. The perch must be higher than the nest box entrance as chickens will certainly also naturally look for the acme to perch. A perch less than that will certainly have the birds roosting in the nest box over night (which is incidentally when they create one of the most poo) bring about soiled eggs the list below day. They shouldn't however be so high off the flooring of your house that leg injuries could possibly occur when the bird comes down in the early morning. Chickens need regarding 20cm of perch each (in little breeds this is undoubtedly much less), plus if greater than one perch is mounted in your house they should be greater than 30cm apart. They will certainly 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. Ideally the house must have a least one nest box for every single 3 birds and also these ought to be off the ground and in the darkest area of your home. The house ought to have sufficient air flow: without it after that condensation will develop every night, also in the coldest of weather. Be aware, ventilation works on the concept of warm air leaving via a high space attracting cooler air in from a lower void - it's not a set of holes on other wall surfaces of your house and also at the exact same degree, this is what's referred to as a draft. If you have a house with a run affixed then the factors above are still true, yet you should additionally think about the run size. The EU optimum lawful equipping density for a complimentary variety bird is (and allow's face it, one of the inspirations for keeping some hens in your home is possibly enhanced or better well-being) 2,500 birds each hectare, that's maximum one bird each 4m made even. Take a close check out some of the bargain residences - it could well be the house has the right perches, proper air flow and sufficient nest boxes for a practical variety of birds, yet will each of the chickens have anything more than an A4 sized piece of ground to spend the day on? Therefore as the claiming goes, "you obtain exactly what you spend for". You could assume you've got hold of a bargain, yet you and also your flock could rue the day you did. Acquisition the ideal house and also it will certainly last for a couple of years, otherwise longer offered the right therapy. In the long run your poultry as well as your chicken maintaining experience will be a lot the better for it.chick chickens
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