Chicken Coops for Sale in Lindside, West Virginia
Chicken Coops for Sale in Lindside, 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 Guides in Lindside, West Virginia
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Lindside 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 Lindside West Virginia chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Lindside, West Virginia With the huge boost in poultry maintaining there has actually been an equally big rise in the variety of chicken materiel for sale. Fowl real estate is a case in point. It's additionally a traditional instance of the great old bandwagon being jumped on as numerous potential chicken housing professionals pitch a range of holiday accommodation asserting to be the perfect option to your chicken real estate needs. Often the cost looks desirable, your house looks appealing, heck also the clean-cut family members standing there feeding the chickens look appealing. Surely they understand a top quality chicken house when they see one? There are lots of inexpensive and also unpleasant cages flooding the market. I recognize this as I've checked a number of them in the area, and also seen a ewe run directly via one when the feed bucket showed up. The result was just a costly pile of fire wood and a tiny flock of bemused and currently homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Run Ideas in Lindside, West Virginia
Most of the time these mass produced models are built of rapid grown timber - come the very first decrease of rainfall they swell, leaving you either barricading a door that won't shut, or tearing the door furniture off in a vain attempt to release the squawking residents. The first warm day implies the hardwood dries out and also fractures, the felt roofing system bubbles as well as boils, and also come nightfall the chickens refuse to go in. This is not as a result of their frustration at the decrease of their once attractive apartment yet due to the fact that the hovel is currently a sanctuary for, and probably crawling with, the poultry caretaker's bane, red mite. Add that it claimed on the blurb that it would certainly fit four large hens when that equipping thickness was based upon the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and also exactly what are you left with? A few hinges as well as some kindling. A respectable coop for thee to four birds must cost you approximately ₤ 300 though this can depend on whether you elect for a free standing house or one with a run connected. Presuming you are ranging your birds in a huge room and the pop hole doorway is big enough for the type you maintain, then the major needs of housing come down to 3 points which will specify the number of birds your home will hold; perches, nest boxes and also air flow. Most types of chicken will perch when they go to roost in the evening, this perch should preferably be 5-8cm broad with smoothed off edges so the foot sits conveniently on it. The perch must be higher than the nest box entry as chickens will certainly also normally try to find the highest point to perch. A perch below 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 shouldn't nonetheless be so high off the flooring of your home that leg injuries could possibly occur when the bird gets down in the early morning. Chickens need regarding 20cm of perch each (in tiny types this is clearly less), plus if more than one perch is installed in your home they ought to be more than 30cm apart. They will certainly 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 needs to have a the very least one nest box for every single 3 birds as well as these ought to be off the ground as well as in the darkest location of your home. Your home ought to have appropriate air flow: without it then condensation will build up every night, also in the chilliest of climate. Be aware, ventilation deals with the concept of warm air leaving with a high void drawing cooler air in from a reduced space - it's not a set of holes on contrary wall surfaces of the house as well as at the same degree, this is just what's known as a draught. If you have a house with a run connected after that the points above are still true, but you must also consider the run dimension. The EU maximum lawful equipping thickness for a cost-free variety bird is (as well as let's face it, one of the inspirations for keeping some hens in the house is potentially boosted or far better welfare) 2,500 birds each hectare, that's optimal one bird each 4m made even. Take a close look at several of the bargain homes - it could well be your home has the ideal perches, appropriate ventilation and also enough 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 stating goes, "you get exactly what you pay for". You may think you've got a deal, however you and also your group could rue the day you did. Acquisition the appropriate house and it will certainly last for a few years, if not longer provided the proper therapy. In the end your poultry and your chicken keeping encounter will be a lot the much better for it.chickens for sale
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