Chicken Coops for Sale in Maysel, West Virginia
Chicken Coops for Sale in Maysel, West Virginia
The Small Property Chicken Coop
Raising chickens has been one of the most rewarding activities that we’ve done on our homestead. While we don’t raise them for meat due to the city’s limitations, we reap an abundance of benefits from the eggs and the friendship we get from our girls.
In this next installment of , I’ll be sharing how my husband Todd designed and built Lucy and Ethel’s chicken coop using his ingenuity and minimal square footage on our .18 of an acre.
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, I was so excited to finally be able to raise a couple of my own “girls” to gather eggs from and get to know. I’m an animal lover, and seem to be able to make friends with any animal that will allow me, so I knew that these two sweet little chicks and I would be the best of friends. , and since there were only two of them, there was plenty of space for them to grow.
After moving some things around to set up our ‘barn’ area, Todd got to work on the chicken coop. Being a handy guy, he decided that he could design and build one that would be cheaper than a prefab one, as well as be able to fit where we needed it to on our small property homestead.
He chose to use the back of one of our sheds as the back wall, and another of our sheds as the side wall, which would save us some money on hardware cloth. He framed the rest of the coop and door with 2x4s. He also extended the side of the shed so that it would serve as the left wall of the coop.
This is the shed that is being used as the back wall of the coop. You can see on the right side of the shed where the new section was added for the left wall of the coop.
Todd designed the girls’ coop to be multi-level, rather than sprawling. He used plywood and 2x4s for the levels, and built an access ladder to both. The girls had a hard time not slipping on the sleek wood between the “steps” on the ladder, so I added a few strips of to those sections, which worked beautifully.
Here is a current photo of the two levels (please excuse the “lived in” look, I apparently hadn’t taken photos of the two levels when it was new). This is the top level, where we keep the girls’ nesting boxes. The ladder with the comes up the right side of this level, and it’s easy for the girls to hop up to the top of their nesting boxes, where they like to sleep at night. Todd also built a roost for them, which is actually a few inches offset from the edge of the level so when they poop, most of it falls to the ground.
Here is the second level, where the girls usually eat their evening treats, and where I keep their oyster shell and water (water not pictured). You can see how the ladder passes the second level up to the top level, which makes it easy for the girls to hop to the second level at snack time.
We left the bottom level as dirt, and I have been using the , which has worked out well for the most part. We haven’t had any issues with large rodents, and any mice that dare step foot into the coop are met with two hungry beaks.
Todd lined the front of the coop with 1″ hardware cloth and it has worked very well for us; however, I have heard that if you have issues with raccoons, it’s best to go with 1/2″ hardware cloth.
Another Space Saving Coop Idea
A friend of mine, Nora from , and is based on Todd’s multilevel chicken coop design. Their family has around 8-10 girls, so this brooder was a very good fit for them. It can definitely be built outdoors and used as a space-saving chicken coop for 1-3 chickens, or built indoors to use as a brooder for a larger flock.
As you can see, building a chicken coop to fit your small property needs can be a much better prospect than purchasing a prefab chicken coop. While prefab coops are beautiful and promise ease, tailoring your chicken coop to fit in just the right place on your small property can be more affordable, and in the long run, more convenient for your homestead setup. As long as your chicken coop meets , you can build a chicken coop that meets your homestead’s needed requirements as well, which will make everyone happy!
For more great information on raising chickens, please visit Fresh Eggs Daily’s Ultimate Chicken Care Guide.
What size is your property? Do you use space-saving techniques?
Chicken Coop House Plans in Maysel, West Virginia
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Maysel 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 Maysel West Virginia chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Maysel, West Virginia With the huge rise in poultry maintaining there has been a just as large increase in the range of poultry stuff for sale. Fowl housing is a case in factor. It's also a timeless example of the good old bandwagon being jumped on as different would-be chicken housing professionals peddle a selection of lodging declaring to be the optimal solution to your chicken housing demands. Often the cost looks eye-catching, your diy-chicken-coop-planshome looks appealing, hell also the clean-cut family standing there feeding the chickens look attractive. Surely they know a high quality chicken house when they see one? There are lots of affordable and also nasty cages flooding the marketplace. I understand this as I've checked a variety of them in the area, and seen a ewe run directly through one when the feed bucket showed up. The result was just a costly heap of firewood as well as a little group of bemused and also currently homeless bantams.
Chicken House in Maysel, West Virginia
Generally these standardized versions are built of fast grown wood - come the very first decline of rain they swell, leaving you either defending a door that won't shut, or tearing the doorway furnishings off in a vain attempt to release the squawking occupants. The first cozy day means the hardwood dries as well as fractures, the really felt roof covering bubbles as well as boils, and also come nightfall the hens choose not to enter. This is not due to their dissatisfaction at the decline of their when eye-catching commercial property yet since the hovel is now a place for, as well as probably abounding, the fowl keeper's bane, red mite. Add the fact that it stated on the blurb that it would certainly suit four huge chickens when that stocking thickness was based on the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and just what are you left with? A number of joints as well as some kindling. A good coop for thee to 4 birds ought to cost you around ₤ 300 though this could depend on whether you elect for a free standing house or one with a run affixed. Thinking you are ranging your birds in a big space and also the pop opening doorway is big enough for the breed you keep, then the primary requirements of real estate boil down to 3 points which will certainly define the variety of birds your house will hold; perches, nest boxes and also ventilation. Many types of chicken will certainly perch when they go to roost in the evening, this perch needs to preferably be 5-8cm wide with smoothed off sides so the foot sits conveniently on it. The perch needs to be above the nest box access as chickens will certainly also naturally try to find the acme to perch. A perch lower than that will have the birds roosting in the nest box overnight (which is by the way when they produce the most poo) causing dirtied eggs the following day. They shouldn't however be so high off the floor of your home that leg injuries could possibly occur when the bird gets down in the early morning. Chickens require about 20cm of perch each (in tiny types this is certainly less), plus if more than one perch is mounted in the house they ought to be more than 30cm apart. They will hunker up with their next-door neighbors yet are not that crazy about roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird ahead. Ideally your house should have a the very least one nest box for each 3 birds and also these should be off the ground as well as in the darkest location of the house. The house needs to have adequate air flow: without it after that condensation will build up every night, even in the chilliest of weather. Be aware, air flow works on the principle of warm and comfortable air leaving through a high space attracting cooler air in from a reduced void - it's not a collection of openings on other walls of the house and also at the exact same degree, this is just what's referred to as a draught. If you have a house with a run attached then the factors above are still true, but you ought to additionally consider the run dimension. The EU maximum lawful stocking thickness for a totally free variety bird is (and let's encounter it, one of the motivations for keeping some hens in the house is perhaps 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 homes - it could well be your home has the right perches, appropriate air flow and also ample nest boxes for a reasonable number of birds, however will each of the chickens have anything more than an A4 sized piece of ground to invest the day on? And so as the stating goes, "you get just what you pay for". You may think you've got hold of a bargain, yet you and your group could possibly rue the day you did. Purchase the appropriate house and also it will last for a couple of decades, if not longer offered the right therapy. In the long run your chicken and also your chicken keeping encounter will certainly be much the much better for it.plan chick
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