Chicken Coops for Sale in Wilkinson, West Virginia
Chicken Coops for Sale in Wilkinson, 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 And Run For Sale in Wilkinson, West Virginia
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Wilkinson 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 Wilkinson West Virginia chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Wilkinson, West Virginia With the substantial boost in chicken keeping there has actually been a similarly huge surge in the range of chicken materiel for sale. Poultry real estate is an instance in point. It's likewise a timeless instance of the great old bandwagon being got on as different potential chicken real estate specialists peddle a range of holiday accommodation declaring to be the perfect remedy to your chicken real estate needs. Frequently the price looks appealing, your diy-chicken-coop-planshome looks eye-catching, hell even the clean-cut household standing there feeding the chickens look desirable. Certainly they recognize a high quality chicken house when they see one? There are several inexpensive and awful coops flooding the market. I recognize this as I've tested a number of them in the field, as well as seen a ewe run straight with one when the feed pail showed up. The result was nothing but a pricey pile of fire wood as well as a little group of bemused and also now homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Ideas in Wilkinson, West Virginia
More often than not these mass produced models are constructed of fast grown hardwood - come the very first drop of rainfall they swell, leaving you either blockading a doorway that won't shut, or tearing the doorway furnishings off in a vain attempt to release the squawking inhabitants. The first warm and comfortable day implies the lumber dries out and also cracks, the really felt roofing bubbles as well as boils, as well as come nightfall the hens choose not to enter. This is not because of their frustration at the decrease of their when appealing apartment yet considering that the hovel is now a haven for, as well as possibly crawling with, the fowl caretaker's bane, red mite. Add that it stated on the blurb that it would certainly match 4 large chickens when that equipping density was based on the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and exactly what are you left with? A couple of hinges as well as some kindling. A decent coop for thee to 4 birds should cost you around ₤ 300 though this can depend on whether you choose for a cost-free standing house or one with a run affixed. Presuming you are ranging your birds in a huge room as well as the pop opening door is big sufficient for the type you keep, after that the main demands of real estate boil down to three factors which will specify the variety of birds your home will certainly hold; perches, nest boxes as well as ventilation. Many breeds of chicken will perch when they go to roost in the evening, this perch should ideally be 5-8cm broad with smoothed off edges so the foot rests easily on it. The perch needs to be higher than the nest box entry as chickens will likewise naturally search for the highest point to perch. A perch lower than that will have the birds roosting in the nest box overnight (which is incidentally when they generate one of the most poo) leading to dirtied eggs the list below day. They should not nonetheless be so high off the floor of the house that leg injuries can happen when the bird comes down in the early morning. Chickens need about 20cm of perch each (in small types this is undoubtedly much less), plus if more than one perch is mounted in your home they must be more than 30cm apart. They will hunker up with their next-door neighbors but are not that keen on roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird in front. Ideally the house must have a least one nest box for each three birds and these ought to be off the ground and also in the darkest area of the house. Your home must have adequate air flow: without it then condensation will develop every evening, also in the coldest of weather condition. Understand, ventilation works on the principle of warm air leaving via a high void drawing cooler air in from a lower space - it's not a collection of holes on opposite wall surfaces of your home and also at the very same level, this is what's known as a draft. If you have a house with a run affixed after that the factors above are still true, yet you must additionally think about the run size. The EU maximum legal stocking density for a free variety bird is (and allow's face it, among the inspirations for maintaining some hens in your home is perhaps improved or much better welfare) 2,500 birds per hectare, that's maximum one bird each 4m settled. Take a close check out a few of the deal residences - it could well be your house has the ideal perches, appropriate ventilation and also ample nest boxes for a practical number of birds, yet will each of the chickens have anything greater than an A4 sized item of ground to invest the day on? And so as the stating goes, "you obtain what you spend for". You could assume you've got hold of a bargain, however you and also your flock can rue the day you did. Acquisition the appropriate house and it will last for a couple of years, if not longer given the appropriate therapy. Ultimately your fowl as well as your poultry maintaining encounter will be much the far better for it.chickens for sale
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