Looking After Pets

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  • scissors
    June 16th, 2011adminPets Advice

    Building A Chicken Coop

    There are actually a big quantity of complimentary chicken coop plans on line which show you methods to construct your very own hen house. If you are in a mad dash so you can get your flock in sheltered accomodation, you’ll also find quite a few coop designs covered in the building a chicken coop report. One could always make the decision to get a ready-constructed chook coop or a coop which is partly put together so that you just do not have to put in the effort or expend the time making your own.

    Another option is that you can construct a quality chicken coop in 3 days and additionally make savings of hundreds of us dollars in the process. Not only are pre-fabricated hen houses awfully pricey, they also require you to pay these extremely high shipping charges to get one sent to your house. Should you choose the 3 day opportunity for making it quickly by yourself., you can take an extended weekend break and be ready to take home the hens by the time you return to work.

    You can find the plans to put together a chicken coop in 3 days that’s not just inexpensive, but is also nice-looking. Lots of the plans you’ll discover were created by keepers who know exactly what it takes to raise happy, healthy birds.

    Your birds need a safe and comfortable dwelling with plentiful ventilation and natural light as well as the draft insulation and protection severe temperatures to ensure they are healthy. Your flock of chickens will certainly deal with cold conditions more favorably than high temperatures however they cannot deal with being damp and freezing. You are going to need to put together a chicken coop which will help keep dampness out including that which is generally absorbed through the floor.  

    Even though you will discover numerous good step-by-step plans on the market, there are some features you’ll need to consider to make sure you are in the position to finish the structure within the 3 day time-frame. You will be after plans which are straightforward to follow with a easy to understand reference guide.

    A number of the websites online offering plans all about how to build a chicken coop in 3 days duration are intended as a membership rather than the acquisition of a single coop guide. For those who choose buying chicken coop plans rather than getting coop plans at no cost, opt for a membership which offers you access to a number of chicken coop plans to take care of your needs now and additionally into the foreseeable future. It’s also possible to have the benefit of the ideas these sites offer on keeping fowls if you are new to keeping chickens.

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  • scissors
    February 24th, 2010adminPets Advice

    As we were growing up, we [canno|can'|will no]t remember a time in our life when we did[n't| not] own any chickens.  We have [childhood recollection|early memorie|childhood memorie]s of going out and feeding chickens.  E[very|ach] day, when we [are going|go] out to feed them, we flash back to feeding them as a [kid|child]. [Infrequently|Often|Sometimes], those [earliest|childhood|early] memories are something that one is [real|actual|tru]ly [fond of|keen on].  [Do you have|Have you got] [earliest memorie|childhood memorie|childhood recollection]s like this?  [Can|Do] you remember helping your [parents|mum and dad|mom and pop] build a chicken coop?  [Possibiliti|Chanc|Probabiliti]es are you did[n't| not] know [exact|precise]ly what is [occurring|happening|going on].  Now, here you[ are ,| are] sitting there [wonder|consider|think]ing how to build a chicken coop.  As we write this article, we[ are going|'re going] to [offer|give] you some [info|information] [that |]you need [to|in order to] build those chicken coops.

    First[ly| of all| off], you['ll need| will need] to take the size [under consideration|into consideration|into account]. In this world, many say [a|that a] [big|massive|huge] chicken coop is always the better one.  [However ,] if you[ have|'ve got| have got] to transport your birds around, big one is no good.

    For e[very|ach] bird that[ wi|']ll be in the coop, you['ll need| will need] to have [four|4] sq[.   feet|uare feet].  [In order |]for the hens to lay more and be [calm|relaxed|stress free], you [will have to|must|will need to] [hit|strike|make] it big.

    Besides, making the house [gigantic|big|large] is[ no|n']t going to take much more work.  Sure, it [may|might|could] take [a bit |rather |]more supplies, but those supplies are [essenti|re|actu]ally [cheap|inexpensive].

    Before you start to build this [big|massive|gigantic] house, you['ll need| will need] to [work|figure] out where to p[lace|ut] it.  We [strong|serious|high]ly recommend you [concentrating on|paying attention to|listening to] the morning [sun|day]light and p[utt|lac]ing it where the [sun|day]light shines bright [during|in] the morning hours. [There is something|There are a few things|There are some things] about chickens and that morning sun as they [ful|absolute|complete]ly [like|enjoy] it.

    As for the materials list to build a hen house, you w[ill no|on']t need a lot.  Yes, you['ll need| will need] some wood for the frame as well as the nesting area.  You['ll| may| will] also [require|need] some wire mesh [in order |]to close them in and do[n't| not] forget[ about|] the nails.

    When it comes to the material list, you[ may| will|'ll] [notice|realize|find] that you w[ill no|on']t [require|need] much.  In fact, it is [really easy|very simple|very straightforward].  You['ll need| will need] some wood, mesh wire, hammer and nails.  If you['re| are] not able to spend [a lot|plenty|much] money, then you [can|may] use treated pine or[ maybe| even] hardwood.

    If you['re| are] building a [massive|gigantic|big] coop, then you['ll| may| will] definitely need to build it on site as it w[on'|ill no]t be [straightforward|simple|easy] to transport.  [In truth|In fact|Actually], when it comes to do it yourself projects, it['s best| is best] if you build it on site. Take note that you [might|may|could] need some[one|body] [to help|to help you] when it comes to lifting the walls up and nailing them on the coop.  [You may|You may|You will] also [require|need] some [aid|assistant|helper] on the roof part.  [If you need|If you want|If you want] to go [flat out|all out|hell for leather], you [could|might] always add some shingles on the house [in order|straight] to make it last [for |]longer.  Take note that you[ wi|']ll be able to make [adjustment|change]s to it when you['re| are] all done.  You[ may| will|'ll] also [need to|have to|must] [make |en]sure the chickens are secure in their [hous|hom|plac]e as they have many predators.  Now [you|that you] [know the way|understand how|know how] to build a chicken house, it['s time to| is time to] [begin making|start to make|start making] those plans.

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  • scissors
    November 7th, 2009adminPets Advice

    One thing you have to understand when getting your chicken coop building program started, is you need to stick with the guidelines.

    The first thing requires you to survey the area. The chickens need to have a sense of security, feel comfortable where they sleep and lay eggs, as well as finding an area that is clean.

    Then simply follow the guidelines below:

    Planning and Designing

    You should already know how many chickens you plan on having in the coop. This will determine the overall size.

    Think Ahead

    Always be one step ahead of yourself. Think about the factors that will come after you have your plan and design set up.

    • Allocate 4 heads of chicken per feeder and waterer;
    • Save time by building the nest boxes at the same time you do your chicken coop building.

    Place it in the Right Area

    Now, part of the security and comfortability revolves around the sunlight as well. You definitely want to have a portion of your coop get sunlight, but not be placed directly in the sunlight.

    Saving Money

    There will be a point when you start thinking about the overall cost. All the materials that need to be bought can usually be found in second hand shops. So if you want to save some money we recommend starting there.

    Then of course you can think even farther ahead and make room for future additions. After a couple years you might see that it’s getting too small for all the the chickens you have accumulated. If you take this route you’ll already have the materials at a discounted price.

    Have Some Fun – Construct a Chicken Coop!

    Okay, the hard part is over. Now it’s time to start working on your chicken shed building. Just don’t forget all the minor essentials like notes, plans, tape, sanders, power saws, work benches, and anything else you might need. This is the exciting part, and the more and more your coop takes shape, the more exciting it becomes.

    So good luck. Just stick to these building a chicken coop guidelines and you’ll be fine.

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  • scissors
    August 25th, 2009adminPets Advice

     

    Kids really love to eat chickens and if they will have it their way, they will eat chickens until there are no more chickens left in the world. But seriously, just like any other food out there, toxins are ever present in them which can be very harmful to the body. As a responsible parent, you should be very particular about what to put in the mouths of these youngsters and you have to make sure they get to eat the healthy foods along the way. If your children are really fond of eating chickens, why not raise some of your own in your own backyard? Raising them assures you that the chickens you have are all naturally-grown and what better way to make them grow healthy and strong and natural than putting them in a chicken coop. If you need some chicken coop plans to help you build your own chicken coop, then, you are in the right place.

    But of course, some will say that it would be more convenient to employ some handyman to let him create that chicken coop for your fowls. But hiring someone can be so expensive and sometimes, you just can’t be satisfied with the outcome. So, why try to hire somebody when you can do the job yourself and sometimes, things can be very fun when you try to encourage all the members of your family to help you in making that chicken coop. Let them help build chicken coop and for sure, kids will enjoy what they are doing.

    Now, aside from the benefits of providing your family with good nutrition when you have chickens and possibly fresh eggs throughout your life, you can also have the chance to sell the eggs or the chickens to neighbors and other people, right? Try to learn more about chicken coop building plans and some more tips and advices and of course the step by step in building a coop and one of the ways to get these information is through a chicken coop-building book guide that is now being promoted all over the Net.

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  • scissors
    August 2nd, 2009adminPets Advice

    Build A Chicken Coop

    Building A Chicken Coop

    Choosing What Type of Chicken Coop You Require

    Different Styles Of Coops

    Probably one of the decisions you’re struggling with right now at this point is determining which type of poultry houses|chicken house coop you need.  There are a variety of different chicken coops that you can build, but understanding which one is going to best fit your needs is important for getting optimal results. If you spend the money on a chicken house, it is only logical that it needs to match your individual needs, so getting started on the right foot is important.

    Factors involved

    There are some important factors that you should take into consideration before deciding what type of chicken coop to build.The following guidelines will set you off down the right path to making a wise decision and being completely with your new chicken coop once it’s built.

    Size Of Your {Poultry House|Chicken Coop|Chicken House}

    Possibly one of the most important factors that will need to be looked at is the size of the chickens coop you want to build. There’s small, medium, and large building plans for the chicken coops, each which accommodates a certain number of chickens. 

    One of the biggest mistake you will make is try and fit too many chickens into your coop.  Because each chicken requires so much area to feel comfortable and lay eggs properly, you’ll really want to make sure you’re choosing your size wisely.

    It’s always better to error on the size of being too big than being too small, plus then you can always add more birds to the chicken house coop if you want later on.

    Portable Chicken Coop Versus Fixed

    The next question you should ask yourself is whether you want portable chicken coops or if you preferred one that’s fixed instead.If you’re someone who likes to keep the chickens as pets, having portable chicken coops gives you an advantage of being able to move it around to wherever you are, this makes for a very appealing option.

    Also,since you can simply move the chicken coop to wherever you want to clean it, having a mobile chicken coop allows for much easier maintenance.

    Strength Versus Mobility

    On the other hand, if you’re looking for something with a little more structural integrity than you’ll likely be better off choosing a fixed chicken house coop since these will be built sturdier so that they are able to withstand wear and tear.

    Protection

    Factor in protection from predators as you make your decision what type of chicken coop to make as well.  Ideally you should have a very solid fencing system to keep all varieties of predators out.  This will have to be built to match the size of the coop you’re building as well.

    Appearance

    Finally, what you would like your chicken house coop to look like,in its overall appearance. There are a number of different ways you can build the chicken coop which will impact the overall design of the chicken coop.  This will also likely influence the cost of the building process, so it’s something to think about and work within your budget.

    There are definitely cheaper methods to build your chicken coop so understanding the different things that will influence the cost is the first step to making a smart decision.

    Gather Your Information

    So, be sure you’re factoring these points in as you decide which type of chicken coop you wish to build.  Getting the information up front before you start to build will help save you hundreds of dollars over the long run.

    Good Luck!

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  • scissors
    June 4th, 2009adminPets Advice

    I’ve wanted to start keeping my own chickens for years now. I finally found time and built a medium sized chicken coop. The plans I bought over the internet made the process really easy. The ad for the book about how to build a chicken coop said that a 15 year old could build it. I guess that was meant to be a smart 15 year old! I can use a hammer, a saw and a screwdriver and that’s about all you’ll need by way of tools.

    I want to tell you a bit more about my hobby of keeping chickens – I do it just as a hobby, not professionally, and see if I can help you to make some decisions if you’re thinking about keeping chickens in your backyard.

    I remember as a boy, chicken was a meal for a special, celebratory occasion. Today of course chicken is very common and hardly special at all. The reason I mention this is because it is the way that chickens are raised today that has made the product so plentiful and so cheap, relative to other meats. The way chickens are raised in batteries is also a major reason why I keep my own brood, in my own suburban backyard.

    Those who have ever been inside a chicken factory farm will understand. The cruelty these birds have to endure for their whole life is nothing short of a disgrace and a blot on our conscience. I had seen enough cancerous, deformed and deranged hens, picking at their own and others flesh out of sheer madness, that I stopped eating chickens and eggs for quite a while until free range products became readily available.

    Then I discovered that free range did not always mean what I thought it meant – what it is supposed to mean – and I decided to keep my own chickens in my own chicken coop.

    I did not intend to go on a crusade against chicken farms here so let me tell you of some other very good reasons to keep your own chickens.

    Obviously the eggs come in real handy. The eggs from a truly free-range chicken are nothing short of spectacularly delicious. The yolk is not that washed out colour of a battery egg from a chicken pumped full of estrogen and growth hormone. Instead, it’s a bright, vivid yellow/orange colour with an absolute burst of flavour.

    I know some folk who made the mistake of giving their birds names so they will never slaughter their chickens for the table. I keep my birds anonymous so that I am not emotionally distraught when I slaughter them. Real free range, home reared chickens have meat that is quite different to a supermarket bird. It’s plump and has a taste that is just outstanding. The skin crisps up quicker. I don’t know exactly how and why but it’s just markedly better tasting than a supermarket bird. The additives in the chicken feed must have an effect on the quality and taste of the meat.

    The freshness of the meat and eggs from your backyard brood is a contributory factor to the improved taste of course, but the biggest influence on the taste of the products is the absence of chemicals in the birds diet. Chemicals fed to battery raised chickens destroys the natural taste of the eggs and the meat. The chemicals, by the way, also find their way into your system and so you have also probably ingested female hormones and steroids with every egg and piece of chicken you’ve ever eaten. Many factory birds are fed on fishmeal feeds and the flavour of the fishmeal leeches into the meat.

    In times like these when most people are trying to save some household costs and also trying to be more environmentally responsible, building a chicken coop and keeping your own chickens is a fairly substantial step in the right direction and it’s very easy to do. So, I guess the environmental impact is another good reason to have your own birds.

    The fertiliser produced by the chickens is fantastic for your garden. You can use the fertiliser in the garden and save money on the cost of fertilisers.

    Since the kids moved out there is often leftover food in our refrigerator that goes to waste. Well I should say used to go to waste because the chickens love leftovers. We don’t feed them onion or garlic but all other foods are welcomed by them. Not just leftovers either, but peelings and cuttings as well. They are little fertiliser factories taking the scraps and the peels and turning it into fertiliser that enhances the plants and vegetables we have growing. It’s lovely to see the cycle of nature as it should be. I let them out of their enclosure to trim the lawn every so often. Like little lawnmowers!

    Some people consider their chickens as pets, and for them that is a true benefit of keeping chickens. For me – well I don’t see the chickens as anything other than foodstuff.

    If you build the right chicken coop for your intended number of chickens and for the location then your chicken coop becomes a pleasure to maintain. Make sure thats easy to clean and well ventilated. Remember, the number of eggs they produce will increase if they are happy and contented.

    Let me tell you about building your own chicken coop. It’s not that difficult if you have basic skills. If you know how to use a hammer and a saw, you’ll be fine. That’s about it. The plans I eventually bought are step-by-step type plans so it was easy to follow. I was fortunate to choose a book of plans that also had other very valuable and useful information in it. Such as: where to place you coop, how to ensure that it doesn’t get too hot in the chicken coop and how to construct a coop that is easy to clean. Also, the book  contained advice on how to choose the correct type of bird for your area.

    This is very good value from a book that only costs about $30. The materials used for my chicken coop was obtained cheaply at a local salvage yard. I built a medium sized chicken coop for under $200 and there is a local (major) hardware outlet that sells what I think is a lesser product for over $950. I saved a packet. My $200 investment was returned to me in under 6 months just on the value of eggs produced. By the way I keep 10 hens and I get 6 to 8 eggs every day. I charge almost double the supermarket price yet I have no shortage of eager customers for the 2 or 3 doz eggs I sell every week!

    You can buy the book that I used on the internet for only $29.95. Just click here. I really found it to be very useful – exactly what I needed. You get it as an instant download, as soon as you pay. The online payment process is 100% secure.

    Thats a summary of my very good experience of building a chicken coop and keeping my own chickens. I hope that this information was of some help to you and I hope you enjoy building your chicken coop as much as I enjoyed the task of building mine. It’s a good thing to do and the upside is substantial. Enjoy the DIY project!

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  • scissors
    May 17th, 2009adminPets Advice

    One way is just put something together from whatever you have to hand, but you may regret this approach!

    Think about what type would work best for you when you are building a chicken coop.

    First off – how many chickens do you want to house?

    Next – do you want to be able to move your chicken coop?

    Now – where are you going to site your chicken coop?

    And – how much space do you have?

    Then – how are you going to design your chicken coop for easy cleaning?

    And another thing – how will you position roosting bars and nest boxes?

    Finally – how much time do you want to turn over to this project?

    One way to get the best result when you are building a chicken coop is to buy a comprehensive set of plans and assembly instructions. If your plans include different designs, that will help you consider which type of coop is right for you.

    Portable chicken arks are simple and quick to make and are ideal if you are just starting to keep chickens. They will take about three, and can be easily moved around your garden to new patched of grazing. Keeping the ark close to the house means you can watch the chickens easily.

    A simple mid-size hen house won’t take you much longer to build and normally has a run attached. A good design for a flock of six hens. You’ll need a part of your garden where the hen house and run gets good light and is not too exposed – although chickens are surprisingly hardy.

    It’s a good idea to let the chickens out when you can watch them – or you could build both an ark and a hen house so they can go in the ark on fresh ground when you are not around.

    Building a chicken coop is a straightforward weekend project if you start with plans and instructions – and you will get a chicken coop that is attractive, functions well and will last a long time, for a fraction of the cost of buying one.

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  • scissors
    May 10th, 2009adminPets Advice

    So you want to build a backyard chicken coop but you’re wanting to do it for as little investment as possible. Some people will tell you that it’s dirt cheap (excuse the pun) and some will say it can be a little on the expensive side. Here are 3 simple tricks to make sure you save as much money as possible.

    1. Do It Yourself

    The best way to save money is simply to build a backyard chicken coop yourself. Paying someone to build and install even the simplest, smallest coop is going to end up costing you potentially a lot of money. If you’re somewhat handy and discover a good set of chicken coop plans on the internet, you’ll ultimately save a lot of cash on labour.

    2. Buy your own materials

    Avoid any pre-made chicken coop kits. As with any “out of the box” solution, it’s almost always better to do some research and buy your own building materials. It is ultimately way more cost efficient to source your own lumber than to pay for someone else to do it for you. With some clever shopping you can find all the necessary materials you need to build a backyard chicken coop for around $300-$400.

    3. Buy a quality set of plans

    Buy a good high-quality set of chicken coop plans on the internet. It’s all well and fine to have all your lumber and chicken wire but if you’ve got a bad, hard to read set of plans, you’re setting yourself up for trouble. It is possible to download free plans off the internet but I’m a firm believer in “you get what you pay for” and advocate spending a few bucks to get a good set. Take some time to do some research and find a good set of plans that fit your needs.

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