Setting Up Portable Chicken Coops In Your Backyard – It’s Not As Challenging As You Think : poultry coops

Burgeoning or novice chicken farmers can benefit greatly from portable chicken coops. Among the positive aspects of such coops are pest regulation, free fertilizer, and wonderfully fresh eggs. Never make the mistake of assuming that a massive plot of farmland is necessary in order to raise chickens. Coops can be built in sizes to seamlessly fit into a back garden, even in an urban area.

Some refer to movable chicken coops as chicken tractors. Certain chicken tractor kits can include wheels in order to facilitate portability when the chickens require a new location. Many chicken tractors are A-shaped, and are not built to include flooring.

Prior to erecting any movable chicken coops on your property, it is important to research local laws and regulations. There are municipalities in which you are not permitted to raise livestock, and others in which there are no such restrictions.

It is critical that you not violate any laws by raising chickens in your yard. It is still important to maintain a clean, nuisance-free chicken coop even if the law fully permits you to raise such animals on your property, because if you don’t, your neighbors may begin to complain.

As you construct your coop, it is also necessary to think about the future of any hens who have outlived their period of egg production. While most hens have a life span of roughly fifteen years, they only produce eggs for about six or seven of them. If you intend to keep just a few chickens in order to have a steady household egg supply, this is something to which you really must give some serious thought.

Should you decide to go with a movable chicken coop, it will be important to make arrangements for sheltering the birds from the weather. Such protection needs to keep them warm in winter.

You can provide warmth for the chickens with an insulated coop or by using a heat lamp. You also have the option of transporting portable chicken coops into other buildings, sheds or garages in order to shelter chickens from the weather or from other animals intending to harm them.

Padding material such as pine needles or straw will be required as lining for the flooring of the chickens’ nesting boxes. With padding material placed below the chickens, you can cut down on egg losses from cracking mishaps.

Before you assemble a portable chicken coop, some thought should be given as to how vermin will be kept out of the structure. While it is almost impossible to provide complete protection, taking steps such as blocking any gaps or holes in the structure with metal sheeting, keeping the chickens on a strict feeding schedule and limiting their food to just what is necessary will certainly help.

Clearly, prior to placing movable chicken coops on your property, you need to think through some of these very specific issues in order to maximize your experience raising chickens.

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