Coop open times are important for both the safety of your hens and for your convenience. As a good general rule, you want to allow your chickens to access the coop twice per day, six times per week. Obviously you want to provide your birds the maximum protection from predators, so you want to take their needs into account when determining coop opening times. This also means that there shouldn’t be any other animals inside the coop at once with your birds. Predators include hawks, badgers, raccoons, foxes and weasels.
If you are planning on moving your hens around different properties, then you will want to find one near your current residence. Some people even choose to move them around to different properties during their fluff years. If you find one near your current residence, then you can just move it there. You will want to find out the coop opening times for the area where you live. If you are trying to sell your chicken house, then you will want to get it ready by the most convenient time possible. Plus benefits to finding the coop near your current residence include; increased buying power for your house, less driving time and you get to increase the value of the property.
If you are not trying to sell your chicken house, then the best benefit of choosing a coop building near your current location is that your birds will have easy access to fresh grass and weeds. When chickens scratch around in the yard after laying their eggs, they will eat grass and weed seeds. If there are more animals inside the coop, then more grass seeds will be eaten. Plus, if you have an older coop, the birds may scratch through the wire mesh from the perches to the nesting areas. As you can see, increasing the amount of fresh grass and weeds in your yard is one of the main benefits of choosing a location closer to your house.
The other main benefit of choosing a co-op building near your location is to provide your birds with protection from the weather. The biggest threats to chickens are severe temperature changes, extreme wind, heavy rain, hurricanes and tornadoes. To protect your flock from these weather events, you will want coop opening times that are similar to your normal waking hours. This way, the coop will be able to provide shade and protection against the weather. In addition to providing warmth and shelter, the coops will also need adequate lighting so that the chickens can be seen at night.
So where can you find one near you? If you are looking online, then you have a big selection of co-ops to choose from. One of the best ways to compare the different coops is by using the terms of service on the website of the company that sells the coops. You will be able to narrow down your selection and find one near you.
If you cannot find one near you, then there is no need to worry. There are other means of finding a coop such as searching for “poultry house plans” or “poultry house designs”. You can also go straight to the manufacturer and see what coop they have available. Most manufacturers have several coop building companies that they sell coops to.
Once you have narrowed down your search by selecting a few coops, you can contact each of the manufacturers and ask them if they have a brochure or a free demonstration video. Manufacturers realize that their company will not be around forever so they are willing to work with their customers to provide them with useful information. If you are ordering from a coop building company, then you are more likely to receive an actual demonstration video. Videos can sometimes help you to see what the coops will look like when you actually purchase them. This can help you decide if you want to see pictures of actual coops before you make the final purchase.
The videos are usually informative but sometimes show too much or too little. You will want to watch the coops in detail so that you will know exactly what size coop you will be able to build. Also, be sure to take measurements so that you can make sure the chickens have enough space to move around. This is very important because you do not want your hens stuck in one place because the chicken coop building company does not allow for movement.