Chicken Coops for Middle Tennessee Area

If you love the idea of having fresh eggs but are confused or not comfortable with the idea of building your own coop, we can help.

We can build any style or size of coop to fit your individual needs.

Just contact us at fixitnowprosatgmail dot com

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How to Know if an Egg is Fresh.

Did you know that there's an easy way to tell if an egg is fresh? Simply take and place your egg in cold water. If it sinks to the bottom it is fresh. Fresh eggs sink because they only have a small amount of air inside.

As the egg ages, moisture evaporates through the shell allowing more air inside. This air will accumulate until there is enough to allow the egg to float. Once that happens you should not eat it. Your egg is no longer fresh enough to eat if it floats.

There is another way to determine how fresh an egg is. Simply hold the egg by the small end and tilt it a little, while holding the large end of the egg against a light.

In fresh eggs the air space will be no more than 1/8 of an inch deep. And the yolk will hardly be visible. If you twist the egg the yolk will not move very much when it is fresh.

In a old or stale egg, the air space will be larger and irregular in shape. And the yolk will be very visible and will move freely when you give the egg a twist.

If your airspace measures 1/8 inch or less it is considered AA quality. If it is up 3/16 of an inch it is A quality. An old egg's airspace is anything that measures more than 3/16 of an inch.

If you store an egg at room temperature it will age more in a single day than an egg stored 1 week in a refrigerator.

Coops

Here's a short video of a couple of coops that I have built. If you have any questions about how to

build your own coop, just ask.

How Many Eggs Will You Get the First Year

In the first year a good laying chicken will provide about 20 dozen eggs. When your chicken is 1.5 years old it will begin to molt. All of her older feathers will fall out over a two to three month time period. Normally molting will occur during the fall. During the molt your chicken will produce few eggs and may stop laying temporarily while growing her new feathers. Once her new feathers are in place she will begin laying and the shiny appearance of her new feathers will be noticeable.

Your hen will now lay fewer eggs but they will be larger. You can expect to get about 16-18 dozens eggs in your second year. The exact number will vary because their are several factors; breed, strain, weather and also how well you take care of your hens.

Hens are most productive when the temperature is between 45 and 80 degrees F. When the temperature is above or below that, your hens will lay fewer eggs. You may also notice a thinning of the eggshell. Temperature plays an important part in your hens egg production.

Chickens need 14 hours of daylight in order to lay eggs. So you must have a light bulb in your coop to make up for the shorter amount of daylight during the winter. By supplementing the natural daylight with a light bulb and giving the chickens at least 14 hours of light then you will continue to have eggs all winter.