Grow Your Own Magazine

I don't think wire on the floor would be a problem, I didn't as my garden is not exactly level and smooth and I was concerned about areas where there would be gaps beween the wire and the ground.

Also as I plan to move the entire thing onto the patio in winter I didn't want rust stains on the patio from slowly corroding wire!


Someone on one of the hen threads asked about hens putting themselves to bed - yes they do, at dusk or there abouts, they scramble up the ramp quite happily. I just have to 'raise the drawbridge' after they go to bed and get up to lower it in the morning.

Terry

Hi Terry,
Don't think I explained myself too well

My garden not exactly flat either -that's what conserns me is a fox being able to dig under it.

I didn't mean a photo of the wire more the rigging! but reall I've worked out the hook and eye thing. Also give me a chance to get on the lathe too!- I'm a big enthusiast like the Other-Half.

I also meant- is there a hole/contraption that a chicken can get through and not a fox? so if we are away for the evening, or the fox got in the pen, it could not then get into the house as well as the chickens.

I have put an extra perch in the pen at the moment and the girls just love it.

How are the new ones settling in. I'd love to see a photo of the chilean one sometime...blue eggs eh!

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Paul

Does this help?

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The new ones are getting bullied - the little Araucana is hiding in the house and won't come out! Poor little Kiev!

Kentucky is ok, she is big enough to hold her own - noisy thing though. I can see why the cartoon hen is Foghorn!

Terry

The new house looks fab!!!! You are so clever, I could never in a million years do that!!!! Wouldnt know where to start, and my domestic skills are somewhat lacking too!!!

Last week OH threatened to send me for 'retraining'!!!!!

Tracey

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Best wishes
Daisychook x

am SO impressed, what you have done is completely beyond me! OH could do it... but then house is also falling down, so best he concentrates on that eh!

Thanks for the complements - but really it wasn't that hard!

Then again ask me to wire a socket and I haven't a clue and have to look it up each time! So I suppose, each to their own. I was raised in a house where the men are all thumbs and the ladies do the DIY, Mum and I rebuilt the kitchen over a summer holidays one year, all the cupboards, pan racks, the lot. Mum is much better at woodwork that I will ever be!

Terry

Terry, now that your great project has been occupied for some time are there any improvements you would make if you did it again? Only asking so that I can copy and learn from your experiences.

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Digger-07

"If you think you can, or think you can't, you're right" Henry Ford.

Well impressed Terry! I hesitate putting up a shelf or picture, I wouldnt know where to start with a project like that (and my dad was a carpenter!)

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Hi Digger-07, yes a couple of things - the handles on teh ends so that I can lift the house and move it are a little small and cramp my hand - chose ones that are wide enough!

Hazel managed to break one of the gates - so they need to be stronger - possibly a double bar at the bottom with screws from the side as well as underneath might help and the gates rub on the ground which can make it hard to move them - they could do with being maybe half a centimetre short of the ground. That way they would still shut up against the frame work but swing open more easily.

Oh - one other thing!

I cut a piece of lino to line the floor of the roost. Makes cleaning a doddle!

It lifts out after I take the back hatch off.

I make sure their is a dusting of mite powder under it to deter those pesky redmite, and 'top dress' with clean, dust extracted, softwood shavings, which I change once a week.

Hi Terry,
just sat and read whole thread and I'm inspired! Was planning to build a house for my girls, now I'm rebuilding my little flock.
Got a better idea of the dimensions I need now and how to go about it. (all the gear, no idea )
Going to pinch a few of your ideas, especially the lino on the roost floor.

Kirsty

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updated 14 May 2008

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Do! No royalty!

Have fun and post a thread for your hen house - form the comments I got everyone is interested!

Terry

Thanks Terry, I've pasted all your posts onto a word doc. so that I now have an instruction manual from start to finish.

Thanks very much for the story.

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Digger-07

"If you think you can, or think you can't, you're right" Henry Ford.

Would just add - the roost seems big enough for about 6 hens given the space on the bar that is occupied when I have looked in at night.

If you want less - make the whole thing narrower - I have been told that it is important - especially in winter when it is cold - that there is not too much space as the birds can't warm the roost with their body heat and may suffer from the cold.

I am thinking about ways to insulate the house - will post back here if anything comes to me......

that's absolutely brilliant I'm very impressed with your woodworking skills and gives me hope that I might be able to fit in my own chooks (if I could replicate your design which may be tricky.. woodworking done so far in life.. putting up shelves ) Is the intention that you will move this around the garden? or keep it in 1 spot..? my garden is tiny so there is only one place I could put them which is about the size of your run and they would have to stay in there unless they were supervised as I have a pond and cats and there are probably local foxes.. I would only want 2-3 small hens.. would that be ok?

I do move this around the garden on a weekly basis - I can move it on my own if I detach the run. At the moment the house and run are on the patio (and have been since November) but the whole thing will be moving back to the lawn as soon as the grass gets growing.

If you want to keep it in one spot I would think about using chicken wire across the base as a fox deterent - fixed housing is more prone to attack than a moving run, the fox can come back repeatedly until it finds a weak spot and hens will dig thus making a weak spot! - I would also think about putting bark or some such in the run for them to scratch in they will destroy the grass in under a week and no-one likes standing in mud!

Oh dear Terry -seeing this thread revived is making me feel a bit idle ...I still have the same old converted rabbit hutch and run...nearly a year on now!!! Seems to work well though They have been moving around the veg beds all winter. I have however fox proofed an area at the bottom of the garden but still in tend to move them around in there. It is however to allow them out without them wrecking my garden...They got into a tulip patch yesterday and made a real mess. I am however putting money aside for investing in a netting electric fence to pen them next year. A friend has lent me a single strand one at the allotment to keep badgers out of my asparagus beds and sweetcorn. I might be able to use that at times but need that netting stuff for the chickens. Will perhaps look around the farm sales.

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Advertising is the rattling of a stick in a swill bucket. George Orwell
Paul

Had to clean out the run this morning - a spade and bucket job as they are on the patio - it was such fun watching them in the snow!

They went straight for the base of the hedge and ambled around the patio where the snow hasn't settled - all except Kiev - she was up on the lawn playing snowballs with Pippa! Wish I had had a camera handy!

Here's another idea. you could make a medium fence around the existing coop using chook wire, wire fasteners & some stakes. If you want it quite quick and easy, dont bother with a gate. Just step over. bury a small amount underground,(so foxes cant dig underneth your fence) and make it around 1/2m high, even though im not that sure how high it should be.I know this is'nt much, im more of a duck person myself,so surf the net to find out more.
Good luck!
Qwerty.