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I recently built a good static run for our chooks, but we have since been thinking about buying some of our neighbour's garden and if we did we would move the girls there, where they are more sheltered and out of public view.

On the practical side, what do you think makes up the ideal chicken house and run? How many nest boxes, what size perches, how big, what should the floor be made of, enclosed or open, etc etc.

Also... what do you think about letting the hens free-range in a fenced-in part of the garden? Would they be safe during the day, when we are at work? Would grass and plants survive their attentions?! I have thought about planting fruit trees with bark chippings underneath, but would such a surface cope with the poo?!

We're talking three to six hens in an area about 3m by 4m...

All thoughts much appreciated!

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Resistance is fertile

A shed in the middle with a run on either side and a pop hole in each side wall. So that one run can be rested while the other is used.
The shed partitioned so that nest boxes and perches are in one half and food bins can be kept in the other half.
For 6 hens you'll probably need only 2 nest boxes as they tend to all use one (mine do anyway)

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I'd rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself than be crowded on a velvet cushion.

http://hollandsroadparadise.blogspot.com
updated 14 May 2008

www.bradleyroundtwo.blogspot.com

Two parts to the run is a good idea - also means I could work on the fruit trees without the girls 'helping out'.

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Resistance is fertile

I only have the one run and the girls have fouled it and its horrible for them despite my efforts to keep mud at bay in the wet weather. A second run would give them more room without exposing them to the risks of unsupervised free ranging, my plot is on a busy road too as well has having furry visitors.

__________________
I'd rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself than be crowded on a velvet cushion.

http://hollandsroadparadise.blogspot.com
updated 14 May 2008

www.bradleyroundtwo.blogspot.com

6 hens will completely strip that land and will not let it recover.
3 well fed hens in a moveable run maybe a metre by three. just let out for a few hours a day and it is more manageable. Look for a smallish ark maybe?
You need to be aware that mites and other pest do build up in the soil.
I some times put straw in the run-easy to collect up weekly and put in the compost.
Chickens like to scatch around and make their dust baths etc.
A wired floor is safest but I don't like it . I move the pen around the veg beds and then a few spots in the garden during summer.
No they will not be safe left out alone during the day (in towns foxes around during the day) in the country foxes tend to come at/after dusk or dawn. You need fox proof/electric fencing to leave them

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Paul

I though as much to be honest... how high does a fence need to be to keep a fox out, assuming I build one so they can't get through or under it?

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Resistance is fertile

Wouldn't like to say - they can certainly jump to the top of a 6' wall or solid fence

6-8 ft of chainlink, plus sunk into the soil for at least a foot might do it, especially if you electrified it. But I'm no expert - I keep my hens in the run when I'm out, even though I have yet to see a fox near our house...

The safest thing would be a good-sized covered walk-in run (at least 1sqm per hen), with absorbent bedding such as Hemcore that can be raked up regularly and composted for use on your lottie, and let them free-range on grass when you are there to supervise.

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Hi Paul
I do what Eyren suggests, a covered run has kept the rain off so the ground underneath is soft but not a muddy mess. I put down wood shavings, straw and dried leaves for them and clear this out once a week to put down fresh.
You do get a lovely big pooh mountain for the garden too.
The run is made of weldmesh and has a wire netting skirt pegged down all round the outside to stop anything (rats etc) digging in and that seems to have worked, although the hens don't help by digging holes on the inside next to the wire to make dustbaths.
And if you've got bark chippings on your paths I can imagine what a mess they'll make of that.
I let mine out to roam around a bit when I'm cleaning out, doing their water etc and they trash the surrounding area in a very short space of time. I'm thinking of putting my v limited DIY skills to the test to make an ark so that they can go out in this and be moved on to fresh areas during the day and go back to their home at night. That way they can get some fresh ground and I can get on with the allotment without having to watch over them all the time.
Sue

Thanks grapes! Will let you know how I get on.

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Resistance is fertile

Very true - ours sometimes undermine the eglu skirt in their enthusiasm. I'm just thankful we don't have a fox problem here.

Tell me about it! Our house's previous owners went for a "low maintenance" look, with gravel in the gaps either side of the path to keep weeds down, and I'm forever sweeping it back into place

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Small Plot? No Problem! - my blog about growing organic veg

Think prison Paul!!!

2m with a back hang might do it ..they usually go for the corners when climbing.

Re digging in: It is again good to have L shaped wiring. They can dig deep but will do so close to the fence and if they hit horizontal wire it tends to flummox them. Always concrete/pave by gate. so they cant dig under that.

Mine are moved around the veg beds and corners of the garden in a pen. I try and put slabs and rocks it to stop digging (a bit) but as I say In the country you MUST be home at dusk to shut the house up..The night you forget Basil will get in. The pop hole is small and has L shaped tunnel really that a fox would find difficult to get round...I converted an old rabbit hutch and pen we made for a friend. When they emigrated they gave us the rabbit and Guinea pig...couldn't get the rabbit in one night and fox came round...my son found the head in his sand pit It came back for the pig in the morning...never seen one on the property before or since..our old guinea pig too canny to be caught out his hutch. Foxes can just smell chickens and will check on you and it is a sad day...don't want to be pessimistic but they have a deserved reputation.

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

Charlie's chest span is 14 inches, so keep pop holes as small as possible. Foxes tend to do damage over a period so keep an eye out and reduce the risk.

That's exactly the same size as the bigger of my Burmese cats - so not very big!

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Small Plot? No Problem! - my blog about growing organic veg

Hi,
Have you guys heard of Hemcore? We use this in our run because it absorbs smells and liquid, the girls can dig about in it and we change it every month or so. We've not looked back since swapping over to it.

Our girls stay in the run when we are out (eglu, run and extension). They never ever free range unsupervised because even though we don't have a fox issue (that we are aware of) you can never become complacent: they are dependent on you for security. One thing we haven't managed to protect ours from, it would seem, are hot air balloons- two go over quite regularly and send the girls scurrying for the undergrowth!

Use Hemcore in the shed on the floor and in the nest boxes now. Love the stuff.
Have just put a massive tarp over the top of my run this morning in the hope that it will help stop the floor of the run getting too wet with the weather that has been predicted. Its only just dried out after the last lot we had!

Is Hemcore ok outside then? Considered trying it but was afraid of making the run even messier or do I just need to put down a nice thick layer? Say 4-5 inches? Well worth a try if it works and can help keep my run clean and smelling nicer.

__________________
I'd rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself than be crowded on a velvet cushion.

http://hollandsroadparadise.blogspot.com
updated 14 May 2008

www.bradleyroundtwo.blogspot.com

Well, we have a thick layer in the run, probably about three inches deep. They tend to kick it out a bit but it's easily raked back in. We have an eglu with extension run and a bale will last us about three months, so at £7 a bale it's really good value for money. It sounds like you have more chooks than us, but Hemcore is originally horse bedding so you can imagine what it is capable of absorbing! We have 'shades' over the run to give the girls some shelter from the bad weather, and the run is in a sheltered spot so it doesn't get too wet in there anyway. When we change the hemcore we use the old stuff as a mulch in the garden because it breaks down really well and obviously contains some lovely home produced fertiliser! We find when the girls kick it around while free ranging it's easily swept back into position so our garden is still nice and neat despite their best efforts.

We have straw in the nest box because Val sleeps in there every night. I'm very sad and build her a little nest every day. The straw is very easily scooped out (still in it's nest shape) complete with poo. We keep it in a bag and then line the bottom of our bean trenches with it.

To get a good thick layer over the whole run, it would probably take about 5 bales. What I will do this week is get 2 and spread them over the most protected bit and see how we go with that.
All the mud I had over the winter isn't healthy for the girls so I'm trying anything I can to keep it cleaner and drier. They have had pallets laid down in the run over winter to keep them above the mud but it's not ideal, which is why as soon as the weather is settled, Steve is going to help me take down the old sheds and sort the girls out with another run on the other side of the nesting shed so the run they are in now can be rested and recover.

__________________
I'd rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself than be crowded on a velvet cushion.

http://hollandsroadparadise.blogspot.com
updated 14 May 2008

www.bradleyroundtwo.blogspot.com

what you need to do is have a look around ones you can buy and take note of any good ideas.

you can then draw up your own design with all the good features and have really the best chicken run.

as far as nesting boxes are concerned - you will need one for every 4 chooks you have. i have 6 hens and i have put 4 nesting boxes in to be generous. just make sure that they do not roost in them at night.

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I have 17 hens and 4 nest boxes. They only use 2 and roost on perches. I have an area on the plot that comes up at a 90 degree angle from the shed and current run. I consider it dead space as it is inhabited by derelict sheds that really need to come down. The area is approx 3m wide by 10m long and when we turn it into a run it will effectively double the outdoor space that my girls have. (Current run is 4m x 9m approx)

We can obtain massive pallets from a company on the industrial estate opposite, so wood is no problem. Its getting the time and himself down there to help me!!

__________________
I'd rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself than be crowded on a velvet cushion.

http://hollandsroadparadise.blogspot.com
updated 14 May 2008

www.bradleyroundtwo.blogspot.com

Good luck KirstyB - Pallets are wonderful things aren't they? We've just built all of our raised beds on the allotment out of them. Ove the next few weeks the husband is going to build a whole shed out of them.

I know this is going off the thread a bit here but we were wondering about nest boxes in the traditional style chicken house. Our three girls sleep in the same spot every night without fail: Val on the nest box, Flo tucked in the corner and Phoebe on the outside. They are real creatures of habit. So we wondered, does one chicken frequent the same nest box for laying? My husband is going to build a 'holiday home' for the girls on the plot so they can spend the day down there with us, and we wondered. Evidently we will need two nest boxes as we are planning to add some ex-batts to the flock shortly.