Who's got chickens?

NoNameNoNumber

NoNameNoNumber

NoNameNoNumber

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I'm thinking of converting a dog kennel in my garden into a chicken coup. The kennel itself is around 6'x4' and maybe 5' tall and the outdoor 'run' is around 6'x8' and 6'tall.

Currently the outdoor bit is slabbed but I intend to slab around the perimeter of the run to prevent fox attacks and then lay woodchip down inside.

The kennel itself I will add a couple of perches and some raised bedding areas with 2 nesting boxes on the bottom with a nice hatch in the side for egg collection.

We plan to have 3 chickens :)

Do we have any keepers on here that could share their experiences and setups?

:)
 
A chicken coup sounds scary :p

We keep them. Have 6 or 7 at the moment. Your setup sounds pretty good. I'd recommend making sure the outside run has good drainage before you put the wood chip in. The ground will become compacted after a while. Even with wood chip, our run gets really muddy when it rains. I plan to dig it all out and put a layer of shingle underneath this summer.

They also like being outside all the time during daylight, so a covered part outside is good. I have one corner with a pallet for them to stand on and a perspex sheet on top of the run to keep the rain off.

Watch out for mites. Keep some treatment powder handy, as they will likely get them at some point and they are horrible.

Generally great animals to keep though. Ours eat all of our food waste and produce a decent supply of eggs. Plenty of sawdust is good for nest boxes and floor covering inside. Easy to clean out and big bags from Countrywide or similar last a good while.
 
Grew up with them. You can get giant plastic hen houses, other than that, feed and water them and collect some eggs. Also need to secure for pine martins and the like. Pretty easy though.
 
Oops I meant coop :)

Nice, I was planning on renewing the outside covering that is loads of thin twigs bound together in a mat, the PO of the house had this but it has collapsed. I can't image they'll really want to be in direct sunlight much. The Coop and run is sheltered nicely from 4m tall bamboo which keeps the wind and a good amount of the rain out.

I'll get some pictures up later and seek advice on the layout indoors. I've read about differing height beds/perches leading to hierarchy and bullying... Doesn't sound good!
 
NoNameNoNumber said:
Oops I meant coop :)

Nice, I was planning on renewing the outside covering that is loads of thin twigs bound together in a mat, the PO of the house had this but it has collapsed. I can't image they'll really want to be in direct sunlight much. The Coop and run is sheltered nicely from 4m tall bamboo which keeps the wind and a good amount of the rain out.

I'll get some pictures up later and seek advice on the layout indoors. I've read about differing height beds/perches leading to hierarchy and bullying... Doesn't sound good!
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Actually they love being in direct sunlight. They need shade too, but a bit of run that gets the sun is a good idea.

There will always be a pecking order and some bullying from time to time, mainly if a new bird is introduced. We have perches at different heights, doesn't seem to cause a problem. Once the pecking order is established, they generally all get along fine.
 
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Before I moved from my parents house had to deal with them daily they have about 80 AFIK about 70 are "normal" the others are miniature ornamental breeds.

Most of our hen houses are made from old pallets and Sheets of treated wood. the best thing we did though and I will recommend this to anyone is if your building or modifying something for chickens but a flap on the side of the house and make the floor removable and put something like Lino on the floor. It makes cleaning them out daily so easy just pull out the floor and scrape the poop into a bucket.

on our houses we have a awning of sorts that comes out over the side (not the door) and above each door we have a daylight sensor as the chickens are very clever about going away before it gets dark and this means we don't worry about remembering to close the doors incase of foxes.

EDIT: the bullying and hierarchy stuff is not too bad you will have squabbling at first if you just get 3 random fully grown chickens I would suggest get them about 15 weeks old or so as this is when they are still young and before they should start laying which will help them settle in. I have rarely seen issues and that includes having more than one **** living together (i only say to do this is if one **** is grown from a chick and the other is a full gown this means less fighting in my experience)

If you have any questions gimme a PM will be happy to answer.
 
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We got 3 chickens over easter bank hol. so had them couple weeks now. Bought a chicken run off the auction site. Already started producing eggs. I'll try get some pictures up, but ours is on concrete, but we let them out during the day in the garden, leave the door open they tend to go back in when they want/later on, then we close the door.

Kids love them, especially collecting eggs in the morning
 
Bat said:
Actually they love being in direct sunlight. They need shade too, but a bit of run that gets the sun is a good idea.

There will always be a pecking order and some bullying from time to time, mainly if a new bird is introduced. We have perches at different heights, doesn't seem to cause a problem. Once the pecking order is established, they generally all get along fine.
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+1 hens love the sun. Also about the pecking order, it can get pretty vicious, you can learn a lot from it, just like human beings, they can gang up on the weakling of the group, quite a site, literally can peck a hen to death, fairly rare though.
 
How secure does the garden need to be to let them roam in? ie. will they try to escape or are they happy just wondering around. Also I know of at least 1 cat that frequents my grass cutting pile... How much of an issues is he?
 
NoNameNoNumber said:
How secure does the garden need to be to let them roam in? ie. will they try to escape or are they happy just wondering around. Also I know of at least 1 cat that frequents my grass cutting pile... How much of an issues is he?
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They wander, they don't try and escape, but you need a secured area for night time, if a fox gets in it will at least kill one of them and come back for the rest next dinner time. Hens will wander where ever they can. Cats are no problem.
 
NoNameNoNumber said:
How secure does the garden need to be to let them roam in? ie. will they try to escape or are they happy just wondering around. Also I know of at least 1 cat that frequents my grass cutting pile... How much of an issues is he?
Click to expand...

We let ours out sometimes. Once they are settled and know where they live, there shouldn't be an issue. Several cats around our garden and they've never had a go. I'd suggest keeping very close supervision to begin with just in case though.
 
I've always wondered about the ones you see near farms. Don't they just walk off or get lost?

Do they lay without any male presence (i.e. like a Cow needs to Calf first for Milk production)?

What do you do in the harsh winters? Lock them up, or what?

How long do they live for, and when they perish what do you do with them then?

Also, do you need any license or veterinary insurances?
 
they can be messy .don't let it build up. they will lay anywhere, hedge bottoms allsorts :p they will roam so just make sure its secure.

we had chickens, ducks, bantys (banty eggs are nice).
 
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