[francais]

I brought a flat packed hen house off e-bay (never again  ). It said it was for 6 hens - anyway even I could see it would not house anything like this so I got two girls but even then it needed more room.  My dad is helping me convert a corner of my garden into an enclosure for them (and a couple of friends hehehe!!). Anyway in the meantime I decided to make the girls an extension (They can't be free range ).

Now having no DIY skills at all and having to make do with left overs I managed to "construct" this....Now I know it's not fox proof (think even a squirrel could tackel it), but it's only to be used while we are in and to give them more space until the other run is ready. Just needs a coat of Shades tomorrow, but thought I would let the girls test it first 

[francais]

Thought I would add a couple of the girls "testing" it for me...

[Casey76]

6 hens???  Goodness!  Someone needs to tell the vendor about the DEFRA guidelines for minimum space for chickens!

Unfortunately it is often the beginner who falls foul of these people.

Well done francais for making a temporary extension until your main run is complete!

[chuckmum]

Well done, I sure your girls are chuffed, I took the end of my run and attached it to a large fenced off area. I then found that the wood was like a sponge and absorbed all moisture and swelled up, so sold it and bought a cube!

[Alby]

nice one Francais !!
                          If the lawns important get you,re Dad to make a run that can be moved around to keep the ware and tare spread out .
                          I made the mistake of making a permanent run on the lawn and it only took 5 days to turn it into a mud bath  I ( well OH ) decided to take the chooks to the allottment and they still made a mudbath 

                          Regards and welcome    Alby

[grumpydad]

well done, just remember to keep moving it, i have 3 bantams in a moveable run at the moment till they are old enough to be put with the older ones, they manage to make a mess in 2 days.
keep it moving as the lawn will need more time this time of year to recover.
if you need to cut the lawn at all before the winter, try to leave it a bit longer, it will help protect it

[nzdunn]

well done, your girls by the way are gorgeous,  nickyx

[Roughlee Handled]

Looks good ................but I would suggest that you add weld mesh to the sides as that fruit netting will not stand up to a dog chewing it or a fox.  In a recent RSPB 1 in 4 gardens are visited by a fox!

It is a shame that so many people have jumped on the chicken band wagon and sell cheap rubbish that will not last two years. They then have the cheek to say it can house 6 chickens.  I would love Hue sue the importers under the trades description act.

[francais]

Thanks guys

Roughlee: Thanks for the suggestion re the weld mesh - yeah I know this it's nothing like fox proof. It's only temp until their new run is ready. I had to make a decision over leave them in their small run for now (which I felt was too small) - or use what I had spare to try and give them more room. I went back and forth over what was best small but secure vrs larger but not fox safe - in the end I figured it was best to take the risk and make the girls as happy as possible and get on with the new run - FAST!

[Roughlee Handled]

Cool. 

Forgot to say welcome to the eggciting world of chickens. 

[francais]

Thanks

My timber posts from the reclaim yard arrived about an hour ago, so looks like I have a busy time ahead 

[themagicaltoad1]

I bought one of these hen houses and had to build an extra run. The problems are only just beginning with it though, now the damp weather is here the door has swollen and won't shut. I tried to open it yesterday and it was jammed shut, it ended up splitting in 2 . The bolt from the handle has long since dropped off and disappeared. I hate to think what else will go wrong with it before the end of the winter.

[francais]

They are real sh1t arn't they?  TBH when I saw it I thought it looked really good and the photo made it seem larger than it was. I had it delivered to my mums (cuz she is always in) and dad was going to drop it off at my house in his lorry for me after. As it was I was at mum's when it got delivered and was able to load both packs into my shogun - that gave me the first clue as to it's size  (should add this was without dropping the seats!)

I now plan to keep this as a temp run once the other is constructed.  Might get a bit longer life span out of it if it's not on constant use.

[Kate and her Ducks]

Well done on the temp run, would never laugh at someone elses DIY!

Congratulations and welcome to the forum.

[LittleRedHen]

Francais, please don't beat yourself up over the hen house.  We bought the exact same hen house on Ebay.  And to be honest, our four hens love their little house.  We bought a second one and attached it to the first thinking it would give them more room and they won't have anything to do with it.  They all go into the original one. AND they fit in there perfectly.  We've added a pretty big run to it and it all worked out just fine.  So don't worry.