[kopperdrake]

Hi all After reading the posts on here and the friendly advice, I was hoping I might get some of my own advice

I'm planning on getting a couple of hens (probably ex battery hens as I hear they're still decent layers when they get rid of them and we llike the though of giving them a second chance) next spring and would like to get the run/coop ready over this autumn. I'm getting a coop big enough for 6 bantis so figure 2 normal sized hens should have plenty of room in there, but I was wondering what a decent sized run would be square footage wise. They'll probably spend most of the day in the run, though we work from home so if I'm in the garden tending the veggies I'll let them out for a wander - obviously I can't let them out full-time as apart from the fact that the veggie-patch would get eaten (I've heard that can happen?) we also get foxes out here so wouldn't like to temp fate.

Height-wise, I was thinking of around 4ft tall and making it covered to keep the chooks dry and prevent the ground turning to mud.

Also, are rats a problem to chooks? We get the ocassional ratty visitor after grain.

Sorry about the beginner questions - I just want to make sure everything's fine for them when they finally do arrive.

Thanks for any advice!

[Jellyhead]

Hello, Welcome to the madhouse. Well all the others are mad anyway :shock: cant help much with this question except that if you make it tall enough for you to walk into, it will be easier to get to the chooks and for cleaning. Unless of course you are 3'11" :oops:  :shock: in which case dont listen to me, no one else normally does anyway  

[Vember]

Hello & welcome

As Jelly suggests go for something you can walk into, cleaning out, catching etc will be far easier

As for Rats, if your not careful they will nibble their way in to the chooks house to get to food, and will kill chicks if you were planning to have any

I have put weld mesh round the bottom & corners on all my sheds to stop any un-invited guests

Hope that helps a little


Vember

[GrannieAnnie]

To add my little bit, you need AT LEAST 1q meter of run per bird, and if going for ex batts, better to buy them in three's so there's not a lonely hen if one does die and some ex batts can die very quickly, so would you have enough room for 4?  At least they are cheap to buy, so they won't cost you an arm and a leg!!!

[poultrygeist]

Hi kopperdrake.

Just to reiterate what everyone else has said so far. And to add that fox-proof runs need to be made from welded mesh, at least 19g/1mm thick and rat-proofing requires a maximum mesh size of 25x13mm. In each case, you'll need to bury 6-12" of the mesh and preferably have slabs around the edge of the run.

And you'll need a covering of mesh over the top to stop foxes climbing over but preferably a corrugated plastic roof to keep it dry. This helps to keep the smells down and stop the ground going sour so quickly.

Rob