[Des C]

Hi there everyone,

Final preparations are underway at last!!! A lifetime's ambition is about to be fulfilled!!
But first, I need some more advice.
I have bought a couple of plastic 5 litre drinkers which appear to have rings on top. Should they be hung up off the ground? If so, how high?
Also the coop I have bought has a small feeding box which can be filled from outside. Will I need any other feed trays?
Finally, the farmer who built the coop has advised me to keep the birds penned at all times as part-time free ranging is stressful. I had hoped to give my birds freedom when possible (I have about 150 feet x 40 feet of garden). Any comments?

Thanks again to everyone
Des C

[muntjac]

if you can get a butchers hook and hang the water drinker off the floor by 5 inches or so it may stop the birds scratting rubbish into them if like me you do water checks each morning it wont matter ,the feeder in the outside wall wil be fine but you also need a a grit feeder and oyster shell one these can just be old grill pans or similair ,as for p[art time free range ,mine have done just that for years and i dont  have to worry about them needing counselling .
clip the wing feathers back to one inch of the wing itself to pevent them leaving your property and they wil be fine let the birds settle down for a month to the new quarters then let them have a wander outside

[Aunt Sally]

Mine love to freerange whenever I can let them out (Foxy Woxy is around  :shock: )

I've shown this wing clipping diagram before but I think it's a good one.  Just the feathers shown They need the rest to keep them warm in cold weather :!:

[Aunt Sally]

my birds were flying everywhere until I followed your picture -but I only clipped one wing on each hen -I believe this unbalances them?

Quite right Foxy. Just clip one wing to unbalance.  Makes them fly like a lawn mower  

[milkman]

I have it in mind to eventually have a couple of hens in the garden at home like aunty sally does (i think my garden's about the same size as yours having seen your pics somewhere), and then to take them on day trips/outings to the lottie while i'm over there to assist with pest control activities on my empty beds - do you think they'd get used to this sort of temporary upheaval (5 mins in the car each way)?  the guinea pigs don't seem to mind but then they aren't roosting birds.

Am loathe to actually keep hens on the lottie 'cause of what happened on a site in salisbury recently (where the chickens got massacred by local low-lifes).

[Aunt Sally]

My chooks love a trip to the lottie (Just put them in a dark box and they settle down for a sleep)

All the other allotment holders wander over for a chat with them and of cause, bring a few worms  

I make a temporary net enclosure for them so they don't wander off and eat other people's crops  :shock:   (easier to catchthem to go home too)

[Axe Victim]

My chooks love a trip to the lottie (Just put them in a dark box and they settle down for a sleep)

All the other allotment holders wander over for a chat with them and of cause, bring a few worms  

I make a temporary net enclosure for them so they don't wander off and eat other people's crops  :shock:   (easier to catchthem to go home too)

I'm glad you said that...because that was our plan. We've two chooks who have lived in our back garden for years and we were planning on popping them on the lotty for the odd afternoon as a pest control measure...let them have a scootch about and a general scarify of the ground.

Incidentally, we clipped one wing of ours when we first got them but have never bothered since and, even though they are perfectly capable of flying again now, they never do...they are quite happy with the run of our garden and put themselves to bed at night.