[tosca100]

We have the same coop. Our's had the drive as well till they were wormed, then the garden. A constant round of poo picking now, trying to get it before the dogs (they all get on really well!) We only have three though, that is enough poop for our little garden.

[Derek.laurence]

Andreadon,

your seventh pic down (4 chicks on the shelf), what are the breeds?
The wildlife centre i got my chickens from couldnt tell me what they were.  Am I right in saying thats a Blackrock? whats the Brown hen (head in cup) next to it called?  This would satisfy my curiosity greatly.  Many thanks.

Nice set-up btw

[fraggle69]

oZZ_9sx63xs  maded this

[Hen 1-0 Fox]

Love the video... Always nice to get a real perspective on how others are doing it. I was really interested in the greenhouse conversion when I started but just couldn't source one cheaply enough.... Glad tour girls are happy!

[Arthur_two_sheds_Jackson]

Its doubles up with the Rabbits but im quite chuffed with the end result, Just got to decide if we're going to put a roof on or not

[ANHBUC]

Great job, must have been difficult to get it level inbetween the trees.

I would recommend a roof but we do have a really wet climate here. 

[CAL]

Finally got around to moving the chooks to their own part of the garden and improving my shed.  The fence is purposefully low as we don't let the chooks free range unless we are around to keep an eye out and although they have tried a few times they can't fly over the fence.

Hopefully this will keep the rest of the garden a bit cleaner as we've had a new addition to the family who will be crawling out there in the spring..

[HarrysMum]

From this...



To this...





This is not quite complete yet, we still have another panel to go in around the fence, awaiting a gate insertion 

It also needs a through clean and a couple of old rat holes patching up and I want to seal around all the edges of the felt (I know not ideal but it's on there) to try to help alleviate mite problems ..... I also want to find some logs n stuff for the run ..... I have until the 19th of may to have it up and running

[ANHBUC]

Looking good.  I managed to get some used coroline/onduline sheets cheaply off Gumtree and hubby has just roofed and old shed we picked up of freecycle with some of them.   

[joyfull]

rats will get into the run very easily through the joining sections of your fencing 

[tosca100]

We were lucky to get a ready made chook house and run with the house. The house is very secure with a timber lined concrete ceiling, rendered walls and metal door. The area they tend to hole up in the hottest part of the day is open and airy but sheltered by a walnut tree, and there is also a pear tree in the run. The wire needs replacing at some point, but we have given them an electric, movable run where lots of crickets and other bugs keep them amused, though they have eaten most of the foliage. A huge amount of enormous edible snails reside here too, but if you tread on one you turn your ankle, they are that firm. You do see the chooks attacking the empty shells though. We have pine martens here so they can't go out too early. Dave saw on when we first arrived in the walnut tree and also three houses down when he took the dogs out. They have solar fairy lights which encourage them in at night for the same reason.

[ANHBUC]

Lucky chooks.   

[joyfull]

so pleased you are settled and have chickens again  x

[tosca100]

so pleased you are settled and have chickens again  x

Thanks Joyful. The chooks have grown up a bit since theses photos and a sibling, still with the breeder, has laid her first egg. So hoping their des res will help our's along a bit.

[coop-de-tat]

Hi all,

Here's a couple of pics of my little fathers day project.

After (for the second time) losing my little brood a couple of years ago to fox, I have attempted to make my garden less inviting to Mr Reynard with a 2m high fence all around, a more secure coop and some other measures.

I used this excellent basic coop design from a site called "BarnGeek" here:-

http://www.barngeek.com/free-chicken-coop-plans.html

I am modifying to suit my needs and budget. The main difference being mine will be a single, low angle pitch, corrugated Onduline roof. Also the timber I'm using will be less substantial (3" x 2" and 4" x 1" for the frame and sidings and good 1/2" exterior ply for the boxes) I also added a drop door and have made the rear easily removable for spring-cleaning.

The frame and floor will be totally creosoted. I had some probs with mites last time around and am hoping that doing this I can avoid the little *.

The overall dimensions of the coop are 6' (l) x 6' (w) x 4' (h)  The footprint of the coop interior will be about 20²ft. I'm planning on buying 4 birds (perhaps 5) to live here. There's a fairly large, grassed area around the coop where they will have a free run during the day.

I like this design. It looks solid, traditional and practical. There will be 4 good-sizes nestboxes and the other side box will serve as a storage area for feed etc.

I used the brilliant (Free!) Google SketchUp to plan my coop. Here is (what I hope) my finished coop will look like:-





And here's the beginnings of the project in-situ




Anyway, the Welsh weather's holding me up ATM but I will be updating as I go on here.

I just wait to get my new girls in and frying up some proper eggs again :=]

CdT