[karlooben]

at the monent my 2 hen houses are based almost center of the  run which is 10 m by 6m,  the babies house backs onto the big girls houses but they are fenced of from them. today when i was cleeaning out the babies { they have very deep bedding rite onto the bare ground as i havent had time to do a base for them } i noticed what looked like 2 tunnel tpye holes they were about 1 foot long  that were partly under the shed an inside the babies little house , i dont know if the babies had been trying to scratch out or i have rats . when i noticed this i managed to place a pallet top down an then replace thebedding but i was wandering about moving my houses to one end of the run backing them onto the main fence or leaving them in the middle i do also need to place them of the ground but thats going to be pretty tricky and after this weekend i know they get hit by the wind really badly which is why i was thinking of moving them to one corner .

[Vember]

I would think it's best to keep the houses where you can get right round them.
I like to keep things as open as possible so I can watch for rat activity


Sarah

[karlooben]

a friend of mine said it was better to keep them in the middle as then if any of the girls wanted to get away from each other then they have 2 ends of the run do that but i thoguht it mite of been better to place them ito one corner only then they have all the run to play in .

[Vember]

I see what your saying about the run space, but in my experience if you have got rats and they can get round the back of anything they will and they will eat at the wood to get inside  :evil:  
Makes a mess and if you can't get round the back makes fixing holes & trapping etc difficult


Sarah

[karlooben]

i did think of that so i figured i could place a cage of wire mesh around first , but unless i move the house or get them up futher of the ground i wont really know if i have rats or not .

they hasnt been any evidence of them so far an everytime i have left food out its not been taken although tonite i suppose this could be the perfect way to find out .
as my girls have just finished the antibiotics i cant use the eggs so i left 2 on the floor of the run if they  are still  there in the morning then i can assume i dont have rats  or mice .

[babe]

i have space right around my main coop and the 3 wee ones.

great fun if you're trying to get hold just one chook. ring a ring a roses. like running a marathon with obstacles

[karlooben]

thats a prob i have with the syacmore tree i cant hug it , its that big an when the girls want to play up its hellllllllllllllllllll.

i remeber my first night with them one of the girls ran me round this tree 6 times, my sister was watching from outside an she thought it was brillant watching me get dizzy.

[babe]

annoys me, that you only want one, but they all have to join in the race. so you're tripping up and allsorts.

can almost here them laughing :shock:

[karlooben]

lol u can say that again .

its like u put them in the house and 1 gets out then they all decide to follow then u have to start again .