[webwahm]

I thought they took only as many birds as they had homes for?  I was only down to take 3, but now I added an extra 3 so that's an extra 3 'saved'...no?   

Yes, I am very relieved now and yes, I'm back to looking forward to it all - it had me to the point of 'what on earth have I got into' but now I'm excited again :-)

[Foxy]

p.s foxy i am still trying to find somewhere that sells little army men that can be placed into each corner .

I wonder where they would get their little machine guns from???

[batcatz]

karlooben, please can I see your run?  I'm currently building my own so any ideas I can steal from you will be fab.  :-)

[dizzylizzie]

I thought they took only as many birds as they had homes for?  I was only down to take 3, but now I added an extra 3 so that's an extra 3 'saved'...no?   

Yes, I am very relieved now and yes, I'm back to looking forward to it all - it had me to the point of 'what on earth have I got into' but now I'm excited again :-)

nope, they get out as many as they are allowed, there are always people that can take extra girls if they are looking like they are gonna have a surplas

[karlooben]

batcatz pm me your email and  i will send pics tonight  i am more then happy for ppl to steal ideas an copy my run , the reason i am so proud of it is when i was building it i really just did not have a clue what i was doing and that makes it more specail of course, there were times when i had to call for help but u cant put a roof on a 10 m by 6 m run with one pair of hands  i would still be doing it now if it was just me .

[too many girls]

Looby start your own thread and post a some pics of your run, we'd all like to see it please

[karlooben]

tmg there is a thread here somewhere with pics but hek knows where  , i am going to build a mini sand box shelter over the weekend so they can have thier play sand back then once thats done as far as i am concerned the run will be complete so bare with me please then i can take better pics . but we are in for some very heavy snow aint we so i'll have to wait and see .

[karlooben]

heres a link to my old thread showing pics of my run

 http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v50/karlooben/boricura%20central/chicks%20only/?start=20

thanks kate 

[redmolly]

I had 4 girls in the top one!! The run was a useless size and within a week they had a massive extenstion! 
They now live in a luxury 8x6 shed which I had at cost price after a friend had one spare in their business. At the time, I was looking for 2nd hand shed etc to convert.....much easier to clean and loads of room for the girls, the subsequent hatchlings and cock!! 

I've heard of some people converting things like wendy houses etc.

[karlooben]

i have cleaned up my album on photobucket and added a few more pics http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v50/karlooben/boricura%20central/chicks%20only/hens%20only/hen%20run%20only/
hope it works 

[IMOmimey]

we made our own coops, just a huge square box, in 1/2" ply. roof acts as a lid and lifts off completly, is angled a bit so rain runs off. cut out a door shape at the bottom of the  front panel, hinged and a bolt to close it! Done. used 1"x1" as batons up each corner. 

IT works for me, no nooks and cranies for poop/mite etc. I stand them on bricks.At clean out, place my dustbin over the doorway, and once the lid is off i just shove all the bedding out through the door into the bin.  I have a bad back, so access through the roof is easier for me. Also, I like to leave the lid off,with door open to dry it out after a good wash with jeyes.

The run can be made to your spec, you can even buy aviary type panels...3ft x 6ft Ebay £14 each, and just hook them together,, so you can move it around a bit. Like the others, I swear by onduline roofing, have bought the seethru plastic panels, and they went brittle and broke within 6 months.

Sheds are fantastic for size, but all the grooves (if tongue and grooved) provide excellent home for redmite, and routine disinfecting can be harder..I use a cheapo garden pump action sprayer so it goes into those hard to reach areas.

Well done you, I applaud your choice of 6 hens.  A very nice number, as you could expect to sadly lose 1 or 2, depending on their condition.

Enjoy, we want piccies of them, and want to know their names once they have them 

[grinling]

I bought mine of Ebay, one outlet with several people selling near Ongar. I chose my one with a pullout tray(frozen in this am Essex) and a side panel which comes down. Very easy clean. hubby built a stand so birds could go underneath.
Built a run around it with chicken wire being dug into the ground as well as there are rats at our allotment ( stream and people with unwired chicken runs!!!). Had some roofing like corrugated iron to roof this area over.
Come spring when next area is cleared, it will be wired and grass sown.
Could also try freecycle.com.

[webwahm]

As an update for anyone else looking at houses to buy...

I bought an 8-hen coop which is big enough to fit both my kids in    but with the intention of making my own run so now I'm choosing my wire mesh etc.

Couple of things though...

1.  The house is on the floor at the moment and not great for cleaning  even though both sides open fully - so I'll probably put it higher up and make my life easier.

2.  It also had some perches which were not fastened down, and they are usually on the coop floor so need to fix them in.  There is also quite

3.  Poor flooring (or ventillation!?) which I've covered up - the flooring panels were just slats of wood with small gaps between them - these have been lined with cardboard (?) because the straw and shavings just fell through!

4.  Draught potential where the 'side flap' is for opening up the whole side of the coop.  Big gaps which won't be good as will provide a draught 'across' the bird rather than above their heads.

[chooksbury]

Invest in a Lenham and add a run.  I know theyre expensive at first, but for quality, solidly built, easy to clean hen and people friendly housing, these are just the cock's comb (didn;t think canines testes appropriate for on here !)

[beulah59]

Cheaper to buy a Cube!