[GerryOB]

Hopefully this will work.  

First pic is Penny, Georgie and Paxo checking out the view from the window of their new bedroom.  Nugget was in the pic, but ducked down just as I took it (typical).




Second pic is our chooks new home.  They will eventually be moved once the garden is done (too dangerous for them at the moment as piles of slabs & bricks everywhere and don't want them toppling on them).

You can just see nugget hiding under their bedroom.  Needless to say it all looked nice and clean when the pic was taken.  Now it has that 'lived in' look about it   .  



They now have a dust bath tray and a new (bigger) feeder is on order as I ordered the wrong size by mistake.

Gerry
 

[New shoot]

Lovely pics and when you move them into the garden they will relandscape it again for you if they are like everyone elses little hooligans   

[GerryOB]

Lovely pics and when you move them into the garden they will relandscape it again for you if they are like everyone elses little hooligans   

You mean they are good at brick laying and putting in a pond?  Hubby will be pleased 

[Casey76]

Please, please tell me that they have access to a bigger enclosure for at least part of the day.  That run is big enough for 1 chicken, at MAX 2 chickens (small ones) - it is certainly far too small for 4.

How I would so like to have words with the "designers" of these so called "coops."  They have no thought in how they are to be cleaned out at all.  Unless you are very (very small) you are going to be on your hands and knees in the run to poo pick, and you will have to be a veritable contortionist to clean the roosting area properly

You chickens look lovely btw, and i love thier names!

[GerryOB]

We actually done quite a bit of checking out on coops/runs before we made our purchase.  We knew what features we were looking for, and how much space we had available, as well as how many chickens we wanted to keep.  Initially we were quite taken by the coops of a similar style to ours that were/are being sold on ebay.  We even saw several of them at poultry centres/breeders etc, with up to as many as eight full size chickens in them.  However, we read several items on them being made of cheap inferior quality wood that fell apart in no time.  Bearing in mind that those coops were actually only the smaller ones, with only two panels in the run part (as on ebay).  We chose to go for less birds and more room, as our run has three sections/panels, plus the bit with lower headroom below the actual coop.  When visiting breeders/suppliers, we made sure to tell them our set up, and all of them said it was plenty big enough for four chickens of the size we were looking for, and some said it could take more.  It's actually advertised for up to five (the guy who makes them breeds chickens himself and is very knowledgeable, not just a get rich quick guy knocking them up in his garage), and we have seen the smaller ones advertised for up to eight in some places!!  We knew that four chickens was all we wanted, so even though it could hold more, we don't want to do that.  They all seem happy enough as they are.  Eventually, once our garden is finished, then we hope to be able to place the whole thing inside another fenced off fox proof area, although we were told by most of the breeders/suppliers that they would be fine living in the coop/run just as it is.  We have also seen several other people who have similar (and in most cases smaller) coops/runs with between 3 - 6 birds in them, and not all 'new to chicken keeping' as you might expect. 

If I have one regret, it's that the whole thing is not standing up height, as hubby does have to get in on his hands and knees, but if/when we move them, I may open up the whole front of the run and build onto it, adding height as well as length/width, to make cleaning easier.  It will be easy enough to do just by removing the big front double panel.

Unfortunately not all of us have fields with acres of land in which to keep our chickens.  I only wish we did.  Farming and Chicken Keeping have been in our family for generations.  I remember my Nan keeping them in the tiny back yard of her house in London.

[sneezer]

If you are building them a pond they will love frogs if they can get them!  I tend to agree with Casey as a basic rule on this site 3ft square run area per bird is the minimum, hopefully you wont have any probs but sometimes lack of space can lead to feather pulling etc, also try hanging up some greens that keeps them entertained!! lovely looking girls, they are very addictive!

[GerryOB]

Thank you sneezer    They already have lovely characters.  Nugget (the brown ranger) is the tamest of the lot, and if she sees me cleaning in the coop or nest box areas, will come running inside and thrust out her chest for me to stroke her.  Today she actually sat down/crouched as if she wanted me to pick her up, although I didn't as I want her to really trust me first, but I think she will be ready very soon, so I kept on stroking her gently.  Was handy that Georgie the copper black was right behind her watching and seeing that she wasn't getting hurt.  I think she may be tame enough to stroke soon too.  If I sit on the ground by the door of their run and gently click my fingers and say 'come here' then those two and Paxo the Coucou will all come running over and have a bit of 'chicken chat' with me.  Penny the leghorn is a bit more timid, but she watches the others and I think she will get the idea that I won't hurt them.

We got them all at the same time from the same place and from the same run.  The breeder had some in one enclosure and some in another.  Although we liked the look of some of the ones in each pen, we chose to go with some that were already acustomed to each other, so got them all from the same pen.  The odd thing is, we have been waiting for some punch ups, pecking at each other and trying to work out who is the 'head bird' but there doesn't seem to be one.  They all snuggle up together, all eat and drink together, run around together but so far (touch wood) no feathers flying.

Going to get some boredom breakers too.  The breeder had some CD's on strings hanging up, so going to do that as it aparently stops them pecking each other.  I just thought it looked nice and since they are not pecking, they might just find it interesting.  Also seen some spiral vegetable & fruit hangers that you can hang stuff in, so going to get some of those too.  Also thinking of putting a shelf or perch half way up the far end of the run, just to give them somewhere higher up to jump up and sit and survey the world.
 

[Casey76]

I'm sorry to sound hard, but unless that run is 4m x 1m then you are overstocking the DEFRA minimum of 1m² per hen.

If the hens are going to be in there permanently they need AT LEAST 2m² PER BIRD, plus extra space for feeders/drinkers and other life enrichment materials.

If you can't provide the extra space then you need to reduce your stock else you are going to end up with problems.

[ali2]

I've always felt that when the suppliers said  room for x no of hens they really mean for roosting inside ...ours started off with a run attached like that - but must admit a bit smaller  I think so was quite relieved when a week later we had  a bigger pen to put them in ...untill we let them roam the garden then realised what a mess they made  so then fenced off the end of the garden for them but that said we are lucky enough to have the space to be able to do it

[GerryOB]

I've removed my pictures due to the rather vile email that I have received from someone who didn't have the front to put their name to it. It has been reported, although was quite obviously made up just to send the message to me...be warned...you are still traceable (and rather immature!). 

Maybe the sender should have looked a little more closely and they would have realised that our chicken coop/run was NOT one of the cheap 'everyone starts off with one of these' type that are bought on ebay, but a much larger version which looks very similar.

I'm not in the best of health, either physically or emotionally, and don't need the added duress of petty, immature people sending those sort of emails to me.  I shall be seeking advice elsewhere in future.

To those who gave me genuine help and advice during my short spell here, I thank you.

Happy Chicken Keeping to the genuine people.

Gerry

[joyfull]

Gerry, there is no need to remove yourself from here, all pm's through this forum are traceable so the person in question can be traced.

[nicky d]

Arh no Gerry come back, dont let some ignorant person do this.   Im sorry but thats really peed me off, wot is it with people, wot other people do and how they choose to keep their birds is up to them, wot gives people the right to email someone they probably have never met and question the way they keep their birds,   its dam right rude and unforgiveable, there are ways of giving people friendly advice if they ask for it, that pming system needs sorting out. nicky

[joyfull]

The pm system works ok and all pm's can be traced, so withholding a name doesn't hide whoever sent it. People are ok voicing their opinions on this forum and we will not agree all of the time but so long as the birds are well looked after and meet at least the minimum space requirements then we have no right to force our ideals onto others, as Gerry had said they were in the process of having several levels put in which in effect gives them more ground space. We can make suggestions but it really is off to send nasty emails to others.
I will now lock this post before we end up with a witch hunt, but Gerry please remember the majority of us on here are nice and will give our valid points from how we perceive things if requested should you wish to come back.