Polytunnel for shelter?

  • 4 Replies
  • 2793 Views
*

indigo

  • New Member
  • *
  • 40
Polytunnel for shelter?
« on: January 04, 2012, 10:16 »
Hi
I have 7 hens which where given to me, when my friend went abroad.  They are various breeds and of the large breeds.  We made a run at the bottom of the garden for them, and they are doing fine.  With all this awful wet weather, the ground has become water logged - I am forever raking up wet straw and putting down new!  - However yesterday, we had torrential rain (as i'm  sure we all did) but not only was the ground wet - there was a massive puddle in the middle - right outside their coop.  The run is about 20ft wide and 35ft long.  It is too big to cover and the other week we tied a huge tarpaulin over it.  Very unsuccesful as it frightened the chickens so much.  It was rising up and down in the breeze (let alone a gale) and really spooked them - so much that they wouldnt go to their food.
I was wondering if i bought a polytunnel - about 15' x 6ft 6" and put that up, would it be ok.  It would mean that they still had loads of room outside, but also that they would have a nice dry area as well.  The tunnel that i am looking at has 8 windows that roll up, plus a door each end - so ventilation wouldnt be a problem i dont think.  Any advice would be very much appreciated before i buy one and then it isnt suitable!

*

RichardA

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Location: North Lincolnshire
  • 1468
Re: Polytunnel for shelter?
« Reply #1 on: January 04, 2012, 10:19 »
i am told they tend to peck at reflections in polytunnels and so soon cause a lot of damage. sorry to not be much help but i only have ducks and they love mud. would a simple shed do the trick
R

*

GrannieAnnie

  • Grandmother of the Forums
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Location: Kent
  • 21104
Re: Polytunnel for shelter?
« Reply #2 on: January 04, 2012, 12:58 »
We have done it in the past, (once we had 300 Amberlinks in our polytunnel), but it wasn't so much the reflections they were pecking at, but little droplets of condensation running down the polythene.

So what I did, was to put round the inside of the tunnel some of that orange buildings temporary fencing stuff, at about 18 inches in.  That kept most of them away, but a few odd ones flew over the top and still pecked the polythene!

But our tunnel is a bit bigger than the one you were thinking of. 

*

Totty

  • Guest
Re: Polytunnel for shelter?
« Reply #3 on: January 04, 2012, 21:35 »
our chickens are in our two greenhouses at the moment doing fine. have just been up the allotment and roughly dug the whole run over, hopefully this will help all the rain drain away. have also thrown some grass seed all over the place for when the hens go back home. could you not try to make the area outside the coop covered and throw down some wood chippings?

*

emmaellis

  • New Member
  • *
  • Location: Buckinghamshire
  • 42
Re: Polytunnel for shelter?
« Reply #4 on: January 04, 2012, 21:58 »
I resorted to a polytunnel after the run roof collapsed (It sits inside their original run).
It's a galvanised one off of *bay, very sturdy, reinforced cover and at £65 bargain.

I cut away one side to give them ventilation and a view (easy to do as cover reinforced so will not tear).
It's held up well in these winds (hope I'm not tempting fate) and a great alternative for me price wise than attempting another roof rebuild!

I have not experienced any condensation problems but that's probably as I've partially removed a side. And no complaints from the chooks!





xx
rain shelter/smoke shelter

Started by Roughlee Handled on The Hen House

7 Replies
3588 Views
Last post June 20, 2008, 15:49
by Jellyhead
xx
Rain shelter

Started by BarnBrian on The Hen House

5 Replies
2655 Views
Last post August 17, 2008, 20:11
by karlooben
xx
winter shelter for chickens

Started by josh5357 on The Hen House

9 Replies
3641 Views
Last post September 17, 2010, 20:09
by PaulineM
xx
Cladding for chicken shelter

Started by CWatters on The Hen House

3 Replies
1411 Views
Last post May 02, 2012, 09:05
by ANHBUC
 

Page created in 0.206 seconds with 38 queries.

Powered by SMFPacks Social Login Mod
Powered by SMFPacks SEO Pro Mod |