Old chickens, new house

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snowdrops

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Re: Old chickens, new house
« Reply #15 on: January 18, 2019, 19:38 »
Forgot to say hanks for the seeds, now I better get some compost sorted & sow the onions, & I was going to look for Uchiki Kuri later in the season so win win 😊
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madcat

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Re: Old chickens, new house
« Reply #16 on: January 19, 2019, 12:38 »
Unfortunately we discovered I have a bit more of a rat problem than I had realised, I knew there was an issue with them in at least 1 of my compost bins, but when we moved my bench & a few other bits from the front of the shed I discovered a pile of compost, then we realised they’ve pulled out loads from the bins (behind the shed) & dragged it under the shed 😱.

Tip for rats under the shed - stuff the space under the shed with holly leaves.  Collect holly hedge trimmings from anyone with a holly bush or throwing out Christmas decos and make the space as spiky as possible.  Top up each year and they wont bother with it.  We had rats like you in the compost and then making themselves comfy under the shed, so when we were given the tip I reckoned we had nothing to lose and we did have a holly bush in need of a major haircut.  It was a surprising win win.  Won't stop the mice but I can live with them.
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snowdrops

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Re: Old chickens, new house
« Reply #17 on: January 19, 2019, 13:12 »
Thanks Madcat, I’ll bear that in mind. I’d still like to move it & sort it out in the first instance but it’s 10x8 or thereabouts so a bit of a job😱
Couple of photos of the coup, hubby has dismantled it & reassembled it now the special glue has arrived
1st pic is looking down into the coup from what will be the roof with the 2 yellow trays as nest boxes that pull out for cleaning
2nd is action shot of Mr S
3rd is with the yellow trays in place & black tray overlapping that lifts out for cleaning &
4th is looking at the pop hole.
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« Last Edit: January 19, 2019, 13:15 by snowdrops »

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John

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Re: Old chickens, new house
« Reply #18 on: January 19, 2019, 13:44 »
Looking good but you might find it better to put a partition between the roosting area and the nestboxes. If you can lift the nestboxes to be slightly higher than the roosting area they'll be more likely to use them for laying rather than roosting. Silly me - it's the other way around.
Maybe I'm over-thinking it  :nowink:
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snowdrops

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Re: Old chickens, new house
« Reply #19 on: January 19, 2019, 13:51 »
Hi thanks John but it’s done now, I thought the nest boxes needed to be lower than the roosting bars? There’s a division between the 2 yellow nest boxes so they don’t squabble lol . Trouble with them being older birds I won’t be able to block the nest boxes off when they move in, although I had thought to move them late afternoonblick it until they roost & then take it away as it goes dark.

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snowdrops

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Re: Old chickens, new house
« Reply #20 on: January 19, 2019, 13:54 »
John, in your book(see previous post) I quote
“The nest boxes should be sited lower than the perch if possible. This discourages the hens from sleeping in the nest boxes”

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John

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Re: Old chickens, new house
« Reply #21 on: January 19, 2019, 21:00 »
John, in your book(see previous post) I quote
“The nest boxes should be sited lower than the perch if possible. This discourages the hens from sleeping in the nest boxes”
Sorry, I was having a senior moment when I posted. I didn't get much sleep last night with this blessed cold. I'll correct my post.

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John

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Re: Old chickens, new house
« Reply #22 on: January 19, 2019, 21:44 »
Trouble with them being older birds I won’t be able to block the nest boxes off when they move in, although I had thought to move them late afternoon block it until they roost & then take it away as it goes dark.
I have to do that with the Omlet Cube - eventually they are trained not to spend the night in the nestbox but then they revert. I think a lot is down to how they were housed initially.

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snowdrops

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Re: Old chickens, new house
« Reply #23 on: January 26, 2019, 20:27 »
2 coats of paint applied to the Chicken palace (in the greenhouse). No more done on the run as the weather has not been suitable to be out there plus Mr S has been replacing our shower pump,then our hot water cylinder,then the 3 way valve for the heating 😱. Hopefully we can back on it now if the weather stabilises 🤞

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snowdrops

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Re: Old chickens, new house
« Reply #24 on: February 02, 2019, 12:39 »
I’ve had another look at the run & decided it’s not big enough as they won’t be able to free range, also hubby has now suggested that we slab inside the run is this a good idea, I would put chippings etc back in for them to scratch around in & I have plenty of spare slabs. I’m just a bit worried about the rat situation, chap who I was talking too on the plot who has chickens said I need to dig the area of the run down to 18” & put mesh down then fill it back with the soil. So the slabs might be the easier way to go. What do you think?

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John

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Re: Old chickens, new house
« Reply #25 on: February 02, 2019, 12:58 »
Digging down 18" sounds a lot of work to me and I doubt it's needed. Neither would I slab it - although sometimes I think it's not so much as a dust bath they've dug as an escape tunnel. I use wood chips on soil - the wood chips go onto the compost heap. The soil aids microbial action in the wood chips and the odd worm who gets near the surface is a treat for the ladies.

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snowdrops

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Re: Old chickens, new house
« Reply #26 on: February 12, 2019, 17:50 »
Thanks John, you confirmed my thoughts.
Last Saturday our daughter came & helped with the ground works & I was happy with the new sized pen, then yesterday hubby & I measured up twice 🙄 don’t ask! We began making the panels for  the sides, & today we’ve finished 3 sides & put the weldmesh on & taken them round to the plot & fixed them together. Most of the wood that came from DD is used up so we need more for the 4th side & roof, plus a door & we also need the onduline for the roofer the pen & hen house. Will still need more mesh I think, but that came from eBay so will get that ordered when I’m sure & also order a treadle feeder. Already got a padlock & should be good to go I think. Pictures to follow as I didn’t take any today. Might go & collect some leaves tomorrow from the park to throw in the pen as where the guttering needs altering on the shed there’s a patch that’s very wet & ive seen some wood chips on fb marketplace.

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snowdrops

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Re: Old chickens, new house
« Reply #27 on: February 17, 2019, 08:07 »
Pen is nearly finished, new roll of weldmesh for the roof arrived yesterday & we bought the onduline in the week with the rest of the wood. House is ensconced minus a roof,that will be onduline too,that also will be will be onduline underneath. For the first time the council has delivered wood chippings to the allotments so barrow loads of that were moved into the pen in preparation for the girls arrival.
Went a walk over yesterday to take photos.
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John

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Re: Old chickens, new house
« Reply #28 on: February 17, 2019, 12:36 »
That's not a chicken run - it's a palace!  :D

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snowdrops

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Re: Old chickens, new house
« Reply #29 on: February 17, 2019, 17:05 »
Haha, I have been calling it the chicken palace 😂. Suppose that’s what comes of having a chippie for a husband 😊. About all done now, roof netted & covered in onduline, house roof covered in onduline, another coat of paint given to the house to touch it up where it got scratched, back of the compost bin given a coat of grey paint to match the Chicken house & sheds, green stripes to be added another day.
Just need to look up Hillfooters slurry recipe & apply that & let it dry. Hopefully the birds can move in Wednesday or Thursday. The treadle feeder is due to arrive then too, so would be good if that’s in place when they move in
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