[300AJC]

I have just paved the floor of my aviary to help combat this foul weather we have been having, for hygiene purposes, keeping the hen house clean etc, etc. It's a fairly standard construction made up of 2m x 1m panels. Would it be a good idea to cover the top and one exposed side with plastic sheeting to further keep off the worst of the weather?

Clear plastic would look fine, however I don't want it to act as a greenhouse in summer even though I do enjoy the occasional roast chicken! A garden friendly colour like green would be fine and of course would provide some shade for the girls when the sun is out. The aviary stands in the corner of my garden so the rear and one side are somewhat screened by my garden fences anyway.

I'm sure it's easy to source, cut to size and attach with my staple gun.

Thank you, in advance.

Andrew

[ANHBUC]

We are going to use coroline roofing sheets for ours but you would need a slope on the roof for that.

[300AJC]

Aha, you have just raised a good point. I might need to create a slight pitch with a length of 2 x 1 along the front of the aviary to avoid the rain collecting.

" I wondered when you spot that one Pike!"

[splash101]

we have just used the coraline sheets on the (slanted) roof of our quail house, makes it nice and light in there.
Going to to put on some shed guttering, its only dripping onto gravel at the moment so its not causing a problem, but as there is a water shortage at the moment  might as well.

[themagicaltoad1]

My broody house has a bit of a leak so I've put an old shower curtain over the roof, held down with a couple of bricks, it works a treat as a short term measure.

[300AJC]

Yes, I was thinking about some form of guttering and collection too. I think you'd have collected a fair few inches over the last couple of weeks!

Would this water be suitable for the chooks to drink or is fresh from the tap best?

[Dawnuss]

rain water is better as there's no chemicals like tap water i give my dogs and chickens water from our water butts. My dogs choose to drink rain water over tap water so that must say something as dogs are one of the only animals that can truly taste water  Im lucky as my chickens coop and main run are under a car port in the back garden so stay nice and dry and its nice for me when i go out in the day to clean them etc. My partner is horrified as his beloved motorbike ends up in the rain  On saying this though i do wish the rain would stop as my roof is leaking right above my head when i sleep. The wind whipped one of the tiles off and my partner wont go up there till the weather is better so i end up getting wet in bed lol. He tells me that its karma for putting his bike out in the rain for the chooks   

[grinling]

Mine is roofed over and also have on 2 sides plastic sheeting, 1 side is potting shed, other side is open as faces away from wind etc. Plastic sheeting billows a bit so can be a bit noisy for the chooks, but they are used to it now. They have access to outside area as well.

[300AJC]

Well, I popped to my local Wickes this afternoon. The price of corrugated plastic sheets seemed really expensive and as they were oly in 660mm widths It would have cost about £60 to buy what I needed.

I ended up buying a 4m x 3m sheet of damp proof membrane for £16 which will fit perfectly and leave me a bit left over.

I'll secure it either with flat roof tacks or use a good strong staple gun.

[wendyg]

I ended up buying a 4m x 3m sheet of damp proof membrane for £16 which will fit perfectly and leave me a bit left over.

I'll secure it either with flat roof tacks or use a good strong staple gun.

I am interested in how the damp proof membrane holds out.  I bought a tarpaulin from Wicks a few days ago to go over half the run roof (has weld mesh covering it) and along one side, it has been well tied down, but because it is billowing out, it has already started to tear around some of the eyelets.

Wendy

[ANHBUC]

If you use roofing battons to nail through this stops the nail heads or staples pulling through the fabric.   

[300AJC]

I bought a box of 20mm Clout Nails which are specifically for felt roofing. They should hopefully do the trick. I'm just waiting for the wind and rain to stop...........

.......... mid June, maybe! 

[tortzblue]

Well, I popped to my local Wickes this afternoon. The price of corrugated plastic sheets seemed really expensive and as they were oly in 660mm widths It would have cost about £60 to buy what I needed.

I ended up buying a 4m x 3m sheet of damp proof membrane for £16 which will fit perfectly and leave me a bit left over.

I'll secure it either with flat roof tacks or use a good strong staple gun.

Hi - My OH covered some garden equipment with the blue damp proof membrane over the winter. We noticed recently that it is deteriorating and splitting so keep an eye on it just in case!