[scouseroy]

Hi everyone I am hoping to adopt a couple,perhaps three battery rescue hens after Christmas , but before I do I want to make sure I can give them as good a home as I can ,I only have a  small walled garden that is virtually all gravelled it has a small border of soil down one side
is this going to suitable ? also Im really confused over coops I have searched the internet and found the same size and model coop varieing in price from £90 to £240 and dont understand what can cause such a vast difference? can anyone advise on what price range I should be looking at?
would really appriciate some honest answers
Thanks
Roy

[helens-hens]

Hi Scouseroy. You say your garden is small - what size is it and would the birds have access to all of it? Hens do scratch around a lot so you will find that your gravel will be, shall we say 'redistributed' by the hens! You will probably also find that they scratch around and dustbath in the border of soil and will have little respect for any plants / shrubs that may be there.

The other thing to bear in mind are droppings and they do a lot so this will get mixed up in your gravel. It may be better if you could section off part of your garden for them to free range in.

Hen houses vary a lot in size and quality. As with many things you get what you pay for - buy the best you can afford. Get British made if you can and avoid felt roofing which can harbour red mite - onduline roofing (corrugated style) is better. Bear in mind that manufacturers (and this goes for the British ones too) usually overestimate the number of hens the house / coop is suitable for. One of the key things is the size of the run which should be allow about 2 square meters per bird though much depends on whether bthey will be allowed to free range or not.

Have you decided yet whether you would confine them to a run or would they be allowed to free range?

[scouseroy]

the part of the garden size I was going to use is about 25 foot long 18 foot wide was thinking of 2 or 3 hens they could use all of this area in the day

[nerdle]

I can't recommend the Omlet chicken keeping courses enough.  This site is great for everything else. 

My hen has the entire garden and foxproofing hasn't cost the fortune I thought it would.

Kate

[dinosaw]

I make it that your garden is roughly 40sqm which is more than enough for 3 birds and to be honest easily a few more besides, though I wouldn't personally go beyond  7-8 myself. I would recommend that you get a minimum of 3 so that if one dies you don't have a lone chicken which would be miserable. The key is whether it is secure with regards to foxes and other predators, your walls should be a minimum of 6ft tall with no gaps where the fox can squeeze through/under. I dont use gravel myself but a lot of folks do and they disinfect and hose it down regularly, do a search for run materials and you will find lot of different types of setup such as wood chippings, rubber chippings etc so you can decide what suits you. With regards to your coop be very very careful as there are a lot out there especially on ebay that are utter dodo and will fall apart within a year, paying more doesnt necessarily mean you will be getting a good quality coop, in an ideal world I would look for recommendations or try to actually see some in the flesh. Mine is recycled plastic from green frog, holds six and has been very good, it was though pricey at £330.

[Tony H]

if your chucks have that much room you could buy a garden shed for the to roost in and get out of the rain if they want to ( mine must be stupid they just get all wet and soggy but a 6x4 shed with a hatch would be  great place to roost good luck

[kellysbarefoot]

Hi,

Unfortunately I can not help much as like you a 'newbie' though weve had our 4 hens for a few weeks now, we too were in a huge dilemma with the coop!

We purchased what said it could house 8 chickens, well the 4 we have I would say are coping, especially with the run built in, luckily they free range so we dont have to worry too much.  This coop cost a lot of money! and personally we have learned from that mistake.

Eventually we will buy a shed and convert it to a coop - which in hindsight we should have done in the beginning but wanted the best!

We visited a chicken keeper the other day to collect our Silkie chick and she had a converted shed with 24 chickens kept in and plenty more space - as we have a huge garden this would have been the best option.

I would certainly say listen to all the advice, the internet is so overwhelming with coops and you can get bogged down, trying to buy the best and finding out its not.

If you do have the space, definitely opt for the shed

Good luck, its great fun

[funkychook]

Hi,

Unfortunately I can not help much as like you a 'newbie' though weve had our 4 hens for a few weeks now, we too were in a huge dilemma with the coop!

We purchased what said it could house 8 chickens, well the 4 we have I would say are coping, especially with the run built in, luckily they free range so we dont have to worry too much.  This coop cost a lot of money! and personally we have learned from that mistake.

Eventually we will buy a shed and convert it to a coop - which in hindsight we should have done in the beginning but wanted the best!

We visited a chicken keeper the other day to collect our Silkie chick and she had a converted shed with 24 chickens kept in and plenty more space - as we have a huge garden this would have been the best option.

I would certainly say listen to all the advice, the internet is so overwhelming with coops and you can get bogged down, trying to buy the best and finding out its not.

If you do have the space, definitely opt for the shed

Good luck, its great fun

Hi i am so glad we arnt the only ones. The advice on these hen houses is ludicrous. I have seen the one I bought stating it can house 7 chickens which is no way possible.

I bought mine for 90.00 off Ebay delivered free. It stated 7 chickens. It is actually well built and very water proof. Yes the house can sleep 4 and there are 2 laying boxes, but the run that goes with it is really only suitable for 2 small chickens.

My husband was brilliant and built us an 8ft by 6ft run with a lid the sides are wire mesh so the birds get lots of ventilation. I have placed the house and run in a very secluded and sheltered area of our garden so the birds dont get wet when it rains heavy and the run stays dry. The girls are allowed free range from 2pm and then they pop off to bed on their own at 4.30pm and we secure them before it goes dark, although our garden is very secure you just never know do you.

I so agree with you though I think some of these chicken coop manufacturers are taking the biscuit to be honest.


Edit to fix quoted text.

[Tony H]

Hi all i got one of those so called large chicken coop and run it cost me £180.00 from Pets at home at the time i didnt have a clue it stated that it can house 7 chucks ! well to be honest after reading comments on this site i think 2 maybe 3 at a push, I think that places like pets at home should know better and advise us the real amount of pets you can keep in all there cages  well i suppose if you put small banties in it would be ok for 7