[beki]

Our chooks used to free range, but a fox got them, so we built them a run (without a roof, just a 5ft fence) of about 25ft by 15ft.

We now have 3 chooks - Chooky; 23 weeks old, Mabel; 18 weeks old, and Gertrude; 18 weeks old.

We only got mabel and gertrude last week, and they've been pretty reluctant to go into the hen house at night. Anyway, last night we went out to close the pop-hole and NONE of the girls were inside it  :shock:

After lots of searching with torches and car headlights    we found all 3 of them roosting in our fir trees.... about 6ft up!  :shock:

So they'd managed to jump the 5ft run with barbed wire on top, and get 6ft up a tree!!!!!

The time has come to build a run with a roof, i feel  

We can't afford to buy one - i've seen one i like, but it's £400  :shock:  So we've decided to build one ourselves! We've used our former rabbit run as the roof, and put it on wooden stilts. And al's out in the garden now, attaching chicken wire all the way round it.

It's hard to explain what it looks like, but i'll put some pics up when it's finished, either this afternoon or tomorrow morning  

It's going to be about 9ft by 5.5ft, and 5.5ft high.

How many chooks would be happy in there in your opinion?

We have three at the moment, but are hoping to rescue some battery chooks after easter. Would the run be suitable for more than we've got now? Or do we need to build another run?

We'll be building shelves etc into the run, so it's not just the floor space they'll have. And the chook house will be tacked onto the outside of the run, so won't be taking up any space either.

Can't wait til it's finished! Hope they like it!    xxxx

[beki]

Finished!  

This is what i meant when i said the rabbit run was going to be the roof! lol    The top part and down about 18 inches, was the rabbit run, and we've just stuck it on stilts and added a gate and some chicken wire.

Tacked the house to the back, and cut a hole in the wire where the pop-hole is!

Tomorrow or friday, we're going to add a couple of perches and a shelf for them  





I'm really pleased with it!    Doesn't look very professional    but i reckon the chooks don't care too much  

It's not ideal, as i'd like them to have as much space as possible, but until we're a bit more financially secure, we can't really afford to invest in poultry electric fencing...

Hope they like it!  

xxxx

[Aunt Sally]

That is a great size run for about 6 large hens Beki.  Very solidly built !

But in my honest opinion the wire would not be fox proof.  A fox can bite through chicken wire quite easily, especially the large type you have shown on the botom section of the run,a nd they may take advantage of the gaps left where it has been joined.  If you have to use chicken wire instead of weldmess use it double along the bottom 3 ft of the run.  I would also advise you to sink the wire into the ground by about a foot or make a 10 inch skirt of weldmesh on the ground around the outside  to stop foxes digging in.

I do hope my observations will be helpful rather than upsetting Beki  

And I'll bet the next post will dissagree with me  :roll:  

[poultrygeist]

If it keeps them safe I'm sure they'll soon get used to it Beki !  

We've used cheap plastic fruit netting on the top of our run which is about the same height. Mainly to keep wild birds out but also to deter the hens from making escape bids.
We've also got a bit covered by corrugated plastic for wet weather playtime. If you don't mind the flapping in the wind you could maybe use some polythene sheet to cover some of it.

And be careful about rats and mice getting in if you leave any food in the run. They'll take anything that isn't eaten I'm sure. We've got some mesh around the edge of the run about 6"-12" wide and slabs and bits of concrete most of the way round.

Good luck with it. It'll be like Butlins by the time you get the swimming pool and bungee tower in for them !  

Rob

[agapanthus]

That is a great size run for about 6 large hens Beki.  Very solidly built !

But in my honest opinion the wire would not be fox proof.  A fox can bite through chicken wire quite easily, especially the large type you have shown on the botom section of the run,a nd they may take advantage of the gaps left where it has been joined.  If you have to use chicken wire instead of weldmess use it double along the bottom 3 ft of the run.  I would also advise you to sink the wire into the ground by about a foot or make a 10 inch skirt of weldmesh on the ground around the outside  to stop foxes digging in.

I do hope my observations will be helpful rather than upsetting Beki  

And I'll bet the next post will dissagree with me  :roll:  

No actually Aunty....I quite agree with you.
It really would be best in the long-run Beki.....a bit more work and expense but you will be happier in the knowlege that the choox are safe!!

[beki]

Thanks for all your advice Aunt Sally  

We're pretty new to chook keeping - we've only had chooks since last summer.. and they were free range for around 6 months. So we're even newer to chook-fencing!  

We've got loads of the larger holed fencing left over, so tomorrow we'll put another layer over the top of the bottom section and over the gaps, and put a 'skirt' all the way round the bottom edge.

Thanks again  

[beki]

We've also got a bit covered by corrugated plastic for wet weather playtime. If you don't mind the flapping in the wind you could maybe use some polythene sheet to cover some of it.

Another brilliant idea! Thanks!  

And be careful about rats and mice getting in if you leave any food in the run. They'll take anything that isn't eaten I'm sure.

A few weeks ago al saw a rat INSIDE the chook house, sitting in one of the nest boxes  :shock:  he said it was H U G E!!!  :shock:

So we had a clear up, and now we make sure that at the end of every day there's nothing lying about to tempt them.. and 'touch wood' we haven't seen one since.. am i tempting fate?!  :shock:  

[naturesparadise]

do you have cock bird as where my greenhouse is there used to be some rats but now the landlord put chooks up there with a cock bird not one rat seen in months    

[poultrygeist]

We've also got a bit covered by corrugated plastic for wet weather playtime. If you don't mind the flapping in the wind you could maybe use some polythene sheet to cover some of it.

Another brilliant idea! Thanks!  

And be careful about rats and mice getting in if you leave any food in the run. They'll take anything that isn't eaten I'm sure.

A few weeks ago al saw a rat INSIDE the chook house, sitting in one of the nest boxes  :shock:  he said it was H U G E!!!  :shock:

So we had a clear up, and now we make sure that at the end of every day there's nothing lying about to tempt them.. and 'touch wood' we haven't seen one since.. am i tempting fate?!  :shock:  

No idea if they'll come around without the lure of food but I bet they'll turn up during the day when it is. Obviously just when you're not looking !

Have a search on the forum for rats and you can find out no end of useful info about them and their habits.
Obviously very intelligent and resourceful as well as very hungry most of the time. Be on you guard. I've tried to make our run as difficult to get in as I can. Fingers crossed.

R

[beki]

Well we didn't manage to put the extra circuit of chicken wire round the run. Or the skirt.

We made a shelf/table/ledge with a ladder up to it, and a piece of ply at the back for some shelter. And a roosting bar made out of an old bean-pole support above it.

We also put an old log/tree trunk in there for a bit of interest  

We were then going to do the second layer of chicken wire.. but it started hailing really hard  :roll:  So we've come in for now and if it eases up in the next couple of hours we'll start it then.. if not, tomorrow it is  

Pics!  

Chooky and Mabel "well how do you dooo!"  



Gertrude says "i've got the right idea - nice and warm down here!"  



The inside of the run. The girls are running for cover as it's just started hailing!  :shock:  



xxxx

[Aunt Sally]

That looks like a great environment for them  

Have you put some wire chicken over the top to stop them jumping out from their lovely perch ?

[beki]

Thanks.. not finished yet, but hopefully it'll be fit for a chook-queen or three soon    

You can't actually see it in the photo, but the whole of the run is enclosed in chicken wire, including the roof. We're not taking any chances with our houdini-esque chooks this time  

The hail let up in the end, and we went back outside. Managed to dismantle some of the chicken wire from the old run, to re-use as a second-skin, only for it to start hailing 10 times worse! The whole garden looked like it was covered in snow, there was that much hail!

Then an hour or so later it was bright sunshine, but freezing cold.. I've never seen such strange frebruary/march weather!  :?

[poultrygeist]

Tomorrow's not too bad here...compared to today. We had the hail too but not til about 4ish.

I'm booked up for run maintenance in the morning. Want to make some sort of paltform that will anchor the feed hopper in place.

Every time they run past to be first at the gate, the bloomin thing goes flying and they end up with their dinner on the concrete.

I've got it on 4 bricks so I want to make a platform with batten edging that I can secure to the bricks. I WILL prove I'm cleverer than a hen.
I hope.  :?

Rob