[too many girls]

£89.99 B&Q shed, i've had this one 18 months and it's still good, with the money you save you can make your own run, it's big enough to hold 20 hens (old litchen cupboard for nesting and i made my own perches) so you can always add if you want

[dizzylizzie]

Rom, is that sunshine? i mean ive heard about it...but havent seen it for soooo long ive forgotton what it looks like......

[webwahm]

Yes I've been doing a lot of research, but what worries me is this 'trend' for getting chickens as cheap and easy pets, even aimed at schools and kids, with the big retail names throwing out their wares for anyone to go down and get one on a saturday...without researching.    

It's a good thing on the whole, but from what I'm finding out it's not that straight forward at all.

Anyway, I digress.  I think I will have to accept I can't rescue more than 3 and look at building my own.

Thanks for the pic Foxy - I do have an old 10x10 shed that was going to be knocked down...could adapt that perhaps.

Right now, need a big cup of tea  

[dizzylizzie]

If only more people would realise that! chickens are actually complicated little creatures. But they are addictive, they are fab pets, i would never be without chickens now. Rom's shed (TMG) is a fab idea, whey dont you try smething like that?. the first coop i built, i put removable nest boxes in, the second one i built, i put plastic baskets in from the pound shop, and they are just as happy with them :happy:

[webwahm]

right, am now looking at sheds!

Q:  red mite...if I get it in the chicken shed...will it spread to my other sheds?

[too many girls]

right, am now looking at sheds!

Q:  red mite...if I get it in the chicken shed...will it spread to my other sheds?

if they've got chickens in them.... possibly

[Foxy]

felt can easily be replaced, or use onduline, sort of black corrugated roofing, you can get similar stuff from B&Q, cheap too. Dont let felt put you off a decent priced shed. Most of my sheds are felted, I have never had a problem.

[batcatz]

Hi, what about this one for up to 7 chooks?  
http://www.pads4pets.co.uk/epages/es112520.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/es112520_shop/Products/%22Cambrian%20stand%20run%22

I'm posting as I got my cat run from this guy and he was really helpful and friendly.  The wood is good quality red cedar, he delivers and it was easy to put up - he even provided good screws.  He also sells on ebay.

He own chooks as when I phoned him he said he had to run up the field to get his chooks in.  Made me laugh at the time as I didn't own any... now I do.  2 are in the cat run and 2 in the small coop like the first picture ... extending it myself.  lol.

[chuckmum]

I had the first one for a couple of weeks - rubbish it soaks up moisture like a sponge, so I went for a Omlet Cube which is fantastic! Just take care try and go and see them in the wood before you buy.

[dizzylizzie]

Hi, what about this one for up to 7 chooks?  
http://www.pads4pets.co.uk/epages/es112520.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/es112520_shop/Products/%22Cambrian%20stand%20run%22

I'm posting as I got my cat run from this guy and he was really helpful and friendly.  The wood is good quality red cedar, he delivers and it was easy to put up - he even provided good screws.  He also sells on ebay.

He own chooks as when I phoned him he said he had to run up the field to get his chooks in.  Made me laugh at the time as I didn't own any... now I do.  2 are in the cat run and 2 in the small coop like the first picture ... extending it myself.  lol.

im sorry but whatever the poultry guidlines say, i would not put 7 chucks in that run! Im not sure how much space they allow them , but its obviously not enough...what are people like eh? these houses always seem to say you can fit more chucks in than you should.

[batcatz]

[/quote]

im sorry but whatever the poultry guidlines say, i would not put 7 chucks in that run! Im not sure how much space they allow them , but its obviously not enough...what are people like eh? these houses always seem to say you can fit more chucks in than you should.
[/quote]

Oh, very true!  I have 2 chooks in the 9x4 area of my cat run.  7 would be too many even in that space!

"The floorspace, excluding the nest box, is 7.7ft2 and going by The Poultry Society guidelines is large enough to house 7 chickens."
- that's how he came up with 7!   Oooops.   

[karlooben]

hi , i see your looking at hen houses well i recommend that u shop around especailly on ebay garden sheds can go for anything from £10 to however much u care to spend .

they are so simple to put up and if your lucky u may just find one for free ask around it doesnt hurt , if are are looking at only getting 3 birds then just having one 6'4 shed will be ample for them also it wil give u room for storage at one end that can be easily blocked of .
when i first started out i had 22 birds in a 6 '4 shed that had an extension bike shed added to it with poop holes so they could go into ethier shed when it suited them in the end the smaller shed was the laying one an the larger one they perched in .

i love it when foxy mentions my run  i am proud of it for the fact is i built most of it on my own and i didnt have a clue what i was doing but so far it has proved to be very fox proof yes it did cost but its been worth every penny but if i had knew back then that i could of got all my wood for free then it would of cost a whole lot less .

i am more then happy to email any pics if need be to anyone who wants to see it .

p.s foxy i am still trying to find somewhere that sells little army men that can be placed into each corner .

[rossivale]

karloben, would love to see your run and hen house.
Jo

[webwahm]

Well...it's now official I am going to be collecting 6 ex-batts next week 

After listening to all your suggestions, I decided to go down the DIY route - and this means I can save 6, rather than just 3 hens, so I'm very pleased.

I have an old shed but really wouldn't want to put anything in there!  So I have got my hands on a 2nd hand empty shed.  Haven't seen it yet, but if that's too grubby, I'll get one of the big houses.  Then the run is up to me and can be as big as possible.

Would love to see pics of Karlooben's DIY...

Thanks for your input - much appreciated!

Watch this space 

[dizzylizzie]

glad youve got it sorted
In one of your previous posts you said you would only be able to 'save' 3. im glad your having 6, but you dont need to worry, the BHWT will bring out the same mount of birds that they intended to. You deciding to only have 3 birds will not mean the other 3 are slaughted, they will just be given to someone else. Now you have decided on the coop, you can relax a bit,and start looking forward to them coming