[floysh]

Hello, I'm new to the forum and chicken and duckling keeping so please forgive me if I ask something that has been asked before!

Firstly I have a chicken run that is 2.5 metres by 1.4 metres and 6 foot high and it's against my 7X5 shed which is now the chicken house.  I've put some shelves up and two halves of a suitcase and a large tray as 'beds'.  Lots of clean dry straw.  I have three chickens and was wondering if it would be ok to put two or three more in there, they seem to have lots of room!  There's only a few items in there not chicken related e.g. the sons tool box which one of them seems to prefer to sleep on, even without straw. 

Secondly, is there a thread that shows pictures of other peoples coops?  I'd love to get some better ideas of what they look like.

Thirdly, I also have two four week old ducklings, would it be ok to put them all together when the ducklings are a bit older?  If so, how much older?

Last of all, I would just like to say.. I LOVE my chickens and ducks!  Only two eggs so far but it's soooo exciting!

Thanks

Flo

I'm trying to add two pics of the ducklings, the first of them together and the second is when we got the first one after his/her mum had been taken by a mink.

[GrannieAnnie]

Hi Flo, nice to meet you!  The chicken shed would be big enough for more chooks, depending on how much room the tools etc take up,but I wouldn't put nany more in until you see if you can make the run bigger.  DEFRA recommends at least 1sq ft of floor space per bird on the commercial farms, but we like to suggest at least double that, and a minimum of 1 sq metre of run space, but again we urge people to at least double that size.

Lovely photos by the way!

Any chance of giving your chooks more run space?

[Kate and her Ducks]

I agree with Grannie Annie about the run, it is really going to be much bigger if you are going to put the ducklings in with the chickens even if you don't get more hens.

I know a few people who keep hens and ducks together without any problems. They largely ignore each other. A problem can be that the ducks make it very muddy for the hens and the hens poo on the ducks at night when they are perching.
They do need different housing, ducks are much less fussy than hens and do not perch. They are also don't climb / jump / or fly very well so need their nesting area on the ground or with a shallow ramp to it.

What type of ducklings are they? The orphaned one looks very much like a mallard.

[poultrygeist]

Hi Flo. Welcome 

Just to add that you don't mention any perches in your shed. Do the chickens sleep in the suitcase halves ?
It's normally prefereable to give them something more 'branch' like to perch on at night although some will never get the hang of it.

Rob

[broodyhen]

Lovely pics! thanks for posting

[floysh]

Hi thanks for the welcome and the input, it's given me things to think about. 

The run is just for when I'm not in, they are out in the garden (and in the house) when I'm home, which is most of the time.  There's room to keep the chickens and ducks separate so I think they'll all end up being 'free range' but have their own area's too. 

The ducks are now in a rabbit hutch with a lovely muddy area that used to be grass until they moved in lol.  The current rain is helping with that too.   I've sorted it today so they have free access to their paddling pool, although they don't seem to want to use it, maybe they are wet enough with the rain. The rabbit hutch is 1.2m x 60cm (2 x4 foot) and they are quite comfortable in there for now but I'm not sure if it will do them when they are fully grown.  The duck run is almost 6 sq metres.

The larger duck is a Khaki Campbell and the smaller one I haven't a clue.  A friend of a friend found it when it ran into her house (she lives near the canal).  She had been watching the duck family slowly disappear to the minks and this baby was the last one and had been the runt.  She looked out to see mum fighting off the mink and losing   She passed it to her neighbour who asked at work (she works with my sister) and eventually ended up with me.  I've had it for three weeks now and looking at pictures on the net it must only have been a few days old when I got it.  We got the khaki to keep it company and it has thrived since.  Although it seems to have taken on the mother role as the Khaki follows it around wherever it goes!  Could anyone tell me when I'll be able to tell what sex they are?  It's awful calling them 'it' lol.

As for the sizing, working it out the Chicken run has got 3.7 metres of floor space, the chicken shed 3.3 metres.  I don't think I need to knock off anything for the things that are in there as they just stand on them anyway lol. The bulk of the things are on a set of shelves which are less than a foot wide and they jump off and on, it's just wood and rolls of weed cover.  Will the run be ok then?  They have over a metre each and are out in the garden (almost 48 square metres) for most of the day.  I think I will hold off getting any more as I don't want them to be unhappy!

I bought a small perch but they don't seem to use it.  I can get my son to make some, could anyone advise me what size they need to be?  We have lots of wood!  Each time I have a peep in they are snuggled in the cases or in a corner of the shelves and they look comfortable, but that might be because they have no perches!

Ah well, I've gone on a bit again, sorry, I do tend to ramble!

More pics!

Although I will take another photo when the garden is tidy!

Flo

[janet12000]

I wish my garden looked that tidy. 

[poultrygeist]

Hi Flo.

Perches want to be about 2" square timebr with the tope corners rounded off so they can clasp with their feet.
They may not use them but you can try lifting them on at night and they might then work out what to do. Ideally, about a foot or two above the floor but any higher than that and they'll need a ladder or ramp to get up and down.

Do they have any non-slabbed areas to scratch in ? They can damage their feet if they're on concrete all the time.

ROb

[floysh]

Thanks again for the replies.

The chicken run is covered in woodchips about four or five inches deep.  There are also three grass areas which are one metre square each.  I'm planning on making more when things get sorted out.  They love pecking the grass and raiding the lettuce that I've got growing in planters.  Is there a limit of lettuce they should have or will it cause problems.  I lifted the planter on top of the hutch when I saw them but they keep eyeing up how to get to it!

We will sort out the perches tomorrow, I put them to bed a short while ago and checked on them and Ginger and Posh are snuggled down into the straw, my black (Scary) one still preferring the top of the tool box.  Maybe she is the boss of the coop!  We have already sorted out the perfect wood and both my sons love to build things (they built the chicken run) so it will be sorted tomorrow

I'll post again tomorrow, hope I'm not being too much of a pest!

Flo

[poultrygeist]

Never a pest ! 
Keep asking.

The run sounds ideal. Plenty of creepy-crawlies in there I bet. 

Sounds like you're on top of everything. At least 2 of ours don't perch which, as you say, can be nervousness about upsetting the top hens. Ideally, you want enough perching space so they can spread out but they seem to make it awkward for the lower ones out of spite.

Rob