[Feeb]

Hmmm, am going to have to think about a roof for them, i was planning on making a mesh roof anyway as we have a raised area at the top of the garden, so cant have no roof or the foxes can just jump in and out!  but we have an awful lot of old tarp which i think i can put to good use as a bit of a covering for them - would be a bit dark in there though... perhaps i can give them a covered area and an none covered area...

[Flowerpower136]

Some cover better than no cover. 

Have to confess I'm a convert to corregated plastic.  Toyed with the idea of partial cover, but then just went for it and did the whole lot.  It's made a huge difference to the girls........rain? what rain?  Whereas before they were all huddled under the coop looking fed up   And we live in the NW, so lots of rain here, and I just want happy hens.

[beulah59]

Girls have a big coup and as are most are still insisting on sleeping in the nest boxes, (they are ex batts, so if that's what they want to do, fine by me),

HAD TWO EGGS IN THE NEST BOX TODAY ... and Bobby has just gone up to lay, too ... I am so proud of my clever, ex-batt girls 

[beulah59]

Some cover better than no cover. 

Have to confess I'm a convert to corregated plastic.  Toyed with the idea of partial cover, but then just went for it and did the whole lot.  It's made a huge difference to the girls........rain? what rain?  Whereas before they were all huddled under the coop looking fed up   And we live in the NW, so lots of rain here, and I just want happy hens.

I'd love to have a fixed roof, but we're going with a netting cage, so it will be much easier to tie on a tarpaulin ... praying it survives the strong winds we get here  :blink:

[bexy]

Just a quick one about tarpaulin.
When it rains the tarpauline acts like pond liner and will hold the rain,the weight of this could damage your run or even bring the sides down.

I have two runs joined,One which is 6ft tall and 9Ft X 9ft,this is covered with 3 sheets of Conservatory platic roofing (corrigated plastic roofing just has good).
The small run which is 3Ft tall and 4ft X 4ft is covered with tarpauline which rest of strips of wood and some chicken wire.

When it rains the large run is great, not only is it kept dry i also manage to collect a great amount of water in my waterbutt but the small run with tarpauline sags,today i collected a 2 gallon watering can full of water off it with scooping it up in a tub.Had to re-do the tarpauline to pull it tight again and thats not the first time it's happened!!The chicken wire underneath as pulled in too 

[barbarella]

I can only add to the above, all of which we have adopted in some form or other, that I add a little garlic powder to the daily scraps I give them as treats.  I read somewhere that this is supposed to make their poo smell less, but we have always done it so I can't compare.  However, I don't find the run whiffy at all and the neighbours haven't complained so I guess it works.  We buy the garlic powder from the local tack shop as it is used as a food supplement for horses.  It is good for their blood and helps repel flies so hopefully the same applies to chooks. 

[janeheritage]

Just to add that I don't think you should worry about your eggs. Collect them fast, eat them fresh and enjoy! 

[Hensington]

My place looks like it's had several battles fought across it. I thought increasing the pens size would be enough to 25sq metres but sadly they are now just 25sq metres of mud.
Cutting right back on what I keep now and going to build smaller pens with a roof.

[colliebird]

Girls have a big coup and as are most are still insisting on sleeping in the nest boxes, (they are ex batts, so if that's what they want to do, fine by me), it does mean a lot of poo in the wrong place.  I've changed the wooden internal nest box to plastic, just for ease of cleaning.  I'm using the boxes they use in garages to store parts, they hook onto a rack (not the stacking ones).  Since then its been a doddle to clean.  In the coop itself wood shavings absorb everthing, and I pick out the soggy soiled bits every morning.


I use cardboard boxes as nest boxes.  I had some nice (expensive) wooden ones made, and even bought one of those metal ones where the eggs roll to the front.
Did my girls like them? No way   They laid eggs everywhere but in the nest boxes. 
I put a small cardboard box in Cluckingham palace to hold bits and pieces  and lo and behold, the girls all laid an egg in it, so I now have 6 cardboard boxes and they lay their eggs in them.  Boxes are burned when they get too mucky and replaced by new ones.
One of my Black Rocks went broody so I bought 6 fertile eggs from Gaz, and she's doing the job, but occassionaly, one of my Sussex will push her to one side, lay and egg then leave, so I've always got to check whether the broody hen has a fresh egg under her.
I should have 6 baby chooks in about 10 - 14 days.  Don't know what I'll do then, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it, but I'll probably make a pen in the coop just for mum and babies so the others can't get at them.

[raeburg]

Without a covered roof the run can get a tad smelly.  Even when it's pouring down the girls can enjoy a dust bath in the playgound wood chippings that cover the floor.  They have a large branch and other stuff to stop them getting too bored, although most days they aren't confined to the run.  The roof stops food getting soggy too.  I used the plastic corrugated sheeting and had timber cut diagonally to fix it on so that it drains off and doesn't pool.  My mum has gone one step further and fitted guttering to it and collects the rain water in a shallow but big bowl for them to drink (she adds ACV to it)