[Syk0]

Hey ppl, i moved to a house with a rather large back garden so i decided i wanted some hens so i built a hutch sort of thing and got myself 2 hens.. after a week or so i decided i wanted more and got 4more including 2 baby marans .. now i was wondering because im new to keeping hens is my setup okay to keep the hens?do i need to change anything? feel free to criticise, i dont have much money and built this over a week of finding bits of wood n what not, but they are dry and warm at night so job done. ive only had the marans for a week they are only young can anyone tell me when they will be laying? any help would most appreciated !

P.s my jpeg pics are to big and cant upload them so here are the links to view(sorry if you're not allowed to use links from pic hosts)!

1 x crate which i removed nails from lid and in access point to hutch,
1x rabbit hutch joined onto side
1x home made box joined onto other side













thanks.

Modified to remove a pithy phrase.

[izzy]

it looks ok but I think a better door over the poop hole would be a good plan foxes are cunning devils .I tend not to use straw as it can harbour mites so usually use dustless shavings and shredded newspaper.You might think about getting mite powder to sprinkle inthe house in all the gaps and under the roofing felt  red mites are a pest best avoided.roofing sheets instead of the felt would be a bonusd

[nerdle]

I did one the the Iglu beginners courses yesterday.  The teacher didn't promote Elgu products particularly and it was so good for £20 it will tell you everything you need to know. Can't recommend it enough.

[Syk0]

it looks ok but I think a better door over the poop hole would be a good plan foxes are cunning devils .I tend not to use straw as it can harbour mites so usually use dustless shavings and shredded newspaper.You might think about getting mite powder to sprinkle inthe house in all the gaps and under the roofing felt  red mites are a pest best avoided.roofing sheets instead of the felt would be a bonusd

thanks, the 2 blocks cover the door at night so nothing can get in apart from a human.. also i bought some straw bales from a farmer he asked what was the reason i needed it, i said chickens so he said you need dried dustless straw for chickens which he had. im thinking of buying some plastic sheeting to go round the whole lot and remove the felt. only 2 eggs out of 2 weeks but there home has been updated daily so not expecting much yet until they are proper settled in.

[nerdle]

Just looked again - I can't see any ventilation in the coop. 

Your hens will love all that space!

[henamoured]

The more you can minimize spaces where mites can hide the better. So if you wanted to move some of your nest boxes out they will manage with just 2 or 3 between 6 hens. Hemcore for bedding is good. £10.00 for a massive bale which lasts about 4 months for me. Use newspaper if that's really not an option.

Have you got a perch for them?

And I'd second the ventilation holes - just drill say 4-6 holes at the top of the front of the coop. No ventilation = fungus/mildew build-up in the coop (you'd be surprised at the amount of warmth breath coming out of those hens at night in the winter!).

Lastly, I'd give that grass a mow/strim. Long grass can get caught up in the hen's crops and lead to sour/impacted crops.

I'd say the paucity of eggs is due to their new surroundings. Hens are such creatures of habit, anything new can disturb them. The shorter days may mean they're also not in full production until end of Jan/beginning of Feb time. Having said that my hybrids have laid everyday now for over 18 months.... so fingers crossed for you.

[Syk0]

The more you can minimize spaces where mites can hide the better. So if you wanted to move some of your nest boxes out they will manage with just 2 or 3 between 6 hens. Hemcore for bedding is good. £10.00 for a massive bale which lasts about 4 months for me. Use newspaper if that's really not an option.

Have you got a perch for them?

And I'd second the ventilation holes - just drill say 4-6 holes at the top of the front of the coop. No ventilation = fungus/mildew build-up in the coop (you'd be surprised at the amount of warmth breath coming out of those hens at night in the winter!).

Lastly, I'd give that grass a mow/strim. Long grass can get caught up in the hen's crops and lead to sour/impacted crops.

I'd say the paucity of eggs is due to their new surroundings. Hens are such creatures of habit, anything new can disturb them. The shorter days may mean they're also not in full production until end of Jan/beginning of Feb time. Having said that my hybrids have laid everyday now for over 18 months.... so fingers crossed for you.

I'm thinking about getting 2 more hens so how many boxes should i have inside there not that the hens use them maybe 1 or 2 now and then but they are all curled up on the floor, ill remove the shelves from the hutch tomorrow, as for a perch no i dont have 1 but after looking on google pictures shouldnt be hard to knock 1 up with some timber!, vent holes arnt a problem as ots not airtight anyways there are little gaps all over to keep it just nice inside. as for the garden this is a daily job for me ongoing, most of the weeds have gone and im turning the garden over with a little help from the girls but pecking order is about when a big worm pops up! is there a spray you can get to stop the mites? i clean my girls out every 3 days as i have the proper dust free straw(so the farmer tells me, he had loads hens so..) eggs would be nice but im getting them settled in and bonding with them.. now if anyone says its just a chicken.. its NOT haha!

[rachelr]

hens use perches over night and nest boxes to lay in so you wont need that many nesting boxes but you will need a perch for each hen. Some one on here has put how much perch per hen. For instance I have three nest boxes for 12 hens but 5 2inchx1inchx1m lengths of wood to use as a perch.

[Sassy]

Perches should be positioned higher than the nest boxes