[pigsypete]

Hi everyone,

Great reading on here and already picked up some great tips.

So forgive me for being a bit of a newbie and probably asking some very daft and probably obvious questions.

I got my first house / run and 2 chickens (a brown one and a black one....hehe I forgot what breed they are except the man said they were good beginners birds) last week built my house and the hens are now looking happy in thier new home.

I only have a smalll garden so the house had to go on a concrete area I had, I hope to let them roam free after a few weeks but should I cover the concrete in anything such as bark chips so they can scratch about ?

How often should I be cleaning the outside area they seem to be making tonnes of mess and there is pellets everywhere so I end up cleaning everyday. The inside of thier house seems pretty clean still is that ok to be cleaned every 4-5 days ?

Errm thinks thats all the questions I can think of for the moment although I am sure I will bombard you with more later. 

Thanks in advance

[Vember]

Hi PP

Welcome to the forums

They will need something to scratch around in and bark chips will be ideal but they will need changing every so often, especially if the run area has no roof as it will soon turn into a mud bath
Also they benefit from having some sand/soil to bathe in, you could use a litter tray filled with sand, although it will get thrown all over the place If possible keep one area of the run especially for them to bath in

What type of container is their food in? Might be easier to use something that they can't knock over.
It is best to clean up any left over food less chance of attracting rats then

Sarah

[pigsypete]

Thanks Sarah

I have got those plastic feed dishes with a colum in the middle so food falls down as they eat it, but having watched them they scrape the pellets out of it all over the floor.

Also having read another thread I have now found that I have managed to buy a totally unsuitable house / run for them so I will be donning my building hat this week and constructing a new run to add onto the exsisting one.