[KathyH]

Hi all,
We are totally new to chicken keeping so if my questions sound totally daft please be gentle  
Ok so we have three point of lay chickens and have built then a nice big run in the garden. The "mini chalet" hen house we have put up on stilts so that there is a small underneath place they can shelter in and the water is there to keep it cool and the grit to keep it dry. They could go back into the hen house if they wanted.
So - todays question (and it does sound dim when I type it!) is how much more shelter do they need from the rain. We are forecast a load of rain next week (we are in the West Midlands and have enough already thanks!).
We are thinking of putting some clear acrylic roofing sheets over about a quarter of the run on the inside - sloping so that rain and snow would drain off out of the run.
Does this sound like enough?
Just to make life hard we are in a conservation area and any permanent looking hard roof may need permission.

At this moment they are out in the rain and don't seem to care! Maybe I am worrying for nothing!

[Aunt Sally]

Hi Kathy Welcome to the forums  

Hens don't mind a bit of rain especially during the summer, although this summers down pours have may my chooks dash for shelter !  The space under their des-ress sounds fine.  

You may find that during the winter a little more shelter will be an advantage to you as much as to the hens.  A wet muddy run is a nightmare.  The hens can get bad feet and the ground will become sour much more quickly.  

I have an acrylic roof over my [small] run and putting some over a part of yours sound like a good idea.  You can always add a bit of tarpaulin during the winter if you wish.  I favour the clear polythene sheeting (from the garden centre) rather than a tarp myself as it lets in more light for the hens, good light is essential in the winter to encourage laying.

Do post some pictures for us we are incredibly nosey here  :roll:

[richyrich7]

Hi Kathy welcome to the site.

Might want to think about getting some black plastic as well just in case the sun comes out and it gets too hot, makes good shading for them.

Do post some pictures for us we are incredibly nosey here  :roll:

Arn't we just  

[Sadgit]

I have half my run covered with plywood... gives shade when the sun is out (ha that is a joke) and shelter from the rain

[KathyH]

Thanks for the replies folks  
All help appreciated - this is a learning curve!
We have three hybrid layers that we bought from the Domestic Fowl Trust at Honeybourne (we are local to them).
They are Henna - a Bovan Goldline, Jet - a Black Rock, and Doris a Speckledy. All are 20 weeks old.
We got three different breeds so we could tell
1) who laid which egg and
 2) who was who!
They said they would all get on well together and a week in that is still the case. Doris is the bossy one but Henna is the adventurer. Jet is the friendliest but they are all ok with us and will eat from our hands (hurts a mite though!)
I will post some pics but have to ask about "forum manners" first. Should I post here or under the post marked for photos?

[Aunt Sally]

That would be a good idea as it never slips down the forum  

[KathyH]

No good - I can't hack the technology and get pics to appear on the posts.
I have uploaded my pics to my Facebook page and they are on -

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=6789&l=099c4&id=653268331

if that is any good. They are open to public view so you should be able to see them.
Just can't see how to upload an image file.

[richyrich7]

Very nice they are too Kathy.

You can't upload pic's direct to the forum you need them to be hosted by someone like photo bucket etc not sure about facebook.

Unless of course you upload them to the album or personal gallery.

[Aunt Sally]

I've PM'd Kathy about how to upload from Facebook If anyone else needs to know just let me know and I'dd add it to the Avatars and pictures sticky

See HERE for Kathy's pics: