[ness]

I use a rabbit hutch as a chook house.  Its a big hutch and I only house 3 bantams in it although I think I could fit more in (oh won't hear of it  :roll: )  
I covered the mesh with external plywood, fashioned a pop hole and erected a branch as a perch (very proud of myself!). The plan was for them to sleep on the perch and lay in the seperate sleeping compartment. But they refuse to perch (have tried for weeks) and sleep in the sleeping compartment and lay in my rabbits hutch that my rabbits live in  :shock: .  
The rabbits don't seem to mind although when I'm letting the chickens out I have to make sure the rabbits have vacated their hutch incase there is a rush for the "nest box" :roll:

[Fifitrix]

Ah ah!  Tonight I have found a New Man (no he won't replace my hubby!) who will help me with some of the DIY!

I'm thinking of ripping apart my old picnic table to make a board to go over the Guinea pig Hutch but am rather worried about drafts.

My chicken keeping neighbour who is finding it her new addictive hobby said I should get them from chicks and put them under a red lamp.  I have one of those old back heated lamp things is that going a bit too far on the doing it on the cheap thing?

I think I'd prefer to go straight to buying point of lay chickens.

[Jellyhead]

If you get a cockerel you will have your own little chickies by the end of the summer    :shock:  

[Fifitrix]

Woo Hoo!!!  I got some chickens!!!!!

If I knew how to I'd post a piccy.  We got 3 and they are only common garden Hybrids (although they are Columbian Blacktails don't you know!) but we've fallen in love already and think they are absolutely gorgeous.

We've called them Milly, Molly and Mandy, and have snuggled them straight into the hutch.  Although looking at them squashed in there I think I'm going to have to look into investing in something larger.

I will let them out tomorrow.  Do I have to round them up and put them to bed?  or will they go themselves and how will they know where to go?

Thank you to everyone for your helpful advice.  I will be doing major DIY tomorrow to make a less make shift cover to go on the hutch and more security for the garden.  Wish me luck!

[Jellyhead]

How exciting, new chookies. They should put themselves to bed Better than kids do, on time, no questions asked Have fun. If you have digital camera posting photos is really easy. I do it using photobucket. Give it a try, its free and easy :shock: we like piccies

[Fifitrix]

We are adoring our chickens although they are totally keeping us on our toes.

I didn't realise they flew!!!  :shock:  We have a nasty pesky cat (as oppose to our nice, scared of anything, won't go out doors cat) who eats pigeons and leaves the carcasses in our garden for a living, and he has decided to move on to our chickens and seems like he won't be satisfied until he has sunk his teeth into one.  :evil:  However, the chooks are doing a marvelous job of protecting themselves and mostly fly out of the way.  My fear is, though, that they will literally fly away.  We lost one of them for 4 hours this morning, and having hunted the neighbourhood high and low, found it about 8 foot up stuck in the middle of our leylandie hedge.  So should I be clipping their wings cos I'd prefer not to as it seems they can fly off when the cat pesters them?

Also instead of putting themselves to bed they seem to prefer roosting in the tree so everynight we have to catch them and put them to bed.  It's very sweet but do I have to persevere with it?  I sort of wonder what would happen if I left them?

Lastly, we're not convinced that the Hutch isn't too small cos they are insisting in squashing into the sleeping compartment of the hutch which I was reconing they would lay in!  :? My OH who was determined that he would have nothing to do with them is constantly fretting now that the hutch is too small.  It's driving me bonkers!

[poultrygeist]

Hi Fifitrix. Sounds like you're enjoying it despite all the worries and concerns we all seem to get over them !
They are worth it.

Could you measure the hutch just so you can be reassured. Or, if you have a digital camera, can you upload photos to Photobucket.com and then you can be talked through how to post them up. It's not too technical once you know how !

Sounds like they prefer camping to living in a cozy house. That cat sounds like a nuisance. We keep ours in a fixed run which avoids those problems but means they stare out making us feel guilty !  :roll:

Rob

[ness]

Mine also sleep in the smaller sleeping compartment and ignore the larger compartment with lovely perch.  As mine are only bantams they fit in there fine   .
I'm guessing they wouldn't squash themselves in there uncomfortably as there is a larger area for them to utilise.  They must like it! If you want them to use the larger bit, block off the smaller bit for a while!  
Clipping their wing would make them easier to round up but you may have to keep more of a eye on the cat.  A few shots with a water pistol may make him think twice.  :twisted:

[Fifitrix]

I will look into getting a photo uploaded.  I tried to get one uploaded to my avatar but it said my file was too big.  I hate all that cos I'm really not a technophobe!

I have to say the chooks aren't difficult to round up and look very sweet perched in the trees so I don't really want to clip their wings cos this cat is one mean killing machine and believe me NOTHING works.  I've tried throwing stones, sticks, water, and as much general violence as I can exert (I'm a gentle soul really   ) when I can get anywhere near him.  He drives me bonkers as dispite investing in one of those expensive infrared catflaps that only lets my cat in, he bashes his way in and sprays all over my house.  I am SOOOOO tempted to catch him and drive him 50 miles away but that's really nasty and he's probably chipped  :roll: .  Ho hum.

[poultrygeist]

Our cat has been bullied by a local Tom so she's now scared to go out. We got a supersoaker water pistol and I scored 2 direct hits up his backside and haven't seen him since. I can still smell him in the mornings but we don't see him.
They fire about 15-20 feet so you can scare him at a distance and maybe he'll stay away during the day.

...or borrow a dog !  

ps. the avatars need to be reduced to 80x80 pixels (i think) and maximum of 6kb. If you can get them on to photobucket, the rest is easy !

[Fifitrix]

We got a supersoaker water pistol and I scored 2 direct hits up his backside

Now I'm liking the sound of that  

I think it's worth a go and sounds major fun for the kids!

[poultrygeist]

While I was building the back porch I kept the water pistol by my side since the Tom woudl stroll through the garden about 6 feet away. I ignored it til it went by and then opened up. It was a bit surprised !

I think it's the fact that you can get it from a distance that scares it.

They'll fight anything face to face but haven't worked out ballistics yet.

Good luck. Rob

[Fifitrix]

Thanks Rob.  I feel some combat training with my kids coming on!

My real worry is about going out.  I CANNOT believe I'm actually worrying about leaving the house now!  But I worry that he'll do something to them whilst I'm gone.  Ho hum.

I've never felt like this before  :oops:  

[poultrygeist]

Could you have a covered run to shut them in if you go out ?

Obviously it would need to be of a minimum size.

And you'd presumably need to chuck a handful of corn in to round them up.

From reading other threads, most cats seem to be scared of, or at least indifferent to, chickens.
I wonder if anyone else has had a similar problem.
Much as I like cats, they are pests when you want to keep them away.

Maybe train the chooks in self defence. Sorry i can't think of anything sensible.

[Fifitrix]

No you've been very helpful.  I've got a covered run which is what started me off on this whole thing in the first place cos I asked for a guinea pig run on Freecycle and ended up with a chicken run!  So yes I could do that although without trying to be too cup half empty, the reason we let them out of the covered run was because the cat was sitting on top of it and distressing them even more.  :evil: