[viks chicks]

I have just purchased (yet to recieve) a wooden Chicken Ark. Altogether it is 5 foot long and 51cm tall  It was really cheap ( in comparison to others) and does not have a door over the little hole that goes into the shelter- but it leads onto a fully enclosed run-so is fox proof. Do chickens mind sleeping with their door open? It doesn't have a perch or separate nesting box-it looks tiny. Will they just lay where they sleep?

[Aunt Sally]

Well you said it was cheap Vic.  Is it just a wooden box  

Welcome to the forum.

There are lots ofpeople on here who will bive you loads of advice to bring it up to standard for some chooks to live in !

They'll need lots of information though.  Size, shape, materials, run size, photo would be good too  

[babe]

i would try to make some kind of door, the girls wont be impressed with a draught up the bum.

a perch would also be good, its better for their feet, not all mine perch tho.

a nest box, even if its just a make do jobby is also advisable, as most do like a bit of privacy when they are laying.

but take it a step at a time, you dont have to have it all sorted at once. keeping chooks is very addictive and like the rest of us, part of the fun is learning as you go. and there's always someone on here to help.

[poultrygeist]

Hi Vik. Welcome in.

Also, what kind of mesh is covering the run ?

If it's thin chicken wire (hexagonal) then it probably won't be truly fox proof. It needs to be the proper square (or rectangular) mesh for that so keep an eye on them.
Babe and Aunt Sally can tell you far more than I can but you'll find everyone can help in some way.

Are you ok with basic woodworking ? ie. using a saw, screwdriver, hammer, etc.

Rob

[peachesandclive]

Our henhouse sounds a bit like yours - it is an ex-rabbit hutch with run attached. Ours doesn't have a door over the pop-hole, and the chucks are fine. It means that when they wake up in the morning they come out when they are ready and are able to peck about in their run until we let them out into the garden.

My husband cobbled together perches for them using some branches he got in local woods. It's a really simple rectangular frame that lifts out. We put newspaper on the bottom of the hutch with this frame affair on the top, so we're able to clean the hutch/henhouse easily - we just roll up the paper and poo and replace it with clean. Easy peasy.

Their nesting box is in the run - it's an old plastic plant pot (big, square) on it's side with hay in it. They have a bowl of water and a plastic plate for pellets.

With this cheap and easy equipment, we have 3 happy, healthy, egg laying hens.

[Aunt Sally]

That sounds delightful peachesandclive.  
But you know what I'm going to say  :!:


We need pictures  

[viks chicks]

I am trying my very hardest to attach a picture...forgive me if it fails.

You have put my mind at rest- Peaches and Clive .I have been fretting about the size of my run and how I would go about squeezing a nesting box in. So I am pleased to hear that yours sounds simliar.  Everyone around me is being very negative about my chicken plans- all they talk about is the poo and how they wreck the garden- and what about my 3 young children falling in all the poo!!?

Do you leave your chickens in their small run for long periods of time Peaches&Clive?- For example would you leave them in there for days at a time when you are on holiday and neighbours are 'sitting' them.

I am so pleased all you chicken people have'nt been daunted and that the good sounds like it outweighs the bad.
My Ark, should arrive by next week-but by the picture it looks like it is hard mesh-and I will secure mard mesh on the underside too!

 I have failed to attach a picture-I have tried, and have no clue about url - So if anyone is really that interested- it is the 5 foot chicken run by www.cowshedbiz.co.uk

[peachesandclive]

Oh my goodness! I have lots of the chooks but very few of their accommodation.

I've had a look at the one on thecowshedbiz and I have to say, it's significantly smaller than mine, which is of generous proportions (I'm glad I never met the rabbit it was built for!) I don 't think I'd be happy leaving my chickens shut in for any length of time, although admittedly it's difficult to tell from a photo. Also - is it any smaller than an Eglu?

As for chicken poo, yes, there's plenty about, but we're hardly up to our eyeballs in it (I have 2 small children who manage to play alongside the chooks fine, they just take their shoes off as they come in - as they would anyway).

Here's one photo we took in the snow a couple of weeks ago. For some reason it's coming out quite small, but you get the idea.

[babe]

vicks, give them as much space as you can

the kiddies will love them, as will you.

and as for poo, its like any animal, they are only as dirty as you allow them to be.
with good husbandry, no one will know they ae there

[woodburner]

Sounds like my broody coop. I wouldn't keep more than two LF and would move it every day or two. Being small it's easy to move. Mine has an extension on the side so it's not so easy to move but with the larger area, it doesn't need to be moved so often. Swings and roundabouts really

[Chappers]

make sure you a door to lock them in at night. I left my door open and a few weeks ago 3 were killed overnight by what we think was a stoat. Not very nice to get up to.