[tanya]

OK

Following on from first thread i posted, Popped out today to see a place that sells arks chickens etc. As you know my plan is to have a slightly raised house coming down into a fenced area.  However having read a few posts here and elswhere this seems to be a problem re mud, disease etc.
 
I am also confused as to the size of runs, I only want 3 hens and Today I visited a place who sold this  
 
 http://www.forshamcottagearks.com/poultry-housing/boughton902-poultry-house.htm
 
which they said was suitable for 3/4 hens, but to me who knows nothing the run underneath looks so small  :oops:
 
and obviously it would mean , moving it about.
 
Ideally i want to section off an area of about 20ft x 7ft alot of which is next to a 6ft fence and also contains lots of established shrubs but no "delilcates" also lots of ground elder   In this I wanted to put a slightly raised run.
 
But now I am confused, the man said that it would be to muddy in the winter and would contain parasites. One solution would be to use this type of ark on a set of slabs ( husband to build!) with access to the larger run during spring summer and dry days. But when wet weather comes just cover slabs with woodchip and restrict access to larger run!
 
Gosh sorry bit of a ramble there.
 
All suggestions welcome
 
Many thanks for sticking with it
 
T
x

[compostqueen]

he probably thinks they'd be best on grass but mine are on earth but their run is on big sized chipped bark. You can even put the bark on paving     The bark gets replaced as it seems to wear away and disappear. They can scratch about in the bark chippings and it's fine for them.  They do like access to grass so if they could get onto your lawn sometimes to free range that would be the best of both worlds

This is my run which a long narrow strip which wasn't being used for anything. The Eglu sits on chipped bark but the rest of the area is bare earth but with shrubs round it.  I need to add more shrubs though  



I've now put a fence across but do let them out onto the grass when I'm at home and can watch them.  They do need a fair amount of room though and it would be cruel to keep them cooped up just in the run of the ark, which is very small.  They're fine in the Eglu run til they've laid their eggs in the morning, then I let them range about in the area above, but let them out on the grass every evening if possible to have a right good time  

[poultrygeist]

Hi tanya,

That compromise sounds like a good plan. They will churn up any grass, especially when wet but you either go with the flow or try to keep them off of it. The built-under run looks too small for 3 or 4 hens for any but a short length of time.
I would suggest a section of the bigger run for wet weather with either slabs and woodchips or just several inches of woodchip to protect teh grass.
The minimum space per bird is usually quoted as 1 sq meter each but more is better. They can easily become bored and start picking on each other.
Wait and see what other folks say. It needs to suit your situation.

Rob

[Porffor]

I'm  :shock: at the price!! my word, even the feeder and waterer is over £100.

Sure you don't want to DIY!?

I have shingle down - it was down already and they are enjoying pecking at rotting wood too along with a muddy patch where i took out some plants. So all things you can pop them 'over' when you move them around. I had also read bark chippings were good.

I agree with the others that the run doesn't look big enough you'd need the extension. I'm not sure 3 or 4 of them could sit in a nest together - hard to see how wide it is. Not all chooks perch, but most do.. so i guess they'd have to learn.

The 1square metre is what i kept in mind, but will be honest I don't know what length/width an eglu is, and a lot of runs don't keep to this. I think the area can be smaller if it is moved around.

[Porffor]

Just saw this and thought of you...
Hen houses

site was refered to on another thread for supplies/treatments. 9 foot long

[peggyprice]

Hi Tanya and welcome to the forum  

Work on the principle of 1 square foot per medium sized bird for the house and 3 square foot per bird for the run and you should be about right, particularly if you are going to let them freerange for all or part of the day most days.

I'd agree with everyone else here, I'd think the ark is too small - the dimensions given come out at between 6 - 8 square feet (I think - I'm not great with measurements  :? ) - if I'm right I wouldn't want to have more than a couple of hens in there.  You need to feel comfortable keeping your birds confined to their run if necessary, particularly if you need to restrict their feeding for a while for example.

We spent a lot of time looking at houses, wanting four hens (it's now five - that's something else you have to be aware of, making sure you have room for at least a couple more than you start off with.  Possibly dozens more, as you'll know if you've read some of the other threads on this forum   ).

We ended up buying a second hand but unused house on eBay for about £50 and making the run ourselves from lengths of 2x2 and strong wire.  Well, I say 'we' - I did the shopping, OH did the building (bless him, love him to bits   ).  We have the advantage of very secure fencing around our garden so didn't worry too much about the security of the run itself, otherwise we would have invested in welded mesh.

As for position - we didn't want to be moving the house/run around all the time, so they have a fixed place on a patch of bare earth (actually where there used to be a very large shed), with bark chippings and a little gravel inside the run.  If they'd been on grass they'd have turned it to mud within hours, so I figured they might as well start that way  

Every four weeks or so we move the run, I rake over the wood chips, top them up a bit if necessary, and put the run back. In between whiles I clear up any large amounts of poo on a regular basis - though most of the time that isn't necessary because they do freerange a lot of the time around the garden.  

This week they've been confined to quarters though because they haven't been earning their keep (4 eggs from five hens in one week  :!: ) and they've been perfectly happy.  Well, they grumble like mad when they see me coming, but I know they're just trying it on  :roll:   Today has been appallingly wet, so they're a bit bedraggled and a little muddy, but I'm pretty sure they'll survive ...

Going back to your post (sorry  :oops: ) - I'm not sure what the man meant about parasites - the size of fenced off area sounds great to me, in effect they'd be freeranging; and unless there's a problem with the ground elder I don't know about I'd have thought your hens would be very happy there; as long as they have somewhere to find shade when hot and shelter when wet (though most of them seem to ignore that bit and just get soggy   ) and somewhere cosy and secure to sleep at night and to lay their eggs ...  

Sorry for such a long winded reply - hope a bit of it helps somewhere along the way  :oops:

[viks chicks]

I wish I had used my nonce earlier. My chickens have turned their fenced off run into one huge mud bath! All my grass has gone over a space of two days-so I need to change my run area...but the only place i have is where there is ground elder...What is the problem with ground elder---is it poisnous?

[Hawthorne]

I wish I had used my nonce earlier. My chickens have turned their fenced off run into one huge mud bath! All my grass has gone over a space of two days-so I need to change my run area...but the only place i have is where there is ground elder...What is the problem with ground elder---is it poisnous?

It was introduced by (I think) the Romans for food (human food :shock:) - so should be fine I think, although I'm no expert on chicken health.

[Porffor]

rather than move them you could provide mud cover.. sand, gravel or bark.
I spoke to a guy when shopping for wire who actually turfed his chicken run when they ran out of grass... lasted 2 days! he has sand in it now.

I am planning to add a sand box to my run also as they like that apparantly.

[peggyprice]

I am planning to add a sand box to my run also as they like that apparantly.

Good for dust bathing.  Though I wish someone would tell my girls - they ignore the sand and go for the flowerbeds instead  

[Porffor]

I have a washing up bowl at the ready.. just got to get some sand.. i'm assuming plain builders sand would be ok.. or do i have to pay triple the price for kids sand? Seems silly buying sand when we live by a sandy beach! lol

[Foxy]

  peggy your post was excellent!!!....Only I had to pour a glass of red wine, put my feet up and settle down for a LONG read!!!!  

[peggyprice]

  peggy your post was excellent!!!....Only I had to pour a glass of red wine, put my feet up and settle down for a LONG read!!!!  

 :oops: sorry ... can get a bit carried away sometimes ... will try to shut up now  :oops:  :oops:  :oops:

but you should hear me when I get started on compost  :roll:

or would you like an excuse for another glass of red wine?  :shock:

[Foxy]

I love reading your posts!!! Have just poured another glass.....  

[peggyprice]

I'm going to bed now before I get into more trouble

Nite nite  :oops: