[ChickenAnn]

I've been lurking around the baords for a while, picking up tips etc for when I take the plunge! However, I have a couple of questions which are more specific to the set-up I'm thinking of:
I'm intending to get 4 chickens, and keep them in an Eglu Cube with a 3m run. They will be let out into the garden as often as possible - however in the winter when evenings are dark this might only be at weekends.
So, how long could I expect the grass in a 3m x 3m run with 4 chickens in it to survive? I want to figure out if it's feasible to move the cube and run say weekly, or if it needs to be in a permanent place.
In the winter, I'll move the run onto the veggie patch so they can get rid of slugs and beasties for me, so hopefully they will only be on the lawn when the lawn is actively growing.
And a really daft question  :oops: -  if I keep 4 in a house designed for 10 or so,  will they get too cold at night?
Thanks for any advice!

[GrannieAnnie]

We are going to rear some chicks when the equipment arrives!  So this past week I've been devouring all the poultry info in my old Smallholder magazines.  I haven't kept small chicks before, just POL and older!  They do say that you shouldn't give the chooks too much room, as it can get cold for them in the winter, but all of ours cosy up to each other at night anyways, so I think they'd be okay.  Just make sure its not draughty for them.

But if you can move their run around and give the grass a rest, that's the best way.  Its not just resting the grass, but preventing a build up of pests in the ground as well

[ChickenAnn]

Thanks for the help, much appreciated! So how often do you think I would need to move the run such that the lawn would recover reasonably quickly?

[Bodger]

If you can, just move it a yard or two whenever you can and it'll make all the difference to the land and to the chickens

[GrannieAnnie]

Depends on the size of your garden, once a week would be good, then hopefully by the time the chooks are back to square one (is that a pun?) the grass has grown nicely again!

We have BIG patches where our chooks eat all the grass, so we just wire sections off, and got a load of cheap B&Q grass seed.  Chucked it all over the bare ground which we'd raked over, then once the grass was fairly long, took the wire off.  The chooks were ecstatic with all the new greenery!  so if neceesary, you could patch bits up too.

[Aunt Sally]

In my experience (I have an eglu) you will have to move it about every 2-3 days and rest the grass for at least a week. preferably much much longer in the winter.

That's why mine is on a permanent site  :!:

[Kazoo]

I have a house that can home 6 birds but I only have 3, the Farmer who I got the house from told me that if I only intend to keep the 3 they will get cold in the Winter in such a big house.  He reckoned that by the time Winter arrived I would have a full contingent of 6 birds as they are so addictive!  I will only keep to 3 but have planned to get some bales of straw to 'insulate' the outside of the house once the weather gets cold - as advised on this site (Aunt Sally I think?).

[muntjac]

stop fretting folks the chucks will be fine if you seal the druaghts up .open doors dont kill birds .draughts do ........ and the straw insulation is ok   it stops draughts perfick mine stay out all winter they dont get shut up and they come thru fine .the stories about birds freezing to thier perches is just that . mine survived a minus 11c for 3 days fine with good food and free water    

[Aunt Sally]

... have planned to get some bales of straw to 'insulate' the outside of the house once the weather gets cold - as advised on this site (Aunt Sally I think?).

That's what they do in colder climes. Canada and the like.  the Eglu (an therefore the cube) are double skinned and will keep out a lot of the cold, but the more chooks you get in there the warmer they will be.

[muntjac]

but then the space is limited in an egpoo, so dont over fill and you can move it as suggested every 3/4 days

[Aunt Sally]

an egpoo

               

[muntjac]

no comment on em    

[ChickenAnn]

Moving it every 2-3 days is not going to be realistic as the garden just isn't big enough- I want to have them in a reasonably-sized run... I'll probably end up having to keep it permanently sited - though will give moving it around and re-seeding bald patches of the lawn a try first, and see how it goes.
Thanks for the advice all!

[muntjac]

if you are keeping it in a permanat place  just move it in 5 yrs .feed the chucks as normal with good food and greens aplenty and you will have happy birds