advice please.

J

Jez

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hi Guys & Gals
I'm new to chicken keeping, we are putting our hen house together tomorrow, very exciting.
I need advice on what to place the coop on. My friend had her house on earth and it got very smelly. I've read lay sand on top of the earth and hemp or woodshavings. I want to keep the earth to let the hens scratch around. The attached run has a roof so won't be open to the elements.
I would welcome any advice.
many thanks
Jez.
 
Hello Jez and welcome to the forum. Without doubt chickens like most to be on short grass which means moving the coop and run frequently. Earth is OK but you will have to move them to dig it over every so often or it gets very smelly, as you have been told. We have two runs on wood chippings which need topping up as it rots down and to make it last we poo pick every morning half an hour after they have been let out, as that's when they do the big ones! Poo goes on the compost heap for 2 years.

Enjoy your chickens and tell us which breeds you intend getting.
 
Hi Jez, and welcome.
If you have a coop which is on legs above the ground, the chickens will like to get under there and will get valuable shade and shelter from wind and rain. You can just leave the ground bare underneath, or add a layer of whatever you are going to use on the surface of the run. As it will be dry, it probably wont get very dirty - I find my birds don't mess under there very much and you can just rake it out now and then. If your friend's run smells, maybe she needs to clean it out a bit more often, and pehaps use ground sanitising powder where it's worst?
Your main problem may be keeping the run itself clean and pleasant. As it's attached, can you get in it easily, to do your daily poo picking? Also, how big is it, and how many hens are you proposing to keep in it? The minimum recommended space for each hen is 2 square metres of run area, more is better, especially in a small run, and if you overcrowd them they may fight, bully the weaker ones, or peck each others feathers because they are stressed. Also, if they have less space than 2 metres minimum, the run will get incredibly filthy in no time at all. Many coops are sold as being suitable for roosting a stated number of birds, (it's also very common for sellers to overestimate how many will actually fit inside) with runs attached which are totally inadequate for the number in the coop, unless they can be let out to free range in the daytime. You can put fewer hens in the coop, but it's not a good idea to overcrowd the run. It's actually much easier to have a freestanding coop in a fenced run area, then you can move things around if required and get to all areas more easily.
 
thanks so much for the info, we will have to extend the run!
 
Runs can be extended but the coop you have will only cater for so many birds.I like to see 9" of perch space per bird and that is what will limit your maximum number of birds but that is with small hybrids. I have two perches- 3ft 6" long in my coop so I am thinking 8 birds max for that coop- so why do I get 6 birds on one perch at night and the other two squashed up close together on the other one? And it is not the same birds on each perch at night either.
 
I see from your 'wanted' post that you are hoping to get 2 Orps and 2 Cochins, Jez. They will need more coop space than smaller birds, such as the hybrids many people have for their starter flock, as Stapfam says. If your coop says it will hold 6, this will probably be the minimum space four of them would need, and although 9 ins is OK for most hens, larger girls would be more comfortable with 12+ ins. They might not want to perch at all, actually, heavier breeds often prefer to roost on the floor, but would still need the extra floor space.
What sort of coop have you got? If you could post a link, people might be able to advise you on how much room 4 large hens might need. .
 
We have coops with a floor space of 1100 x 800 and an external nest box fitted with two 65mm wide x 800mm long perches 9" off the floor for 4 Orpingtons -two or 3 on each perch. Other important factors are the size of the pop-hole, the nature of the entry and the size of the nest box(es) Jez. Most bought coops have too small a nest box for Orpingtons. They will go in but their feathers get mangled.
 
hi here are the details of the hen house brought from Amazon: Suitable for up to 7 our top of the range chicken coop and run is a modern and spacious home for your chickens and is made to the highest standards. The superb design is easy to clean with slide out floor panel and removable nest box roof which makes removing the eggs simple. The nest box comes with a divider which allows you to split it into separate areas if desired. Inside the main coop are two perches to enable your chickens a space to roost and a sliding window to let fresh air in when the weathers hot. A ramp allows your chicken access to the outside space and the door at the top simply slides closed. There's a full parts list and simple to follow instructions included which means assembly is quick and easy. Dimensions: Overall Dimensions: 225cm (W) x 120cm (D) x 155cm (H)
 
Jez just be aware that often the number of hens these people state for the houses they sell are not at all realistic.
 
Hi Jez. I echo Val, without seeing it I can't really comment. The overall size sounds OK for the coop only and might take 7, but certainly not if those dimensions include an attached run as well. The run size should be 2 square metres per bird, which is the entire base area. Problem with some coop manufacturers they hear that chickens live in 'enriched' commercial cages at something like 9 per square metre (someone correct me if I am wrong) and think anything more is generous!
 
The house would measure 7.3ft x 3.9foot, do these measurements include the run as well? Maybe you could copy the link from Amazon?

In terms of quality however, I am yet to see Amazon sell decent henhouses, they do however sell imported henhouses made of cheap wood which warps easily. I have seen however some very clever adaptations which incorporate much larger runs.

A note about cochins and orpingtons, these are classed as "soft heavy" and are two of the largest and heaviest breeds you could buy. They would also require a larger living area, lower perches than a typical medium sized bird.
 
Yes, as Marigold says I have built our coops with extra large nest boxes to accommodate the Orpingtons. They are about 50% larger than standard boxes.
 
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