Building a new run

Yes They seem to be nice from what I've read. but I wonder could you give me a rough idea how big they get , I know their smaller than your normal bird , And Ive seen some in shop , but they wernt fully grown . I trying to work out the minimum space to have under the coop?
 
Hi you mentioned building your own cop.I have build one in a last few months also from recyckled materials.The wood is 3cm thick ,so hope thet this will be warm for them during winter,the flor is with isolation for warmth as my cop is standing on legs.The only mistaka I had made was with the nestboxes as made them to high and now they like to sleep in them.I gues if I rise perches higher they may move to them.Anyway if you like to see,there is a link http://poultrykeeperforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=4240&p=21742#p21742
Hope you will have some inspiration.Good luck with you project.
 
We now have one Partridge Wyandotte Bantam. She doesn't weigh more than 2 pounds. Lays regularly eggs about 47 grammes. Stands about 9" high and is quite nasty to the Buff Orpingtons which are 3 times her size. Her sister was a little bit larger.
 
Nice build tygrysek75, :-)08 Love the planter with herbs , So what do chickens like to nibble in the way of herbs , I bet a bit of wild garlic could maker for some interesting tasting eggs :lol:
 
Hi Castara. Actually it was her bigger sister who was the really nasty one. Piper had enough bullying, moved out, left her sister Luchia and went to live with the Buff Orpingtons in their coop. Think all the hens in Luchia's coop were relieved when she was taken out ill and didn't return.
 
Castara said:
Thanks marigold , Fantastic I love dimensions :D , You said there was only 6 inches between the roost and the back wall , is this because they like to have a wall to their backs? Also should I make the space between the roosts a little smaller as I'm going for Wyandotte bantams, just worried about the gap , or is that being silly :-)07
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They generally like to roost facing the pophole, I think, so the space at the back only has to ghive room for the tail ends of the birds sitting on it. The bigger space between the two perches is to allow room for the front end of the birds on the back perch, facing the tail ends of the birds on the front perch. (Or head to head, if they wanted to go that way round.) Maybe, if you only plan for very few bantams, you could design the coop with just one longer perch, and have the pophole at one of the shorter ends, thus saving space? You want to avoid a layout where one perch is only just big enough for two birds, and the other one will be crowded out on her own on the other perch, as they do need to cuddle up and keep warm at night in winter. Also, with only 3 it would be OK to just have one nestbox. I started with 3 medium-sized hybrids in an Eglu, which has only one nestbox and there were no problems. If you make a reasonable-sized nestbox probably on occasions two will go in at once, they don't seem to mind.
 
Our pop-holes are at 90 degrees to the perches. This caused a problem with one Orpington who tried to jump off the perch and go through the pop-hole in one movement. She damaged her hip which took 6 weeks to recover. And she still tries to do it despite that.
Perches would be OK at 90 degrees to door if they are far enough away or the perches low enough or the birds are small. We have lowered the perches to 18 inches now and no more problems.
 
chrismahon said:
Our pop-holes are at 90 degrees to the perches. This caused a problem with one Orpington who tried to jump off the perch and go through the pop-hole in one movement. She damaged her hip which took 6 weeks to recover. And she still tries to do it despite that.
Perches would be OK at 90 degrees to door if they are far enough away or the perches low enough or the birds are small. We have lowered the perches to 18 inches now and no more problems.
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Orpingtons often don't perch at all, preferring to roost on the floor, and like all heavy breeds, keepers are usually advised to provide very low perches for them if they are used. I've read about the possible damage to bigger birds when jumping down from higher perches, apart from bumblefoot problems, so I hope your Orp won't do it again and I'm glad she got better. 18 ins seems to me to be the maximum advisable height for any perches, and still quite high for heavy breeds. Within the coop, they only need to be high enough to raise them above the level of the nestboxes, and hold the birds' bums well off the floor. I don't think Castara's birds would have any problems anyway, whichever way they face, since bantams are so agile.
 
Castara said:
Nice build tygrysek75, :-)08 Love the planter with herbs , So what do chickens like to nibble in the way of herbs , I bet a bit of wild garlic could maker for some interesting tasting eggs :lol:
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Thank you.
They like all sorts of things,chickweed,parsley,dadelions,thyme,coriander,garden peas etc.Mine also like rasberries(which i grow in my garden)strawberries,apples,pears and loads other stuff.Rhubarb,ivy,raw potatoes bulb and leaf is poisonus for them so if you have them anywere in your garden fence them from easy acces.
 
Castara said:
I trying to work out the minimum space to have under the coop?
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Forgot to say, my coop hasn't got very long legs, it's only about 1 ft. clearance underneath (dark, so can't go and measure, and anyway the legs have sunk in to the rubber chippings, or the chippings have got dug up around the legs) but they all get under there, even the Sussex who is quite large and has to sort of wriggle in without standing up, and they enjoy rooting round and just sitting and resting. I've seen chicken shelters advertised, for use in open fields, which looked really low, so I think they enjoy the better shelter and feeling of safety they get from a low roof. So don't worry about long legs unless you want the coop high enough to spare your back when you clean it out.
 
tygrysek75 said:
Castara said:
Nice build tygrysek75, :-)08 Love the planter with herbs , So what do chickens like to nibble in the way of herbs , I bet a bit of wild garlic could maker for some interesting tasting eggs :lol:
Click to expand...
Thank you.
They like all sorts of things,chickweed,parsley,dadelions,thyme,coriander,garden peas etc.Mine also like rasberries(which i grow in my garden)strawberries,apples,pears and loads other stuff.Rhubarb,ivy,raw potatoes bulb and leaf is poisonus for them so if you have them anywere in your garden fence them from easy acces.
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Is Ivy really bad , cause theirs quite a bit in my yard :-)09
 
Yes it is,they usually avoid that,but if bored and nothing green else to eat they may try to eat it.Best not to have in close proximity to chickens.
 
tygrysek75 said:
Yes it is,they usually avoid that,but if bored and nothing green else to eat they may try to eat it.Best not to have in close proximity to chickens.
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Hmmmn !!! where's my glyphasate
 
I like this :-)17 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BIRD-AVIARY-CHICKEN-GAME-RUN-/280730481474?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Poultry&hash=item415cd73342#ht_2165wt_1135
 
Yep , Bantiekeepers my inspiration . So far I've found and 8 x 4 sheet of stainless steel for the floor and 3no 8 x 4 steel mesh sheets 1"x 1" holes, for a side or roof of run , bit concernd 1" x 1" holes could let the local small wild birds in and out ? Could be ironic to say the least if the run can keep out a lion but some sparrow drops a nasty virus through the hole, Still gotta buck up and talk to the neighbour's :-)09
 
why do you think the neighbours are going to mind? Unless you're keeping a cockerel they'll hardly notice. If you have nasty neighbours who might mind, best keep quiet until/if they complain, and if they're nice ones, no need to worry, just take them round a few eggs when production starts! (Get them on side for looking after birds when you're on holiday.)
 
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