Chicken setup

[MyPlantsDie]

Hello all ,

Ive finally worn down "She who must be obeyed " and got the nod to get some chickens ive never kept any before .I have knocked down an old shed which was on a solid concrete base 12ft x 8ft so that will be the run area which will be thishttp://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CHICKEN-F...s=63&clkid=9200132775953484570#ht_1081wt_1272 +plastic roof im still undecided on what the floor will be covered with.I have some rubber chippings i can use from the childrens old play area not sure of drainage though.Ive been looking at http://www.amazon.co.uk/Keter-Plastic-Garden-Storage-With/dp/B0074H8MFM/ref=pd_sim_sbs_sg_3 and convert this to a coop ,mybe not the exact one but along those lines and this will go in my concrete garage 25ft x 12ft .Will the coop be ok in a garage not to sure about ventilation anyone else done this ? I will have a connecting tunnel from garage to run,this will be via a wooden door at the side of garage which will have the pop hole door to coop.

Any advice regarding my plans are most welcome .

 

[Marigold]

Hi myplantsdie, welcome to the Forum and congratulations on wearing down SWMBO. Hope you'll enjoy your new chickens.

The run looks OK, at 8 sq yards you could just about get 3-4 small to medium sized birds in there, allowing for the recommended minimum of 2 sq. metres of run space each. Had you thought how you'd fix it down to the ground to make it more fox proof? Depending on your skills and time available, couldn't help feeling you could possibly make a more secure run for less money if you did it yourself, or even got a local carpenter to help.
Yes the chickens could soon learn to go into a coop in the garage and this would have the advantage of saving run space, being under cover and probably wouldn't freeze in winter. Of course this would only be a good idea if you never used the garage for a car, as driving in and out would overcome them with toxic fumes. I don't think the storage box is a very good plan, however. Ventilation is very important for chicken coops, and this isn't just a matter of drilling a few holes in the sides. You would need good access to the inside for daily cleaning, and usually this is via some kind of large door in the side of the coop, with a sliding panel on the floor to collect the droppings in some cases. Also this box would not have any perches for them to roost on at night, or nest boxes, and by the time you'd worked out how to add these you,might as well have got a made-for-purpose coop in the first place. However, help is at hand - have a look at some of the many threads about coop design in here, and also about condensation in coops, which would be a problem in a poorly-ventilated plastic box. The coop is a major purchase but if you don't get it right, you're left with an unsatisfactory design which will bug you for years until it falls apart or you give up on it and spend yet more money on what you needed in the first place. Second hand from eBay is a possibility, but recommended more for plastic coops than for wooden ones, because usually they can be taken to bits and more thoroughly cleaned than wood, to make sure you are not importing the dreaded red mite with your purchase.
I use rubber chippings in my run, over a permeable weed proof membrane, which is a good idea in any case to prevent the birds scratching mud up into the litter. It is rather high- maintenance as you need to pick up the dirty chips and rinse them through a garden sieve with a hose before recycling them back into the run. It's an excellent surface in other ways for the girls, but not for everyone and many people prefer something like wood chips which can be picked up and removed as required and topped up when necessary. Until you keep hens you've got no idea how much mess they make, and that's partly why they need the minimum run space, the other reason being that they will fight or feather-peck each other if kept in too small a space.
I wonder if you've found the link to the main Poultrykeeper site yet? This has masses of useful info for people starting up with chickens, and you can find it if you go to the Board Index page, go down almost to the bottom and click on Poultrykeeper links and then go to the Poultrykeeper page.

 

[chrismahon]

Hello MyPlantsDie and welcome to the forum. Hope your chickens will be alright as they need food and water as well! So have you decided on the 4 maximum chickens you are going to have? Do you want rescue or pretty, loads of eggs or a bit of both? Choice of coops is as Marigold explained. Problem with second hand is always the risk of importing pests, far less so with a plastic one. It will help you if you locate a poultry keeper near you and have a look at their setup you will get a better idea -a picure is worth a thousand words.

 

[MyPlantsDie]

Thanks for the info and links currently sat with a cuppa reading through .I think a plastic coop is the way to go, i can now have extra length for the run this gives me 36feet L X 8feet W so probaly have the coop within this instead of garage (not used by cars ) .Im looking for a breed that will be good with children 8-10 yrs old and of course some lovely eggs .

 

[chrismahon]

For big fluffy friendly docile birdies try Blue or Buff Orpingtons. Our blues lay better than buffs but you need to check with the supplier of anything you buy for egg size and quantity as some show strains are very poor layers. They are difficult to pick up as they have small wings forward of the centre of gravity. So there can be a lot of wing flapping for the inexperienced.

 

[Marigold]

For your first chickens, i'd strongly recommend egglaying hybrids. They come in a whole variety of breeds, so you can tell them apart by their various colours, and each breed will also lay eggs of a different colour so you will know who laid what and when. They are bred not to go broody, so you don't have to deal with this, a regular problem in purebreds, and they have also been bred for good egg production, which sadly has been lost from many strains of purebreds primarily bred for show. They are usually easy to tame, being bred originally for quite crowded commercial conditions which would stress a more highly-strung bird. Find a good supplier (ask about this for your area, where do you live?) and learn what to look for when you go to visit the farm. Try to get them at 16-20 weeks old, so they will have time to settle in and grow on a bit before starting to lay at around 22-26 weeks old. If you get them a bit older than that, not only do you miss the thrill of those first ever eggs, but you never know exactly how old they are or how many eggs have been 'lost' to you before the girts arrived. Also, moving home is traumatic for chickens and if they've already started to lay, the new surroundings may set them back and they may go off lay for a week or so anyway.
Here are a few hybrids, from an excellent supplier/breeder that I use and recommend, to show you the sort of birds and the kind of place you might be looking for. See http://www.chalkhillpoultry.co.uk/
There are many more types of hybrid pictured online if you Google 'hybrid chickens.'

I think you are wise to go for a plastic coop, and there are lots of threads on here about the advantages and disadvantages of different kinds of coop if you use the search box, or again ask more questions. We're always arguing about coop design on here!

 

[Chuck]

What ever type of chickens you decide on, get them from one place and make sure they have lived together so there will be no fighting when they get home so one less problem to worry about. Also less risk of cross infection. Coops are a minefield and most exagerate the number of birds they wil house, remembering they spend a long time in them in the long winter nights. Beware, there are plenty of chickens around that are not good layers so if you want a good supply of eggs, choose carefully. Hybrids are the safest bet for egg laying and most have good temperaments too.