Hello - I'm a complete beginner and would be grateful for advice on a couple of things. I've wanted chickens all my life and excited that I'm at last in a position to own 3 or 4. The area I'm planning on using is 9' x 35' surrounded on 3 sides by the house wall and garden walls which are approx five and a half feet high. The ground has a paved path with the rest mostly covered with red chips. I am wondering if I should replace the chips with bark or would the hens prefer bare earth? One wall is heavily covered with ivy which I think the hens might be happy to wander and shelter under. On the other side of the wall is hotel grounds with fairly dense shrubbery, felled branches etc - an ideal climbing opportunity for a fox! Would topping the wall with electric wire/rope/tape be successful in keeping Mr Fox out or would the ivy etc cause a problem with the workings of the wire?
Comfort underfoot and Wall topped electric wire
- Thread starter chickidee
- Start date
chrismahon
Well-known member
A good start is to read a beginners book like Katie Thear's Starting with Chickens. Something we left to the last minute and then realised we had chickens and no suitable long term coop.
Presume these are stone red chips. They will rapidly become covered in poo which will turn to a surry in heavy rain and get dug into and mixed with earth. I would remove chips and replace with 3 - 6 inches of wood chippings as bare earth will turn into pooey mud, particularly in Winter, which is bad on their feet. Don't forget the hens will need a shelter from rain as well as sun so the ivy may not be sufficient. They won't go into the coop except to lay.
Electric wire is OK provided the top of the wall is well earthed to complete the circuit, which can be achieved by another bare wire connected to ground on the energiser and tacked to the top of the wall. Undergrowth will reduce the effect but with the power connected at the centre point of the wall it will be best. Growth gets electricuted to some extent but should be cleared regularly anyway as it is a big problem in rain.
Good luck with your hens.
Presume these are stone red chips. They will rapidly become covered in poo which will turn to a surry in heavy rain and get dug into and mixed with earth. I would remove chips and replace with 3 - 6 inches of wood chippings as bare earth will turn into pooey mud, particularly in Winter, which is bad on their feet. Don't forget the hens will need a shelter from rain as well as sun so the ivy may not be sufficient. They won't go into the coop except to lay.
Electric wire is OK provided the top of the wall is well earthed to complete the circuit, which can be achieved by another bare wire connected to ground on the energiser and tacked to the top of the wall. Undergrowth will reduce the effect but with the power connected at the centre point of the wall it will be best. Growth gets electricuted to some extent but should be cleared regularly anyway as it is a big problem in rain.
Good luck with your hens.
Much appreciate your advice Chrismahon - and so prompt too, thank you! I have a few books including the one you suggest but I hadn't been able to find any info on what to cover the ground with (and I know that grass gets quickly decimated). I'll replace the red stone chips with wood chips as suggested. Will I need to replace the woodchips if they become very pooey?
I have a shelter at the opposite end of the 'run' from where the coop will be so think they should be protected well enough from the elements. I intend letting them into the main garden (under supervision!) but they will probably spend most of their time in the 9' x 35' run. How many hens would you advise having in a run this size?
I have a shelter at the opposite end of the 'run' from where the coop will be so think they should be protected well enough from the elements. I intend letting them into the main garden (under supervision!) but they will probably spend most of their time in the 9' x 35' run. How many hens would you advise having in a run this size?
tygrysek75
Member
Hi I read thet Ivy is poisonus for chickens,so you may consider removing this completly.
chrismahon
Well-known member
While I think about it you should have at least two live conductors across the top as well as the earth. Yes the woodchips get pooey quickly unless you remove the big early morning ones as we do. It rots down so we just put some more on top. Eventually we will have to dig it out and replace it all I suppose.
Your run is about 30 square metres. We have 8 hens in 30 but they free range outside half of the day. We used to have 16 but that was too many, even with the free ranging, and we've built another run for half of them. Maybe 6 large is plenty or 10 bantams.
Your run is about 30 square metres. We have 8 hens in 30 but they free range outside half of the day. We used to have 16 but that was too many, even with the free ranging, and we've built another run for half of them. Maybe 6 large is plenty or 10 bantams.
