Planning my enclosure/aviery

rick

rick

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Its next on the do list so thinking about the design of a new and bigger enclosure. One sticking point at the moment is the brief from my partner that it has to look good. That's fair enough, I want it to look good too but then practical tends to look good to me!
It will be at the south end of the garden within the boundary fences and walls and the 'open' side will face north. For that reason I wanted to use a transparent roof because they will be in there permanently.
We can then grow flowers etc in the chicken no go zone.
However, there is no two ways about it - the most attractive roof would be slate or clay or possibly timber lapped.
So my question is - do chickens need to sunbathe? They like to sunbathe and I thought I had heard from somewhere that they need sunlight to make vitamin D like us (and unlike dogs.)
It just occurred to me I could slate the side facing the garden and use corrugated perspex on the south facing side where it won't be seen.
My secret agenda is the better I make it look the bigger I will get away with which means more chickens ;)
 
Figuring how to avoid shading the remainder of the garden is another thing again.
 
Could you make some sort of window in the fence so they get some real sunlight?
 
How high will the roof be? Had you considered clear corrugated roof panels? If you didn't have a ridge, but just a slope towards the south side with the higher end at the front, the actual roof material would be pretty well invisible. Clear panels are really good for letting in light but do make the run hot in summer if south facing. An alternative to clear panels would be green corrugated, which look OK in a garden and give shade. Tiles or slate would look lovely and would be cooler when providing good shade in hot weather, but not many chicken runs are made to those specifications!
You will need to fix guttering to take away the rain as otherwise it will blow in under the roof line and soak half the floor area. If the roof slopes towards the south side, however, it may be difficult to get at the gutter to clear it of leaves. A simple slope towards the front edge would be easiest to build and maintain.
Are you going to use the existing fences and walls as sides to the run, or will you build a weldmesh 'box' within them? If you use 1/2" weldmesh you can get it covered in green plastic, which is very strong and totally vermin and predator proof, but again it blends in nicely in a garden. Mine is now several years old and still fine.
I don't think you need to worry too much about getting light - shelter and shade is more important to chickens than too much sunlight, and unless the sides are solid, enough light will come in through screened sides. Chickens basically like a 'woodland edge' environment, where they can feel safe and fairly well hidden, so you could plant shrubs or flowers along the north facing side to help naturalise the appearance of the run. Make sure they have a nice long perch where they can hang out and watch what's going on in the garden, though.
 
Thanks Chickenfan. The neighbors would probably like that (a bit like the glass fronted habitat tanks at the zoo) but, unfortunately, the houses block direct sunlight at that level. It has to be the roof and I'm wondering if an angled plastic mirror might be involved.
Work in progress...
Thanks Marigold (update delay) just about to loose signal but will have a good read of your post later.
 
I'm going to leave a half metre gap around the enclosure as the fences and walls on the 3 sides all need repairs at some time. Just high enough to stand up in (about 2 metres.)
Idea is to slab the floor then build a low wall in brick to contain the mess and also exclude digging mice etc as we are now building up a bit of a mouse population that needs to be discouraged.
Wooden sills on the wall and timber uprights to support the roof. 1/2 inch weld mesh all round.
I hadn't thought about overheating and its reassuring to know that sunlight isn't an important feature. I like the woodland edge point - maybe a shelf for pots.
Its possible to insert glass 'slates' into a slate roof which would provide shafts of dappled sunlight.
(Danger of getting a bit carried away here!)
 
There is an onduline product called onduvilla which has a flatter profile and is more attractive than normal onduline sheets, a couple of links here.
http://www.onduline.co.uk/products/onduvilla
http://www.onduline.co.uk/PDF/Onduvilla%20Leaflet.pdf
http://poultrykeeperforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=8895&p=53215&hilit=onduline#p53215

It is lightweight enough that a pitched roof made from 2x2s will hold it provided you don't go crazy with your width, I used the forerunner to this on my last run and it withstood 85mph winds and heavy snowfall no problem, the new product looks better than what I used as it has an even flatter profile. Alternatively the regular onduline comes in both coloured and transparent panels that you could use to let in light without going all transparent which would make the run too hot in summer, my garage has been roofed this way with alternate green and clear panels (not by me), it does let quite a bit of light in.
 
Cheers dinosaw. Now its looking like this:
1.5m at the front with a gutter and slate. Means bending down through the door but rises at 25 degrees inside to about 2.5m. Then a shorter pitch to the back with plastic south facing which will be very sheltered so not much need for a gutter. I don't think it will get to hot as its in an otherwise heavily shaded corner.
Hoping to get 9 sq metres of floor space.
 
That sounds lovely. If using 1-2" mesh, you might consider covering the floor with this instead of using slabs, which are heavy, cold, and inevitably won't fit right into the corners unless concreted in. Mice can get in through the tiniest gap in your defences! We covered the floor with the same mesh as the sides, took the floor mesh up the sides to about 8" and then wired it double to the side mesh all round. Then covered this with weed proof membrane, to protect the chickens feet from scratching the mesh, topped up with deep litter Aubiose. Very comfortable, and cheaper and easier than slabs. 6 years later, the membrane is still intact though the chickens have a lovely time heaping up the Aubiose and scratching in it.
 
Only fair to warn you that a run that is taller on the inside than the doorway is a recipe for a very sore head as I can testify to with the run I have inherited which is about 5ft 4 at the entry and 6ft internally, normally crack my head on the way out in the morning when I am half asleep or when trying to stop the chickens escaping as I back out. If at all possible I would make your doorway 6ft high, your bonce will thank you for it, if you can't then obviously you can't, you can get some aspirin instead. On a truly serious note, if you are building it within 2m of your boundary make sure you don't go a single centimetre above 2.5m, that way if the neighbours ever do complain you won't have to pull it down for lack of planning.
 
Marigold said:
How tall are you, anyway? 2.5m. = 8ft 4 ins.
Click to expand...
:) not that tall! But its at the door/front which I reckoned to be 1.5m less the door frame in order not to shade out Carol's sunbathing space or I'll be in trouble!
The whole garden is only 4m wide by 8m long so its a bit of a squeeze. Got good neighbours (who like eggs) but yes, more than 2.5m at the apex would be trying my luck.

Woops! Posted twice. Thinking again about the floor.
 
Hoping to have the base down by Sunday (shed to dismantle first.)
They are going to be able to roost anywhere they like in there. Going to put some perches around but use their roost (a walled shelf really) and nest box of their existing coop for familiarity to start with.
Is it best to give them only one alternative for roosting or, as they will be safe anywhere, just let them pick from the alternatives?
 
It's best to give them perches. Chickens have evolved a grip reflex in their feet, so when they sleep on a perch their feet lock into place and they don't fall off. Then they crouch down so their feathers keep their legs warm in cold conditions - a bit like pulling the duvet up nice and snug. Then their overnight droppings fall freely to the ground behind them, instead of sticking to their feathers, which may happen if they'd roosted on a ledge, or indeed in the nest box.
Perches need to be horizontal and all the same distance from the ground, about 15" max. Whilst some hens like to fly up to a high perch, others may not be able to manage this, for various reasons. Larger breeds can strain their legs by jumping down from too great a height. If you put perches at different heights they will usually compete for the highest one. They also need to be higher than the nestboxes, to become more attractive than sleeping in the boxes. Decide where the perches will be, in relation to how easy it will be to get in and collect the droppings without walking in them first. No need to give them too much choice, they like to perch in a line all together, they just need about 10" of perch space each. If you give them lots of alternatives, either they won't use all of them, or your job of daily poo picking wil, be more difficult because the droppings will be spread all over the floor instead of in a nice neat line. Use rails 2"" x 2" and sand off the edges so they are slightly bevelled and not sharp.
Also, if you're going to make changes, do it all in one go. Chickens don't do gradual change, they will get disorientated whatever the degree of change, so if you try to do things gently you will only be prolonging any stress they may feel. I remember the consternation when I moved their coop from one end of the run to the other, a distance of about 3-4 metres. They could see the coop, but simply didn't 'see' it in their brains, and spent a long time clucking around and flying up into the air where it used to be. I had to help them go to bed that night. If I had tried to move it in stages, the result would have been the same, only more drawn- out.
 
Right, I'll try to make all the changes for the better in one go. They currently have the roosting 'shelf' (really the small roosting box with the coop side wall removed) but it has a perch on the front edge. Trouble is the nest box is further to the rear and although I get a nice line of droppings in the morning I have to be quick or it gets trodden in on the way to the box.
Its also all a bit difficult to thoroughly clean so a 'new build' with clean and uncomplicated surfaces is very appealing.
 
Trouble with emptying a shed is its full of all that stuff I didn't have anywhere to put in the first place!
 
Finally got the base finished, in time to buy timber tomorrow before the builders merchants close for the bank hols. The girls got around the fence yesterday (luckily after all the mortar had gone off) and thoroughly inspected the construction - left marks of approval all over the place :(
Can't wait to get the roof on.
 
Coming along... I think I may have over-engineered a little but bought all the timber so it going in.
P.S. Carol says I better build it well because I'm living in there!
 
Better than it falling down because you skimped. Just make sure to add a perch for yourself.
 
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