Hi there, we have a few small animals and have now decided to get 3 or 4 ex battery hens, i havent rushed into it and still have a couple of questions before i buy the coop. The ideal place in my garden is near an oak tree will all the dropping acorns hurt the chickens if they decide to eat them? Also in the run area whats best to put down? I was going to turf it but looking at peoples pictures i see bark chippings etc so whats best for them? Im sure ill think of loads more questions, thank you. Oh and how high should fencing be if they go free in the garden?
starting out
- Thread starter teddycat
- Start date
chrismahon
Well-known member
Hi Teddycat and welcome to the forum. The rule for coops I think is they are only suitable for half the hens the manufacturers claim. Although some manufacturers are honest, many are not and some clearly have no experience of keeping chickens but still build coops.
Acorns are bad food for some animals, but too big for chickens to eat I think. I'd be worried about the bang on the head they may get -visualising the 'Chicken Little sky is falling' story here. The run surface depends on the size. Turf would need 15 square metres per bird otherwise it will get torn up. The minimum run size to aim for is 4 square metres per. We have covered runs at about 2 square metres per (which they are confined to when we are out) within enclosures of 20 square metres per chicken. We had runs in the UK covered with wood chip but it works best if kept dry and poo picked daily otherwise it rots down too quickly and has to be replaced -big job digging it all out.
Our fencing here is 5' 8'' made of loose chicken wire strung onto tensile wires. That's just enough to keep most breeds in but the important thing is keeping foxes out and they can dig, so it needs to go down a foot or out a foot with slabs on it.
Acorns are bad food for some animals, but too big for chickens to eat I think. I'd be worried about the bang on the head they may get -visualising the 'Chicken Little sky is falling' story here. The run surface depends on the size. Turf would need 15 square metres per bird otherwise it will get torn up. The minimum run size to aim for is 4 square metres per. We have covered runs at about 2 square metres per (which they are confined to when we are out) within enclosures of 20 square metres per chicken. We had runs in the UK covered with wood chip but it works best if kept dry and poo picked daily otherwise it rots down too quickly and has to be replaced -big job digging it all out.
Our fencing here is 5' 8'' made of loose chicken wire strung onto tensile wires. That's just enough to keep most breeds in but the important thing is keeping foxes out and they can dig, so it needs to go down a foot or out a foot with slabs on it.
Hi Teedycat and welcome from me, too.
If you intend to get exbatts, which are pretty docile and will have been used to confinement, you should plan for two square metres of run space minimum per bird. Some of the more feisty breeds do need more room than this, and with chickens more space is always better if you have it. Once hens have settled down in this new garden territory they tend not to fly out, and since yours probably won't have either enough feathers or enough strength in their wings to fly at first, I don't think very high fences are an issue from the point of view of them escaping. However, as Chris says protection from foxes is paramount as foxes are now common everywhere. If you can make them a nice run with weldmesh sides, and either the floor lined with weldmesh or the weldmesh dug in down the sides under the ground, they should be OK if you can also roof the run. Weldmesh roof will make the structure stronger and more foxproofing but a waterproof roof will prevent the run getting muddy and nasty, whatever you use on the floor. The oak will give shelter and shade but a lot of rain will drip off it, also leaves etc, and there is the possibility that wild birds will shed redmite down from their feathers if the run isn't roofed. I use clear corrugated plastic which is easy to cut and fix and lasts well if properly installed. There are lots of threads on here with pics of people's runs and coops. I'm a big fan of plastic coops as they are much easier to keep clean and seem to resist redmite better than wooden ones. Do avoid a coop with a small attached run if you can. Thousands of these are sold, usually they are made from cheap imported wood which isn't waterproof in winter, and the run sizes are far too small for the number of hens the coop will hold.
If you intend to get exbatts, which are pretty docile and will have been used to confinement, you should plan for two square metres of run space minimum per bird. Some of the more feisty breeds do need more room than this, and with chickens more space is always better if you have it. Once hens have settled down in this new garden territory they tend not to fly out, and since yours probably won't have either enough feathers or enough strength in their wings to fly at first, I don't think very high fences are an issue from the point of view of them escaping. However, as Chris says protection from foxes is paramount as foxes are now common everywhere. If you can make them a nice run with weldmesh sides, and either the floor lined with weldmesh or the weldmesh dug in down the sides under the ground, they should be OK if you can also roof the run. Weldmesh roof will make the structure stronger and more foxproofing but a waterproof roof will prevent the run getting muddy and nasty, whatever you use on the floor. The oak will give shelter and shade but a lot of rain will drip off it, also leaves etc, and there is the possibility that wild birds will shed redmite down from their feathers if the run isn't roofed. I use clear corrugated plastic which is easy to cut and fix and lasts well if properly installed. There are lots of threads on here with pics of people's runs and coops. I'm a big fan of plastic coops as they are much easier to keep clean and seem to resist redmite better than wooden ones. Do avoid a coop with a small attached run if you can. Thousands of these are sold, usually they are made from cheap imported wood which isn't waterproof in winter, and the run sizes are far too small for the number of hens the coop will hold.
chrismahon
Well-known member
I agree with Marigold about plastic coops. For a new starter that's definitely the way to go. Last thing you want is to be messing with creosote and other chemicals to treat wood and you need a spare coop anyway to put them all in while it is drying. We've been hit with red mite already because it's been hot here. Unfortunately our spare coop is one of these cheap Chinese things (freebie) which fell apart after 12 months and needed seriously repairing over the last few weeks. It has an attached run and claims to be suitable for 4 -6 hens, but the most we've dared to put in it is two hens or one cockerel for a few weeks. Whilst the coop would squeeze 4 medium sized in, the run is far too small for even one. But this coop hasn't got any ventilation system either and the nest box lid leaks at the hinges, so we have got to leave the run door open and throw a tarp over the lot -a bad joke of a coop indeed!
