Chickens.

Looks great Rusty and a good price too ...when we built our run it was with all the odd timber we had knocking around but it was the welded mesh that pushed the price up...worth every penny though.....and with the wood and mesh left over we made an 'extention'....think Scrungee mentioned his on another thread....it's handy if you need to segregate your girls if they have a tiff or are poorly.....it's not normally a problem when you first get chooks but when you start to introduce new ones to the flock it comes in handy..... got a bit carried away with my runsee 'cluckingham Palace' thread....but i love my feathered kids you won't regret it

 

Just checked out 'Cluckingham palace' you've done a great job there. How big is it? I have already thought about the segregation and with that coop I think I can split it down the middle and use the door to another removable fenced area within the run, then remove it when I need to. I have also been thinking about how to keep them in when free ranging, as at the bottom of the garden behind the veg beds they could get through to next doors garden and then all the gardens are open to them. So im thinking of making weld mesh panels about 5 foot so I can still speak to the neighbours as this is where we always seem to chat in the garden, then off this fence have a swinging system so that they cannot get on top of the veg beds and into the other part of the garden into the flower beds and pots etc. If I can get this to work they will have around 320 square footextra to roam around and help with the pests in the veg area. I havent even got them yet, but I think there will only be 3 for a short period, after seeing the chickens today I think I could probably took 20 home

Rusty

 

Thanks Rusty...it's about 8 mtrs give or take......overkill i know but we had the stuff and the area was getting wasted as nothing would grow due to the Leylandii growing next door......if you'll be around when your chooks are FR i'd just go for chicken wire to block any gaps in fences and hedges....alot cheaper
Bet after you've got your 3 'girls' you'll have more within the year ....
You'll spend hours just watching their antics...especially in the summer

 

I actually think that I will have most of the materials to do the fence as described from building the run I will just need some posts which are £5 so it will cost about £40. And I may not be there all the time when they are FR so I think I might go for the fence option.
Quick question half of this area is lawned. Will they turn it into a mud bath?

Rusty

 

Well....up to this year i've been lucky....but it's been so waterlogged here that the odd scratching around has turned mine into a rugby pitch ...i've fenced it off for now till we get some dryer weather but they can be quite distructive....it is an on going battle but i'm determined to have a nice garden and chooks.....not easy but not impossible....

 

After our first Colombian Blacktail proved to be an exceptional layer (every single day for 18 months including through the winter, then a slightly reduced rate for nearly another year before she got her well-earned retirement) we initially thought about getting all Colombian Blacktails for the next batch of hens, but only decided to also get some different hybrids for a bit of variety. They are a extremely good layers and very friendly hens.

I can't quite follow your plans for polycarbonate roofing, but we've got ours above head height both to give us access into the run, and also to avoid low level sheeting turning the run into a mini-greenhouse and overheating in the height of summer.

 

The poly carbonate will be a roof about 6 and a half foot high to protect the run from the rain. I like the look of the Colombian black tail, but they never had any there today.

Rusty

 

They're worth waiting for.

 

Hopefully the will have some next time when we go to get our chooks.

Rusty

 

I think I have got all the weld mesh I need for the chicken run from Gumtree for £20

Rusty

 

result! you cant get much better than that

 

Nice one Rusty

 

Just picked up the wire for my chicken run and I think I will have enough to do almost all of it. There are 2 rolls 1 is 1inch x 1/4inch and the other is 1/4inch square. Also got 3.5 square meters of 10mm polycarbonate to weather proof the run for £30. I have all the timber I need So when this arctic weather breaks I will get the area cleared and get started on building.

Rusty

 

Great bargain!

I would use the 1/4 inch square mesh on the lower levels (keep potential rodents out ) and the 1x1/4 higher up - if that is possible?

Can't wait to see your coop and run, Rusty!

 

The area inside the run at the moment is dirt, I was going to leave it like this and put a couple of inches of wood chips ontop. However I have been reading on line that this is a bad idea as the chickens will just dig into the dirt and turn it into a mud bath in bad weather. I was going this way as I thought that they might enjoy routing around in it. What does everyone else do? I am thinking if this is a bad idea of slabing the whole area and putting 5-6 inches of wood chip (this would also make it virtually inpossible for anything to dig into the pen) or putting a weed membrane and doing the same with wood chips. Any thoughts?

Rusty