Chickens.

Both those mesh sizes should stop rats and mice getting through, but mice will simply climb up and get through any 25mm 'chicken wire' above it, and rats too if there's any gaps been left big enough for them to get through at high level. At least mice wont be able to slip through low holes unnoticed.

Our hen run is completely slabbed and covered with straw that the hens scratch around in and lasts quite a while with a roof over it.

 

My girls run is paved too, makes it easy to cleanand i have a border where they dig and a covered dust bath for them to roll around in

 

I put a post on Gumtree this morning for slabs as I will need 12 square meters which I work out to 48 slabs which would cost a fortune. And I have had a bloke message me saying his parents have in excess of 150 up for grabs FREE and it is only about 3 miles from my house. Guess what I am doing tomorrow afternoon. I'm going to have to do about 4 runs though, but with the saving I am making its no bother.

How often do you clean your pens out?

Rusty

 

Nice result there Rusty
Jenny

 

That's £8.57/m2 and you'll need to buy expensive trims/connecting bits/etc.

Far cheaper to buy corrugated roofing sheet from Wickes @ £3.79/m2 http://www.wickes.co.uk/invt/240152, and overlap sheets so no additional trims/etc. required. Then you can cover an entire paved run of approx. 6m2 using a bale costing £2.50 (next size up from a standard small bale), have some straw left over for nest boxes and make it last a couple of months.

 

Great result on your slabs Rusty!

I'm sure each of us have a different approach.

Winter Time:
I don't clean the run; I keep adding fresh stuff (aubiouse) to the old stuff so I get a thick layer building up. It is known as the "deep litter" method and keeps the run warmer than constant fresh bedding. In addition, I sprinkle a specific powder in their run weekly to keep the nasties at bay (Stalosan).
Their nest is cleaned weekly.
They free range very little - especially *this* year! - because they don't like being wet.

Come Spring, it will all be raked out and added to a compost pile to "season" it for the garden

Spring/Summer Time:
The are free ranging more in the warmer weather. Aubiose is raked out and refreshed fortnightly, no deep litter built up, but with the powder incorporated weekly.
Nest boxes are twice a week and given a good dose of powder to deter red mite (diatomaceous earth)
This is also a busy time keeping them clean from scaley leg mite (surgical spirit and vaseline)
As Autumn starts to creep in, I will lessen how often I rake out and begin the deep litter method once again.

I have experiemented with using swept up leaves to 'line' their run with, but I wasn't fond of it because I felt it increased the not-so-pleasant smells. This Autumn, they had a bale of straw in their run which they slowly but surely scratched down and covered the floor of the run with it. They are on their 2nd bale now

 

Are you spreading your litter on soil, or on slabs?

 

Predominantly soil.

The perimeter of the run is on slabs though

 

I thought about using the corrugated plastic, but as there are trees at the bottom of the garden I thought the 10 mm polycarbonate a better option because we sometimes get some biggish twigs/branches fall off in the winds. Nothing to big has come off yet and the corrugated stuff may crack.

Rusty

 

.

Hi mum if your girls are predominantly on soil do they get really messy. As this is the way I was thinking of going. Perimeter on slabs and cover soil. The chickens will free range at times in the spring and summer especially and sometimes in autumn/winter when weather good and I don't want them to get bored being in the run, so I thought they would like to dig around.
I didn't get the slabs. They were alsorts of shapes and sizes, covered in cement and the old boy decided he wanted paying. I took my father in law as he had a 4x4 so less trips, he has been in the building trade over 50 years and he said forget it they would be a nightmare to lay and he should know he has laid thousands in his time. So back to searching.

Rusty

 

Oh that is a shame about the slabs, Rusty :(

No, my girls (or their run) do not get really messy. The run has a corrugated plastic roof, which keeps out the worst of the weather, so the run rarely gets overly damp.

By having the central area of the run on soil (plus auboise, plus straw that they scatter from the bale) they get some good scratching potential and, one particular area under their coop, gives them dust bathing opportunities - even though I have a half barrel filled with dirt for them to dust bath in, in the main run).

 

Thanks mum. I think this is the way I am going to go. If it doesn't work I can alway slab it next spring. Also If I do need slabs my brother in law is starting do his house up in about a month and at the end of the summer he will have some slabs when he has his patio done.

Rusty

 

Consider slabbing just a small area such as under the coop together with a small completely secure straw covered run that could be covered roofing enabling their food & water to be left out overnight and the pop hole left open when warm enough (but no nasty draughts) so they can put themselves to bed and get up/out when they please. We've had hens up late until 10:30 pm and up as early as 04:00 am within a secure outside area (obviously both in summer)

 

There is an area 1.5m x 3.6m that is already slabbed so this is where the coop wil go. I was going to build a little area for food and water that would be covered with a pitched roof made from feather edge boards and lined with damp coarse membrane to water proof it and a 3 x 2 slab for the food and water to be put on.

Rusty

 

I want to come and be one of your chooks Rusty. It's all sounding rather grand....

Jenny