The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: FloraGunn on April 10, 2012, 08:45:11 pm
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i am getting chickens and i have looked up a lot of websites but i still dont understand how i set up the coop as in woodshavings and straw or things like that
if you could help i would apreciate it
thank you
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Hello. The main thing, I would say, is staw in their nest boxes. Anything else depends on what you have and the type of hen house. I've got one which has a slide out draw to clean it out which I put quite a bit of shavings in. The other has gaps in the wooden floor so I just put a sprinkle of shaving so that its easier to clean out. The most important thing is that they are safely shut in at night and have a nice comfy nest boxes to lay eggs in. Anything else just makes thing easier.
I hope that makes sense and is a little help :)
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Thank you very much, helped a lot :thumbsup:
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Ours nest in a hen house but sleep in a big shed...I decided to empty our hanging baskets as we still have no outside tap so watering is a chore, I then was left with loads of those basket liners so now, they are in the hen house, perfect nest shaped beds for nice clean eggs!!!! All other things I used and they end up all over the garden, at least the basket liners stay in one piece!!!
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Some people use straw though it is not advised ??? , it must be checked on a daily basis and must be turned over completely. If straw is left untouched, the top appearance will look clean and fresh, while underneath it will sweat and create mould. :o It does not take long for this to give off spores that soon affect the birds’ respiratory systems. This can have very serious consequences for their health. Straw can also makes an excellent haven for lice and mite. >:( If you have no option, and must use straw, always use a dry powder underneath and turn the bedding over ever few days, adding powder each time you do so.
My preference is wood chip or Hemp bed which is as is more absorbent and lasts longer, Chopped hemp is a natural, dust-free, quick to compost, sustainable, eco-friendly product. It has odour eating properties, is highly absorbent and has an added boost with Eucalyptus pellets added to the mix, offering a natural way of freshening up your hen house. Eucalyptus is well-known as a mild decongestant, which can also kill air-borne germs in winter. It is anti-bacterial, and research points to its anti-mite properties as well. Hemp Bedding absorbs up to 12 times more liquid than straw and four times more than shavings! :thumbsup:
My local supplier sells me this in a large bagged bale for £8.40 whereas wood chip is £6.50 so there is a difference in cost's,but I know which one I prefer.
Also.How many hens are you having,what size of coop etc etc and I or many others can advise you on what size drinkers and feeders you shall need.Plus types of feed. ;D
Hope this helps :wave:
Mel
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I bought a cheap small garden shed, floor has vinyl covering bigger than the floor of the shed. I can pull it out, hose it down, dry it off and put it back. A shelf along one side for them to roost on at night, and a couple of round poles wedged into the corners for same purpose. A large plastic box filled with wood shavings (mainly because trees blew down in the winds earlier this year) I put diatom earth down every time I clean it out, and spray the perch ends with mitekill.
My son put a pop hole in the door and stapled a piece of carpet to the front raised and lowered with a length of twine attached to it and a screw on the fence so I can do it from outside the run. I have a four foot panel fence round the run which is about 30 feet long and 10 feet wide (11 hens - plenty of room), they get out to roam in the front paddock with the 5 ducks every day once the dogs have had a hunt around.
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Size 250cm x 76cm x 102.5cm i dont really know how many to get any ideas?
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Wood shavings are cheap, easy to clean ,warm and quite absorbent. The downside is they take many months to rot on the compost heap.
Straw is cheap and warm but not very absorbant and can harbour mites so is best avoided.
There are other beddings which sound good for housing hens which have all the benefits of wood shavings and the extra benefit of rotting much quicker on the compost heap but cost slightly more, such as hemp bedding or recycled wood and recycled cardboard types.
Really its down to cash flow and preference.
Please don't use hay as it harbours fungal spores when damp which can be detrimental to poultry health.
Currently I use only wood shavings but am looking at the hemp bedding for the composting benefits ( and lack of space for another heap). The hen coop is a large recycled plastic one easily cleaned, I use diatom powder each week and once monthly a coating of biodry powder. Every few months the whole lot is sprayed with poultry shield The nest boxes are cut down 20L plastic drums also easily washed and dried. The hens roost on
2" thick branches.
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Sorry, repeated most of advise already given as took so long to type.
We started with 4 POL from reputable breeder who was very helpful before and on several occasions since as we are novices having only had them for a year. Our thoughts were start with a few, learn as much as possible but have a setup large enough to expand in a couple of years when these layers slow down. Up to now we had an egg per hen daily since they started laying last may/June time. That's a lot of eggs for a family of 4. So we swap for fruit and veg from other growers.
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Size 250cm x 76cm x 102.5cm i dont really know how many to get any ideas?
Is that the size of the coop? Do you have a run for them too? Or are they going to free range in your garden? I'd keep them in a small run first so they know to go into their coop at night, otherwise they may roost in trees, or corners.
That's quite a big coop - approx 8 feet by 2.5 feet by 6 feet in old money(120 sq ft). You could have about the same number as me - mine is 6 feet by 4 feet by 6 feet. (144 sq ft)
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how many hens do you have sorry? it is the cooo with a run attached
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I have 11 hens - what size is the coop itself? and also the run? If that is the combined size of the coop and run then it'll probably only be big enough for 2 or 3 - Rosemary's on line she'll maybe help.
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I bought a cheap small garden shed, floor has vinyl covering bigger than the floor of the shed. I can pull it out, hose it down, dry it off and put it back. A shelf along one side for them to roost on at night, and a couple of round poles wedged into the corners for same purpose. A large plastic box filled with wood shavings (mainly because trees blew down in the winds earlier this year) I put diatom earth down every time I clean it out, and spray the perch ends with mitekill.
My son put a pop hole in the door and stapled a piece of carpet to the front raised and lowered with a length of twine attached to it and a screw on the fence so I can do it from outside the run. I have a four foot panel fence round the run which is about 30 feet long and 10 feet wide (11 hens - plenty of room), they get out to roam in the front paddock with the 5 ducks every day once the dogs have had a hunt around.
This is what I used too,an old 8 x 6 shed with plastic/ laminate on the floor,two old kitchen cupboards attached to the outside and obviously a hole cut on the inside for them to go in,have used this shed for 3-4 years now with no problems,the hens actually love it ;D :thumbsup:
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Thanks for the ideas but i am not going to do a DIY one i have a coop and run that i am going to buy just need to know how many chickens to buy after that
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Hi Flora, the most important thing I would say is not to worry! You won't go far wrong, just make sure you get nice calm hens, some can be pretty feral and just not want to be in a house no matter what you do - some just like to roost in trees where they are much safer and lay behind bushes, some like to sleep in the house and lay in a plant pot. Just don't overload your house - personally I hate runs attached to houses - SO frustrating for the hens. : themselves to their house quite happily if they don't mind it. Don't force them to do something they don't want to do, keep them happy and they will lay better. And don't fuss - after lots of minor mishaps and the fussing and worrying we did those first couple of years I am now a great big fan on not fussing - our oldest hens are now 7 years old and laying brilliantly. Relax and enjoy, they'll do it all by themselves without your help :D :D :D oh, and remember, stick to hens for the first while - once a cockerel is in the equation you'll only end up with lots more cockerels and very few hens ::)
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I think Flora needs to know how many hens she can have in that size of coop and run. :) I agree it is better for them to have free range but if that is what she has available then I would say no more than 2 or 3 hens for that combined run and coop. The bedding is entirely a preference, as I said I'm using wood shavings at the moment, but the hemp sounds good too. As to feeding you can buy layers pellets in 20kg bags but you will need somewhere to store it that rats and mice can't get into. Some diatom earth and mitekill to keep them safe from beasties, some poultry spice to add to their food every now and then, a drinker and a feeder - then you're on your way to fresh eggs every morning and some very interesting pets. Have fun. ;D :thumbsup:
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A key thing as well as the size is how easy it is to keep clean as hens produce a lot of poo and it gets slippery very quickly if they are in the run all the time, mine free range..my little coop was hard to clean so I bought an 8x6 shed with plastic stuff on the floor, they mess that up very quickly, I have 13 hens and my first lot used to roost in the trees until I moved a bench. If you only have a small run and hut, 3 sound an ideal number!!! I also used fallen brances from my conifer trees in thier run but no conifers now!!
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:wave: Flora,Regards your dimensions,the picture below is probably the coop and run you are going to buy??So with this in mind,I personally would have two maybe three in here if they are larger birds and a couple more if bantams.
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This is the hen house I have just bought. Its 250cm x 120cm x 155cm and is supposed to house 8 large or 12 small birds.
I am collecting 4 large birds tomorrow and will see how I get on with that. They will be confined to the house and run for a few days until they get used to their new home and then the run door will be left open during the day so that they can free range.
I have bought wood shavings for their bed and put the same in the nest boxes. Its all ready and waiting for someone to move in ;D
Sally
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If it is like that one, then I would agree.
I bought one for my daughter to keep 4 new peekins in last year. They are never really contained in there (only the odd day when we may not be back to lock them in) as they free range from first thing until bedtime.
I was also given a pen like this recently and its two occupants - warren type hybrids - as the owner could no longer keep them. It is really quite small even for the two of them. I think she used to keep three in there at one point. She made an extension type run which attached to the run door. They were kept in until lunchtime but then free ranged.
You would need to move the pen daily. They are in my big chicken shed now but I kept them in the pen they arrived in for a short time while they got used to my hens. The run was fouled and the lawn scratched up very quickly.
If they have to stay in there all the time maybe bantams would be good?
9
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That looks like a great house and run, and your idea of keeping them in to start with and then letting them out when you're about is a good one. I use wood shavings in both the house and nest box too.
That's how I started, with four Black Rocks in an edge-of-town garden. I think four chickens should be fine like that.
Warning - its addictive, I've now got about 40 and all the other things listed in my signature :D
Enjoy them and don't forget to take some photos for us ;D
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I have a few hen houses with various breeds of bantam and chicken in them. My precious bantams are kept in coops with runs as we have had bad experiences with mr fox but our rehomed barn hens have a large shed with next boxes and perches and are free range in our field. They are all bedded on straw and we did have a problem with mites at first. Now we use diatom powder liberally an also add some to their chinchilla sand dust bath and haven't seen a mite since. I think straw is ok as long as you clean out regularly and treat for mites. I find it easier to clean out and to compost than shavings. Beware chooks are addictive. I started off with one cockreral who I saved from being a chicken pie and now I am going to have to register with defra as my flock is now huge! Good luck!