The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: Dans on February 05, 2016, 11:02:36 pm
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We have converted a shed to a hen house but there is only felt on one side so we need to fix it. We were going to just put new felt in but then I thought I remembered that felt wasn't good for red mite. What are the alternatives? I started thinking about plastic corrugated sheets, would that works?
If you could redo your hen house what would you choose for your roof?
Dans
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We've used Onduline for both of ours and it's worked well. You need to make sure that it's well supported by a wooden frame or heavy rain / snow can cause it to sag.
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If you already have a wood / felt roof, personally I'd just re-felt it and not worry. There will always be nooks & crannies in a wooden shed that mites can hide in, so whilst a felt roof isn't great from that point of view, neither is it always the source of the problem.
Felt is cheap and cheerful, there's a good chance you'll never get red mite anyway, and if you do, THEN you can replace it with something else for only the same effort you're contemplating now[size=78%].[/size]
Just my 2p worth.
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I use Onduline but have also used thin external ply (supported by cross beams) with lino, tarpaulin and conveyor belting on top and slightly overlapping.
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In support of Onduline, it's really easy to put on - well, ours was because there wasn't any cutting involved. We've just done the outside WC roof with it as well as the felt was shot - Dan cut it with a hand saw but it killed the blade.
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ask at some window comp if they have some perspex sheets
ive got 4 shed with them
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Thanks guys. As hubby has already bought the felt we'll go with that for now but will look into the onduline if we get redmite problems.
Dans
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Even with Onduline red mite will cluster under every spot the sheeting touches the roof support timber. Nothing, absolutely nothing, is proof against red mite!
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I use Onduline and it's good but as mentioned you need close centers or it will sag. I like it as it's really easy to put on and gives natural ventilation.