The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: amcgwn on April 12, 2012, 02:49:36 pm
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Hi all,
I have an old garden shed here and I'd love to convert it into a henhouse to start keeping some laying hens. I'd like to start out with 4-6 hens but gradually build up to double digits, so I want to make as much use of the space in the shed as I can.
Ideally, I'm planning to have doors on 3 sides, and a moveable run to allow them more space and to change their environment (slightly!) every so often. How much room should I have for each chicken, and what kind of plants/herbs/things should I grow around the shed to liven up their environment and keep them busy and healthy? I'm a complete novice to this, so any plans for converting a shed would be excellent!
Thanks, A
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2 square feet per hen minimum and perches no higher than 18". 9" to 1' of perch length per hen. Nest boxes 1 per 4 hens with curtains on the front to keep eggs out of sight. Plenty of cross ventillation preferably with sliding covers for if it is very windy. Secure doors with locks as theft can be a problem in most areas, more so than foxes. Best have the shed set 6" off the ground to discourage rats, with a clear view under it. Best not to put food or water in the coop. If they will be kept in during the day you need 10 square feet per hen.
I have converted a 10' x 7' shed into two roosting coops and a small shed. Problem is the shed area gets filled with feather dust!
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My hens jump so their perches are about 4 feet off the ground, plus a shelf about 2 feet up. I use a garden shed because it saves me stooping to clean it. I have vinyl on the floor bigger than eh shed which is taken out weekly, hosed down, dried off, diatom thrown around the shed, sprayed with mitekill, then the vinyl put back. A plastic box filled with wood shavings serves as a nesting box. I have 11 hens, the shed is a 6 x 4 x 6 ft high. The run is 36 ft x 12 ft, and they free range for a few hours each day in a half acre grass paddock with shrubs along two sides and a burn along another.
HTH
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We have a 6 x 4 recycled shed and it is fine. I would make the perches removeable so that you can treat for red mite under the ends where they always hide. A couple of removeable boxes are fine as nest boxes and you can clean/treat them outside the house. We cut an extra pop hole in the side for the moveable run.
Raise up - re the rats. Herbs - hens will trash most thing in their confined run but mine do not seem to eat mint or lemon balm. Although these herbs are usually classed as invasive, they can cope with an onslaught from the hens. Sage and bay are also left alone and grow into shrubs. You will need a good sized clump to start with not a little piece from a nursery. good luck :thumbsup:
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To follow on from Doganjo's comment about perch height. Suppose it depends on the breed, but over 18" and bumble foot is an issue as they damage their feet by compression landing on a hard coop floor. With a deep litter system it wouldn't be so much of a problem. We've had injured hips and knees as well with perches too high and I have recently reduced them all to 18". Unfortunately the coop design doesn't allow them to go any lower. Next units I build will be set at 12". Important the perches are higher than the nest box entrance.
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we have an ancient 6 x 4 ft garden shed, with some old kitchen units in for next boxes, and fixed perches at various heights. the jump from floor to worktop to perch, then back to the floor which has a deep layer of shavings.
we have 10 hens and a cockerel.
the free range all day.
they are happy and healthy, lay well and come back to bed at dusk (or if they suspect i have anything tasty for them! ) no problem.
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Hi everybody,
Wow, thanks so much for all the great tips! I'll have the measuring tape out today, that's for sure!
I'm not 100% sure how I'm going to raise the shed up without falling through the chipboard floor on it, but I'd hope we wouldn't have much of a rat problem with our two cats running around catching them all. I'm probably so very wrong about that, so I'll take the advice and find a way to replace the floor and raise the shed off the ground!
Thanks again for all the tips, I'll be reporting back on how I get on, but it'll all depend on how much rubbish we have in the shed, and where I can offload it to!
A
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My perches too are fairly high. They are 10 ins or so above a droppings board and that was made high enough to get the wheelbarrow under, easy cleaning. I do put a ramp up to the droppings board but they do flutter (well you cant call it flying) down rather than back down the ramp.
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I'm not 100% sure how I'm going to raise the shed up without falling through the chipboard floor on it, but I'd hope we wouldn't have much of a rat problem with our two cats running around catching them all.
We put mine up on concrete coping stones. Not enough to keep rats out, but then rats can run up anything anyway, but it saved the timber sides and floor from getting wet and rotting. My cat does a pretty good job of keeping the rats at bay especially as I have a burn running through the garden.
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I have a feeling the cats will be delighted that I'll be encouraging some 'prey' to come closer to them anyhow!
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We have a tree