Author Topic: Sheds (Read 14934 times)

ellied · « **Reply #30 on:** July 06, 2011, 05:19:02 pm »

OK I'm having a bit of a panic now

The boxes are opened and all the pieces in the garage, smelling very odd new treated wood smell.. I have spent a couple of hours disentangling what I thought was a securely rolled roll of elec poultry netting and rearranging it around the end of the house where I thought the hen house would go..

1. Cats aren't keen on change and are most put out/fascinated by the new stuff - one tried to hang itself, even after I decided to move it yet again to give them their preferred route to the paddock

2. Cats and POL pullets - my felines are great hunters and will no doubt be fascinated and have a go at hunting chooks - will said chooks be tough enough to fight back when young and already stressed with the new surroundings as the cats are free range and will get in the run at some point even if I get it fully electrified it's only 3'6 high at best..

3. Elec netting doesn't stand stretched, it sags and clearly isn't meant as a permanent standalone run from what I can make out - when I had it for veg it was cornered with metal or wood posts but that would short the current and make it less predator and cat proof..

4. Areas I thought ideal for chook weeding are clearly not ideal for the netting - it's a jungle without a visible edge and I've no idea how to tackle it without free ranging the chooks at some stage or poultry netting the entire 10 acres

5. The mains connected elec fence line that is along the top of most of my 10 acre boundary, doesn't come within 6' of where the netting will reach to around where the house was meant to be

Aargh, I could pop them in the orchard and net around most of the area trees are in and not the veg beds but that's very close to my elderly neighbours and they would prefer them at my end of the property I'm sure - as would I while they settle and in winter when I don't want to trek further than necessary

I am thinking I have invested £150 on a box that appears way too small tho I bought the size that said up to 12 birds (presumably 8 full size or 12 bantams?) and I'd thought of nothing in the way of practicalities til I actually started to pull recalcitrant and bl**dy minded netting about the place

Gah, it'd be easy if I put them in the paddock but I can't spare grazing from the ponies, don't want them so far from the house, and want my garden to be their home

How would you introduce vicious hunting cats to innocent young birdies?

egglady · « **Reply #31 on:** July 06, 2011, 08:53:44 pm »

ellie, we have cats, as do our neighbour and tbh, the cats seem to leave the hens alone. not sure if this is unusual, but certainly none of the cats aorund us go anywhere near the hens.

if oyu are worried, can you build them some sort of run so it is enclosed at the top, like a box but with no bottom on it?

other than that, not sure what to suggest....
sure someone else will have suggestions...

ballingall · « **Reply #32 on:** July 06, 2011, 10:31:29 pm »

We have cats and the hens have no problems with them. In fact the biggest problem is sometimes that some of the hens are downright vicious to the cats AND the jack russell. Not quite sure what to suggest about the run as I have never used electric fencing for chooks. Our have a permanent run built around the shed with fence posts and chicken netting (up to 6 foot high) and they just get let out for a wander 3/4 days a week.

Beth

ellied · « **Reply #33 on:** July 07, 2011, 08:01:31 am »

Well the house is made, but it's in the garage due to the weather yesterday, no way was I standing out in that

So other than sliding in the base which is removable for cleaning, I think it's ready but it's too big for the ordinary back door so I can't get it out til I clear a load of branches I put in at the front where the up and over door is, to dry and make kindling so guess I need to do that and then find someone to help me lift it out and find a suitable place.. and maybe recheck the screws are all tight enough.

At least it being smaller than I thought means it can be lifted by 2 people so at a push I could move it around the garden every time I get a visitor

Womble · « **Reply #34 on:** July 07, 2011, 12:29:46 pm »

Well, if the house is moveable (even periodically), why don't you set it up in the middle of an area you want cleared, and then erect the electric netting around it? You could strim round the route of the netting to stop it from shorting out, or I did hear of folks laying down lengths of damp-course (DPM) plastic underneath electric fencing for this purpose too.

If the electric fence isn't close enough to the netting to connect to, then isn't that just a matter of buying a longer length of lead-out cable so you can join the two?

As for cats, ours somehow seem to know not to stalk hens or chicks, but rather bizarrely will quite happily hunt pheasants. Then again, they have been around poultry since they were kittens, so that might make all the difference!

Sandy · « **Reply #35 on:** July 07, 2011, 05:18:59 pm »

Hope you manage to lift it without it falling apart, mine keeps comming loose but I hardly use it at the moment. they are in the shed. I would try to fence off a courner for them if you can, when they are young they seem to be fixed on escape but after a while they are fine. We only have dogs but there are cats that love sitting watching our chickens and never touch them!!!!!! You better get that camera ready for us all to inspect your work

When I put ours in the garden it was terrential rain and midges...I looked like a drowned rat then got bitten to bits when the rain cleared...the runs still going strong even though a lot of men who stay here laughed at it!!!

northfifeduckling · « **Reply #36 on:** July 07, 2011, 06:02:04 pm »

Ellie, I wish I could come over and have a look, but I've got my mum here. Actually she's been my rock with burying my duck, coping with a flat tyre today, a night and half day without electricity as lightning struck a power line right here!!! and a whammy of a migraine....you're probably all done when I can come next week all well and bursting with energy

!

ellied · « **Reply #37 on:** July 09, 2011, 09:05:42 am »

NFD I'm unlikely to be sorted anytime soon so let me know if you find yourself free and energy filled cos I'm having pre-purchase nerves and practical problems still

I tried to shift the house a wee bit in the garage and one of the roof sections came away so I had to screw it back on and work around it - I have finally broken up all the branches into kindling so the front of the garage is openable to lift it out but it definitely needs two lifting from underneath so I can't do anything til I have a passing pair of hands, whoever that might be! I also reinforced the netting with a few polypoles and 3 cats promptly went in the enclosure so I shouted and the older one jumped out, the 1yo leapt at and luckily scrambled through the mesh, but the youngest 8 months got in a right state and couldn't get out nor would she let me get her for ages as she thought I was chasing her

Lifted her out in the end and have left it up overnight so hopefully they'l satisfy their curiosity and not bother that they have to walk around rather than through that bit for a while

Cat 4 has yet to bother about it at all

Still to see if the local farm still has pullets but at least I'm ready if opportunity arises I suppose.. I'm also worrying tho about the times I'm away working which can be a day, a weekend or a week - my cat feeder isn't that confident with ponies so just counts heads and I worry if something goes wrong there what she'd do, but she does work for a vet so it's potentially unnecessary expense but hopefully nothing bad would happen. I'm just wondering how she'll feel about letting hens into the run and locking them up aswell - will have to check she isn't scared of birds or something.. I can't afford to never leave the place for more than a day..

ambriel · « **Reply #38 on:** July 09, 2011, 10:42:45 am »

Another vote here for cats not being a problem with hens.

We have three cats and they've never been a risk to the hens. Fascinated at first but soon loose interest.

Back onto sheds, we recenty needed something to house our two goats. My first thought was a shed but the ones in B&Q were very flimsy. In the end I bought a quantity of sarking and sawn timber and built it from scratch. Probably the dearest component was the felt for the roof, and the total build cost was about half that of a similar-size ready made shed.

yankieGirl · « **Reply #39 on:** July 09, 2011, 12:22:23 pm »

Cats!

We no longer have a cat and as a result we are in the midst of a horrific rat war. (another story for another time)

Our cat was the meanest guy in the valley when he wanted to be. But when it came to the chickens they ruled! Not only would he leave them all alone, they would chase him off of his food! We were always amazed.

Good luck with your project.

northfifeduckling · « **Reply #40 on:** July 09, 2011, 01:22:15 pm »

mine's scared of both ducks and chickens. She knows who not to mess with!

doganjo · « **Reply #41 on:** July 09, 2011, 03:35:14 pm »

My Rio isn't scared - tbh I'm not sure if he is scared of anything - but he just isn't interested in them - not at all.

Re rats - Rio catches and devours all sorts so I am wary of rat poison. I have had a go at the homemade stuff - oats, sugar, baking powder, and a slurp of rosehip syrup, in 2 ltre bottles with tops cut off and wedged beside their hole between a small wall and a very large boulder. I'll check tomorrow to see if any has been eaten. Hopefully my chickens won't find it.

Don't fancy cleaning up exploded hens

SallyintNorth · « **Reply #42 on:** July 09, 2011, 04:24:54 pm »

Quote from: yankieGirl on July 09, 2011, 12:22:23 pm

Cats!

We no longer have a cat and as a result we are in the midst of a horrific rat war. (another story for another time)

Our cat was the meanest guy in the valley when he wanted to be. But when it came to the chickens they ruled! Not only would he leave them all alone, they would chase him off of his food! We were always amazed.

Good luck with your project.

I echo every word of this. All my cats have been respectful if not scared of full-grown (from POL onwards) choox. They've taken a baby chick when there was no broody to care for it, they've taken pheasant, partridge, pigeon, even a rook ... but never a hen. And I have seen the hens take a fresh mouse off the cat my friends used to call Scary Cat.

geebee · « **Reply #43 on:** July 09, 2011, 10:29:18 pm »

where are you ellied? North Fife ? If so check out my website re seeing to animals when you are away.
But on a non-business note, if I'm near enough & can find time would be glad to be an extra pair of hands for lifting etc. I know how frustrating it can be trying to do things on your own!