Chicken coop plans?

When i moved to our present house we had a garage at the bottom of the garden made of concrete sheets like asbestos on a wooden frame I stripped the cladding of the sides and covered with mesh leaving the roof which was originally pitched but is now a flat slopping roof.A single mesh door was knocked up as an entrance and a shed converted for a coop and attached at one end.
Cost just a couple of days labour mainly dumping the old stuff at the tip.
In the past we had low runs and found them a pain to clean and maintain this is ideal as its full height and we dont slip and slide in the mud!
It now houses our rear breed chucks,I would put pics up but my camera phone does not talk to linux :(

 

That is really good Ros and exactly what I would like. I have some plans but having priced the parts it would be really expensive to build.
Can anyone tell me what a good alternative for plywood is as it is ridicuously expensive in France ? If I buy wood that can be used outside and is treated, would that mean I could pop birds in straight away and treat it again next year?
Is the nest box completely open inside the house or divided into booths?

 

thanks. the nest box is unsegregated, so they can sit where they want.

 

Hi everyone.
I have decided to buy some chickens. I have never kept any pets before and have no experience with chickens. I am hoping to have a medium/large chicken coop and run bought or built for Christmas if not new year. I have been doing a lot homework on the net about how to care for chickens ect and I certainly think I can manage at least 5 or 6 chickens.but I am thinking of starting with two girls.
Any advice from a chicken owner would be great I have a lot of questions that I'm slowly learning the answers to, but at the moment my most important question is this,

If I buy 4 girl chickens, how much money on a monthly basis is it likely to cost me? For food and bedding, lice powder and maybe pet insurance?? ...I'm trying to draw up a budget for them. I'm guessing I'm going to be looking at about 10 pounds per month, but maybe you get a lot of unexpected payouts to make (like a garden can be sometimes)

Any advice would be great.
Thanks :D

 

Off the top of my head, for our 6 hens it's something like this:

Layers pellets 4 x 20kg @ 6.00 = 24.00
Straw for nest boxes 1 bale @ 2.00 = 2.00
Grit 25 kg sack @ £5 x 0.25 = 1.25
Louse powder @ 10.00 x 0.33 = 3.33
Red mite powder @£10.00 x 0.33 = 3.33

Total = £33.91

Extra for straw to run 12.00

You might pay more because we really shop around, plus they get loads of scraps, home grown stuff and even pests collected in a bait box whilst working on the plot. So, even allowing for a few extras (they will love you if you occasionally buy them some cheap, reduced grapes!) that's less than £10 p.a. per hen. Our hybrids cost 17.50 each (2 for £35, you can get them cheaper but we like the place we get ours from) and will live up to 2 years and lay for 18 months.

Don't start with 2, get them all at once to avoid any fighting when introducing new hens. Starting with the maximum capacity of 6 could give you 36 eggs/week to start with, followed by a lot of 'retired' hens in 18 months time, but starting with 4 or 5, then supplementing with additional hens after the first couple of casualties would help even out egg production.

And you will get great tasting eggs, wonderful pets and fantastic manure for your veg.

 

Thanks scrungee :D:D

That sounds like a well worthy investment. Any advice on what type of chicken to get?? There are so many different breeds out there, I do want to eat the eggs and give them away too, but egg production is not my highest priority. Also, would any of my neighbours cats pose a threat to my chickens or is it just those nasty fox I need to worry about?
I can't wait to watch a load off chickens doing that funny walk around my garden.

 

At first we bought pure bred hens, who seemed to go on forever after their egg laying days were over, so OK if you then want to eat them, but perhaps not such a good idea for a household that doesn't eat meat and wants eggs.

Hybrids don't last nearly as long but keep firing out eggs and enable you to get 'point of lay' replacements out of sychonisation with the originals going off the lay to maintain egg production through the winter. Didn't like the look of the likes of Rhode Island Reds as they look (and are used as) battery hens.

I made our hen run fox/rat/stoat, etc. proof by covering the run with concrete slabs (covered with straw and with a soil filled dust bath), using weldmesh at low level with standard 'chicken' mesh above to head height and putting a mesh roof over, covered with corrugated plastic sheeting, so classed by DEFRA as 'keeping birds indoors' should H1N1 arrive.

These were our latest hens http://gardenerscorner.co.uk/forum/livestock/35452-four-new-hens.html

 

Go for it Hydro...it's the best thing we did and love them to bits
I'd go with Scrungee's advice and get as many as will comfortably fit you'll only want more anyway:D.
All mine (now down to 5) are all hybrids..2 of which are 5yrs old and one of them is still laying the other is semi retired...
After the initial layout run,feeders,drinkers etc...mine pay for themselves and we sell some of the eggs when thier funds get low
Just make sure the run is enclosed,i'd always recommend a roof on the run and pavers round the outside edge just incase Mr Fox tries any tricks...When we are working in the garden they potter around with us and our 2 dogs ...it's lovely seeing them all together...Oh just one more thing...after learning that chickens don't always take no for an answer i'm now in the process of trying to make the garden more chicken proof and re-jigging plants etc...so the garden will still look nice:WINK1:

 

Haha thanks lolimac

Will defo do that with the enclosed roof I would be devastated if any predators got in with them, would not be able to look at myself in the mirror! All last night did not stop talking about chickens was driving my housemate crazy
I'm sure It's only a matter of time before I get a rooster, I mean my chicken sanctuary will never be complete without a rooster plus my alarm clock is fails to go off sometimes so seems like a good idea. But, (if) I get a rooster too do I have to keep him seperate all the time from the girls?? Or is it just certain times....maybe I should buy a chick care book hmmm
Thanks for all your advice guys.

 

Roosters are handsome looking chaps but unless you have very tollerant neighbours i'd think carefully about getting one,but thats just my opinion...I've never had a rooster but a friend of mine has , she lives in the middle of nowhere (lucky 'person') he struts his stuff constantly keeping an eye on his 'wives'...from what she says there is plenty of 'activity' going on when he's around:D which can upset the girls and thier egg laying...My friend breeds chooks so he does his job perfectly...My girls are contented little souls so i won't have no cocky cock upsetting them
But beware of 'morehens disease'....once you get them you'll only want more....:WINK1:

 

I can help you in finding free chicken coop plan for 5 to 6 chickens. There are a few sites from where you can easily download them and these sites would not charge even a single penny. I think A frame chicken coop plan would be best for you in order to shelter 6 chickens.

 

In order to shed 5 to 6 chickens, I think you need a frame chicken coop. I have been in this business since a very long time. I also run a website from where you can get each and every detail of this coop. You can also contact me if you have any query or concern.

 

where are you located at Jennifer ?