New Chicken Run

Thought I'd share with you our new chicken run we put together over a couple of weekends.
In total the material cost us about £100 all in (it's funny how the sundries add up) It would be possible to do cheaper if we didn't want it entirely enclosed, but we don't like clipping their wings, so we had to put netting over the top.
The location did mean we lost one of our bigger raised beds, but we found it didn't get enough light due to the hedge & tree nearby. So a good trade I think.

Just finished, the girls are giving it the once over...


All done, with their converted rabbit hutch.

 

Welcome to Gardeners Corner Dan. I know very little about keeping chickens but enough about foxes to say the netting on top won't keep them out. There's also the possibility they will dig in underneath too.

Sorry to bear bad tidings, I'm just thinking about keeping them safe. A good sturdy run though.

 

Welcome to the forum Dan. I like that I am just about to start my first run as I am going to start keeping chickens for the first time. What wire have you used?

Rusty

 

Looking good Dan i'm with Sheal though re foxes.....maybe worth thinking about laying some pavers round the outside edge as a precaution and something stronger for the roof,they don't call them sly foxes for nothing.....
Will your 'girls' free range at all ? and curious to know why you'd rather not clip their wings have they started laying yet...can't beat fresh eggs

 

Sheal... the netting on the top is a nylon bird netting. It is actually very tough and would be difficult to get through. It is stapled at 2-3inch intervals too. Whilst a fox will dig into a coop if it is desperate we have never experienced this (touch wood) also the raised beds are quite deep with slabs and gravel around the outside.
Compared to the ark they were in before that had gaps around the bottom due to the uneven ground this is like fort knox lol!

Rusty... for the bulk of the wire we used just standard chicken wire. For the top section and the roof we used bird/pond netting. We have an air compressoe and a nail gun and used that (with staples not nails) to fix everything in place. That was a lot faster than doing it by hand so I can highly recommend buying a cheap one on ebay or borrowing one if you know anyone who has one. You may be able to get away with a staple gun, not sure.
I woukd say make sure you build it high enough to stand up in. That makes the whole thing such a pleasure to use and you'll naturally spend more time with your girls.

Ours are so friendly, I make sure I pick them all up daily for a few seconds so they are used to being handled. The only downside is what to do with 21 eggs a week!!

Dan

 

Lolimac... they free range every weekend when we're home all day and can keep an eye out for them. We had one taken last year whilst we were home, the other one had flown up into a tree. Hence our unwillingness to clip their wings. Generally if they can fly away they stand a slightly better chance of not being eaten. Obviously not completely foolproof though.
I am certainly of the impression that I would rather know the chickens have had a great quality of life for a couple of years and then get taken one day by mr fox than live cooped up 24/7 never free ranging.
The main problem we have is that there is a bus stop nr the front of our house... the kids sit there and eat chips which the chickens go mad for! So they toddle off down the drive, down the pavement and sit in the bus stop eating chips or crisp crumbs! I worry that one day they will get on the bus!! A few weeks ago they were loitering outside the chipshop when someone knocked on our door to tell us!!

 

I see your point re wing clipping...i'm fortunate (up to press ...touching wood) that the dogs wander with the chooks during the day so that keeps Mr Fox at bay.... though in the night i have seen our foxy friend walking over the top of our run just concerned as i hate for you to lose any of your girls.... Another query...forgive the questions but the nest box....is that where they they sleep and lay?...just an idea but as the nights get shorter the coop will be light early maybe a more enclosed front on it may be better for them...(with ventilation) even some tarpaulin to cover the front and it would help to keep the weather out....
You'll soon make use of the eggs....you'll eat more ommlettes than you can chuck a stick at if you do get a glut...you can always sell them sounds like you have three characters there....fabulous creatures
Oh by the way...welcome to Gardeners Corner Dan...Enjoy

 

Lolimac... it's difficult to see but they have a two storey rabbit hutch. They never have liked to perch and always prefer to sleep in the nest boxes, all crammed into one. They lay in the other one which is handy.
The front of the hutch has perspex to keep the weather out... it's best to let chickens have as much natural light as possible (as they would in the wild) as egg production goes hand in hand with the amount of hours of light they get per day.

Thanks for the welcome

 

I get you Dan,i did't see the two storey bit my girls don't perch and they all lay in the same nest too it looks hard work this egg laying buisness that's why i'm not concerned about mine been enclosed in the dark whilst daybreak so they get a good nights kip...i spoil mine too much....for instance....i understand normal chooks take themselves off to bed...not mine....they all sit at the back door untill 'mama' chook takes them to bed

 

I was reading on the internet taht a fox can chew through astandard chicken wire. Is this true? I was going to go for something a bit stronger. How big is the run Dan?

Rusty

 

Rusty... I doubt very much whether a fox would bother to cut its face to shreds to get at your chickens. I dread to think under what conditions a fox has ever had to chew its way through chicken wire... The thing with the netting is that it's not tight enough to actually cut through it if you were a fox trying to bite through it, there is too much "give".

Our run is about 8 foot by 10 foot and about 7 feet high. This is more than enough for three chickens, and would be comfortable for 6 I suppose. Although our nest box certainly wouldn't be.

Bare in mind the more chickens you have in an area, the quicker they will eat everything in it! Ours have lots of space, so the creepy crawleys stand a good chance of breeding faster than the chooks can eat them!

 

The area I have is 12 foot square (ish. 2 sides are paved 1.5 deep and 12 foot shed on the other. I have a cconcrete culvert about 9-12 inches below ground on the other, so I going to dig down and put wire onto this. The 4th side is open so I will put paving slabs down, so hopefully Mr fox can't get in.
I am planning on starting with 3 and possibly getting another couple if I get on ok. I found some caging at work lat night that is 1.5 inch square and the wire is thicker than a £2 coin so I will make some enquires about if I can have it as it is in a corner behind a load if other stuff. There usually quite good and just ask for a donation to the company charity.

Rusty

 

We live within about 100m of open farmland and see foxes strolling along our street, hear them 'calling' of a night, but have never had them in our garden.

I constructed our run with weld mesh all around the lower level because I assumed that if a fox wanted to munch through wire mesh it would do it sitting down or standing up, rather than climbing up vertical wire and hanging there trying to bite through it.

PS. That's a second door to the run that we use when dividing both run & coop into 2 when segregating new hens from

Other reasons to use weldmesh at low level are that 'chicken mesh' at low level is vunerable to damage that a fox could exploit and that anything from a mouse to small rat could go straight through unspotted at low level

Sounds like large enough mesh for rats to go straight through it.

 

we should be getting a couple of Silkies this year if all goes to plan not great for the ol' egg layin' i hear but they more than make up for it with their sheer funky gorgeous-ness

 

We had a silkie cross we bred, she was lovely and very cuddly. Although looked a bit bizarre when grown!

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