Chicken House

[sisgb]

I'm gearing up to rehome some battery hens, having been thinking about it for about 6 months. I thought I could convert an old wooden Wendy house- its quite large, an adult can stand in half of it and the other half has been split into 2 (child height) levels with a ladder. It has plastic windows to let light in on both levels. I would plan to build a large run around three sides of it- it gets sun and shade, and the run would incorporate a bit of shrubbery/small trees).

However, having read as much as I can, I'm really not sure about what else would need to be done to the wendy house to make it suitable. I can install a rod across the upper level for perching, but anything else I should be considering?

All ideas gratefully received.
sisgb

[elizajay]

Sounds good. A perch is a must and the nest boxes could be under the upper level.

[chris]

The nestbox(es) should ideally be located in the darkest spot possible in the coop..

You might want to creocote the joints in the wood, making sure it's properly dry before you move any chickens in - this will help prevent redmite taking up residence in your coop.

[sisgb]

Thanks for the replies
Oops! I hadn't thought of nest boxes- I had assumed they would roost on the upper level. I can make some though- plenty of wood.Should I make one each? I'm beginning to think the wendy house will be too big- I only want 4 to begin with. Will the birds use the ladder to reach the upper level, or will they fly/jump/scramble?

The run I aim to construct around the house will have leaves falling within it- will the birds mind that, or will

I need to keep it raked free?

[chris]

The nestboxes are for themt o lay eggs in - they'll roost (eventually) on the perches.. Battery chickens don't have perches, so may need to be shown that they can get up to them (lift them up there at night time when they're in the coop).

1 nestbox per 3 birds is the general rule, with 4, just make it a little larger.. or if you think you may have mroe in the future (they're addictive) build two, then you'll have enough room for 6 birds minimum.. Sometimes mine lay elsewhere (in the coop, or run) if a broody one blocks the doorway.

I've 3, and they all cram in a 2'x1'x1' tapering to 8 inches high nestbox at the same time. Here's a small picture, as a picture works better than trying to explain it



They all seem to lay fine in there.. the one at the bottom of the pecking order will tend to lay last though.

Mine use a ladder to get to their coop, it's at waist height - but quite often they'll just fly up to the doorway, espeically if I've removed the ladder to clean or what not.

They'll love the fallen leaves to scratch about in - that's what chickens do.

You may need to fox proof the run - either with electric wire/tape, or lay slabs around the run so a fox can't dig in... if they'll be in the run permenantly, then you may want to think about dividing the run in half, lengthways so you can rotate the land that they're on to give it a rest to prevent the build up of disease/parasites.

[sisgb]

Lovely, thanks very much Chris. As you can see, my six months deliberations haven't prepared me as adequately as I'd thought......

[Hans Mum]

i use an old wendy house and my girls are fine, we put perches in and I use hooded cat litter trays for nest boxes like this they are easy to clean and nowhere for redmite to hide

[sisgb]

i use an old wendy house and my girls are fine, we put perches in and I use hooded cat litter trays for nest boxes like this they are easy to clean and nowhere for redmite to hide

Ooh, good idea, thank you. What do you put inside them for nesting material?

[Hans Mum]

I just line them with newspaper topped with hemcore

[sisgb]

i use an old wendy house and my girls are fine, we put perches in and I use hooded cat litter trays for nest boxes like this they are easy to clean and nowhere for redmite to hide

How many girls do you have in the wendy house?

[RichmondHens]

Make sure you have enough outside space. Hens won't spend much time inside, apart from roosting and laying eggs, so although your house will be large enough, you need to echo that with a decent sized run. You may well fit 20 hens inside a wendy house, but can you provide a run big enough for the same number? The mistake people make again and again is to provide a whopping house but only a tiny run, when really it should be the reverse.

[sisgb]

Thanks RH. How big a run do you think for 4 ex batts?

[RichmondHens]

Minimum 20 - 25 sq metres. The easiest way is to buy a length of electric poultry netting (you can buy it in 25 or 50 m lengths) and set it up in a square or rectangle. Plop the house in the middle. The advantage of poultry netting is it that can be moved to fresh ground very easily. Even ex batts will trash a piece of land once their scratching instincts kick in. And of course once electrified will keep the foxes out.

[sisgb]

Thanks again. Can't move the house though as it's too large & on slab base- electric netting is probably a no-no too as have dog and cats.

[Hans Mum]

electric netting is probably a no-no too as have dog and cats.

they'll only touch it once

& Ive got 7 girls now but as RH says its the outside space that matters especially if youre not letting them free range all day