Keeping hens and ducks chat.

surreyspring

Hi all sorry if this is the wrong place to post, I am happy to start my own thread if so, I just wondered if anyone can please recommend where to get a good quality plastic chicken coop and a large walk in run. I really don’t think I can afford Omlet and there is nothing available on EBay or preloved etc anywhere near me. 

edwink

surreyspring said:

Hi all sorry if this is the wrong place to post, I am happy to start my own thread if so, I just wondered if anyone can please recommend where to get a good quality plastic chicken coop and a large walk in run. I really don’t think I can afford Omlet and there is nothing available on EBay or preloved etc anywhere near me. 

Hi and welcome to our hen thread

To be honest I couldn't say where to get plastic one with a run which I know isn't any help to you.  I've had my set up here for over 10 years so I am rather rusty on what is available to buy now. 

The only thing I would say is that just be careful of the sizing of them whilst looking. Manufacturers/sellers will state for example that a certain one they sell is ample size enough for a certain amount of hens but more often than not it will only be suitable for half the amount if that.  Also, again more often than not the attached runs are extremely small and sometimes quite low for hens.  But, with the run you could always extend it to give them more space.  

I was going to suggest looking on eBay but you've already tried that. Do you belong to any of the Freebie groups like Freecycle or Freegle?  You could ask on one of the sites like that, they may be able to help. 

Sorry, I don't think I've been very helpful. 

Edwink x

Pyxis

Is there a Hen Society of some sort, that might have an online newsletter with classified ads for things like coops?

Cheery_Daff

I think the British Hen Welfare Trust does link to a couple of things - I know Flyte So Fancy sells coops, but none of them ever seemed very cheap I'm afraid...

Anyway, welcome surreyspring! I confess I can't help you much either, oh dear! We built our own hen house from an old rabbit hutch and a door 😂 and we have a walk in run, but again built it ourselves. I wonder whether you could repurpose something like a plastic greenhouse frame for a run? But you'd have to cover it with wire, and it might be easier to start from scratch...

Tis not cheap this hen keeping business, I find. I suppose in the old days when they took their chances with the fox, were fed on kitchen scraps, and got turned into Sunday dinner when they were old, it probably was pretty cheap... do you have hens already or are you looking to start? We've found our wooden coop fine - the door we used was gloss painted so the floor wipes down like plastic wood (still plenty of nooks and crannies of course, but we are very liberal with our use of diatomaceous earth in the bedding and (touch wood) haven't had any mite problems yet...

All fine here, Beaky seems to be pottering on ok thankfully. They've been 'helping' me clear the veg patch...

edwink

surreyspring said:

Hi all sorry if this is the wrong place to post, I am happy to start my own thread if so, I just wondered if anyone can please recommend where to get a good quality plastic chicken coop and a large walk in run. I really don’t think I can afford Omlet and there is nothing available on EBay or preloved etc anywhere near me. 

Cheery_Daff said:

I think the British Hen Welfare Trust does link to a couple of things - I know Flyte So Fancy sells coops, but none of them ever seemed very cheap I'm afraid...
Anyway, welcome surreyspring! I confess I can't help you much either, oh dear! We built our own hen house from an old rabbit hutch and a door 😂 and we have a walk in run, but again built it ourselves. I wonder whether you could repurpose something like a plastic greenhouse frame for a run? But you'd have to cover it with wire, and it might be easier to start from scratch...
Tis not cheap this hen keeping business, I find. I suppose in the old days when they took their chances with the fox, were fed on kitchen scraps, and got turned into Sunday dinner when they were old, it probably was pretty cheap... do you have hens already or are you looking to start? We've found our wooden coop fine - the door we used was gloss painted so the floor wipes down like plastic wood (still plenty of nooks and crannies of course, but we are very liberal with our use of diatomaceous earth in the bedding and (touch wood) haven't had any mite problems yet...

All fine here, Beaky seems to be pottering on ok thankfully. They've been 'helping' me clear the veg patch...

I had a quick look on the BHWT website and Flyte So Fancy and as you quite rightly say Cheery none of them are cheap.

The greenhouse covered in wire would work well and if a small wooden structure (maybe from a freebie group) was attached to it that would work or anything waterproof and sturdy that you could put a perch in for them and add a nesting box.  

I've been scratching my head about this subject since you posted surreyspring but as Cheery says it's not cheap keeping hens especially when it comes to buying housing for them. Much less of an expense if you could make something yourself that's for sure.  Our girl's hotel is a recycled small shed which works very well for us,  We were given it to cut up for firewood but it was way too good to burn and thankfully came in so useful.  Pallets are really good wood to make things out of because some pallet wood is quite sturdy and strong so it would last ages. But, it all depends on how handy you are at making things out of wood and the like.

Hope you manage to find something suitable that's not too expensive for you.  Always worth considering when choosing or making a coop and a run is how easy will it be to clean.  As the cleaning is done regularly you need to find something that is easy to maintain. The reason I say this is because some coops and runs are harder than they look to clean out because some have very small doors or are quite low to the ground.  Some have large metal trays at the base that slide out but ones with this design are not as easy to clean out as they look.  

Please do let us know how you get on.

Edwink x

Cheery_Daff

We've (unintentionally!) made ours quite hard to clean by sticking a roof over that part of the coop, which means I basically have to kneel down in the straw to clean it out. It's on the list of things to sort out at some point! 

Our hens seem to be taking it in turns to be poorly. Rusty's turn yesterday. At tea time on Friday we couldn't find her, which was unusual  - turns out she was sat on the bale of hay in an outbuilding where they've unanimously decided to lay their eggs for the time being. No eggs there, just Rusty, sat and unwilling to move, not even for treats (VERY unusual). Eventually we picked her up and put her in the run with the others.

Yesterday she was still quiet (although didn't go back to the nest). Her backside was all mucky, and we gave her a bath, and kept her with us for the day - she just stood in a corner and didn't do anything or eat anything - until I came back from the shop with some grapes... when she picked up considerably...

This morning she seems fine! Perhaps just very temporary broodiness, or indigestion, or just having a bit of a rough day. Whatever it was, she's acting very much back to normal, jumping on Mr Cheery and trying to steal his breakfast, which she definitely was NOT doing yesterday. 

Pesky creatures! 

Cheery_Daff

Just popping in with some exciting news - we have a date for our new hens to arrive! 24 days and counting 😊😊😊 Unless anything untoward happens to change plans of course 🙄 But for now, I'm going to remain excited 😊

We have been completely ignoring the new roof for the run, which has been sat in the car for weeks, all through this nice idyllic roof-fixing weather... so we're going to sort that out, and make various other adjustments, before our new ladies arrive.

Exciting stuff!

Pyxis

Best get your camera ready as well, as we'll be expecting lots of pics!

Pyxis

COO-EEEEEE! CALLING ALL CHICKENY PEOPLE!

As a non-hen owner, I always find it so interesting hearing about people's experiences in taking hens on, and I've learned a lot about hens in the process.

So, I am wondering how everyone is getting on with their little feathered friends?,

I love hearing about their funny little foibles, and their different personalities, so do please post and say how it's all going! 

Any particular problems during lockdown?
Any problems getting hen supplies?
How have your hens been enjoying the hot weather, and what did they think of today's (or yesterday's) rain? 
Any funny stories?😁
Any sad stories? ☹️

I wanna hear them all!

oh, also DUCKS! I do like ducks! Who's got ducks?

Has anyone got any geese? I like geese! 

Or........turkeys? 😱
Or..........emus? Ostriches? Anyone got an ostrich egg? 😁
No rheas, I hope! I hear they can be absolutely vicious! 😱

edwink

Cheery_Daff said:

Just popping in with some exciting news - we have a date for our new hens to arrive! 24 days and counting 😊😊😊 Unless anything untoward happens to change plans of course 🙄 But for now, I'm going to remain excited 😊

We have been completely ignoring the new roof for the run, which has been sat in the car for weeks, all through this nice idyllic roof-fixing weather... so we're going to sort that out, and make various other adjustments, before our new ladies arrive.

Exciting stuff!

Exciting news indeed, Cheery.  Well done you!  How many have you reserved to take home?.

We'll be counting down the days on here because the more hens the merrier I say.  Perhaps I'll leave the counting down to Pyxis because she is the quirky poster on here so I know we will get some funny pics and puns with her countdown and also because I have a head like a sieve and can't even remember what day it is most of the time lol.

Edwink x