Hen house corner

Magentasue

... and at the front or side you need to break a couple of slats off to make a small square pop hole that they can go in and out of, this needs to be closed off securely at night. Then do the same at the top, make a small hole and cover with chickenwire for ventilation.

You can do this with a new shed or you can get a new tool shed for about £60 from B&Q. What you need is:

1) Not too small - one metre square is OK for about 8 hens
2) Not too big,they'll get cold in the winter
3) Perches not too high and champfered (square but rounded, if you see what I mean) so they can grip
4) Dark -they like tolay in the dark
5) Ventilation - they can get respiratory problems without it
6) They need more space to peck around than they do in the house

I'm sure I saw something online about cheap coops, will post a link if I can find it. Cheapest is definitely DIY - it doesn't have to be that fancy just a box with the fittings.

HTH

Curry_Queen

When we built out hen-house we recycled an old rotting field shelter left by previous tenants and salvaged enough of it to make quite a large shed, around 6'x4' I think, for 6 hens. We built in six laying boxes along the back wall and placed a perch across the front of them. The only thing we had to buy was some chicken wire to cover the window gap and top half of the door we'd made, and a roll of roof felting.

It might be worth looking in your local free-ads or asking local farmers if they have any old sheds you could buy very cheaply (maybe £10) to adapt

A friend of mine built herself an A-frame ark type of thing, with one side on hinges to lift for access, for next to nothing with salvaged wood too! The hen-house doesn't need to be very big at all as they only sleep and lay in it and spend most of the day outdoors

pepsicola_2

I was telling my son today about all these people keeping hens and he said he joined his local freecycle group and got rid of his old shed very quickly so you might like to try that. Although they may ask that you pick up yourself.

leonie_2

Well I've found something that my girlies like. I cooked some potatoes plus peel, cabbage, carrots and cherry tomatoes and then liquidised it up and added sweetcorn and rolled oats. They carefully picked out the sweetcorn at first, but then decided they liked it all and scoffed the lot!

I had made it for my poorly hen but she wasnt interested :-( She's off to the vets on Tuesday, I think she has sour crop.

I've made loads of the veg broth and i've frozen some for during the week when im not cooking things they will like.

Magentasue

And grapes! Ours will run the length of the garden for a grape! Leonie, this site might be useful:

http://www.organic-vet.reading.ac.uk/Poultryweb/Index.htm

leonie_2

Thanks MagentaSue I've added that site to my favourites.

I have one hen who is just stood around and looks very miserable, she's hardly eating but is laying eggs so I know she's not eggbound bless her.

I shall have her to the vets when they open in the morning.

I gave them some more of the veg broth this morning and they came bounding up the garden when they saw the treats dish!

I wish my lazy one would think about laying, its the fattest and greediest, but there's no eggs in return.....what a freeloader lol!

sarah1

I'm looking for advice please........hubby is transforming our old 8x6 foot shed into a coop, will this be too cold for them in the winter as i is about 6 foot high? is it best that we partition it about 2 foot high and use the top part for storage?.
We are thinking of having two maybe three hens and wanted to know how much outdoor space they will need ?.
We are going to buy hens on Friday they are Brown Warren's and are £5 each. Does anyone have any of these and are they suitable for a beginner?.

Magentasue

sarah1 wrote:

I'm looking for advice please........hubby is transforming our old 8x6 foot shed into a coop, will this be too cold for them in the winter as i is about 6 foot high? is it best that we partition it about 2 foot high and use the top part for storage?.
We are thinking of having two maybe three hens and wanted to know how much outdoor space they will need ?.
We are going to buy hens on Friday they are Brown Warren's and are £5 each. Does anyone have any of these and are they suitable for a beginner?.

Should be OK so long as it isn't draughty but that storage space would be useful for some straw, food etc., otherwise it will be wasted space.

Our ex battery hens are warren types - we haven't had any problems with them. You don't want them too young or too old. 5 months ish is ideal, anything younger than four months they'll need a bit of watching and you'll have a long wait for eggs.

As for outside space, as much as you can spare! Sorry that's a bit vague, I'll see if I can look that up for you.

gravitytolls

We had chickend a few years back, they had a house but were free range. The kids and I loved 'em, but the neighbour didn't, claimed they were bringing rats. Reckoned the rat man came out an said it was our fault too.

He not only suggested we get rid of them, he found them a new home too. We were all for keeping tehm anyway, but husband is anything for a quiet life.

REckon I might get some more tho, they're nice, and the eggs are delish - if you can find them lol.

My friend has chickens and turkeys.

Sarahsaver

leonie wrote:

Thanks MagentaSue I've added that site to my favourites.

I have one hen who is just stood around and looks very miserable, she's hardly eating but is laying eggs so I know she's not eggbound bless her.

I shall have her to the vets when they open in the morning.

I gave them some more of the veg broth this morning and they came bounding up the garden when they saw the treats dish!

I wish my lazy one would think about laying, its the fattest and greediest, but there's no eggs in return.....what a freeloader lol!

How's your hen Leonie?