Does anyone know where I might be able to get some hardwood woodchip in the Chester area, to lay on the new floor of my run? I'm thinking of cold-calling local tree surgeons but thought I'd check here first to ask if anyone in this area could recommended someone.

Thanks,

Jonathan

Looks a good peice of kit you,ve knocked up there jonnyb. Thanks, HappyBob. I'd promised my Dad ages ago that I'd make a replacement for the one that fell to bits but had been putting it off until I could get hold of some cheap wood. It was only when my neighbour gave me the pallets and I read on h...

gragarden61 wrote:Excellent piece of kit!!!

Thanks. I'll have to wait a while to put it through its paces at my parents' farm, but it feels strong enough.

bluebell wrote:I think your saw horse is fantastic.

Thanks, bluebell.

Nice one I think I'll make one myself (from your photo of course) at the weekend. Michael, in case you wanted or needed to know, I used M8 coach bolts for the pivots and to attach the cross / bracing struts with a penny washer behind each nut to stop it from digging in. I used screws to fix the two...

Thanks, all.

Totally Scrambled wrote:Sturdy job. Should do nicely
Now you have an heirloom to pass down to your kids
Dom

True, Dom, but I'll have to make sure they don't try to inherit early!

I was given a few pallets by a neighbour, split a couple of them for the timber and with some of this made a saw horse. http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u489/jonnyb4x4/Saw%20Horse/P1010581.jpg It's modelled on one my Dad built more than 20 years ago which has finally fallen to bits!

Sorry, mandaloon, I didn't see your post before I replied to silverback. The coop and run is about 3m long and 1m wide. You're right about the run, it's not exceptionally heavy but a bit awkward to have to drag into position. It's the weight of the coop that's my real problem and even with two strap...

I like the idea, silverback, especially as it wouldn't have to be a permanent fixture, could be a lot quicker to set up and would deal with the drainage challenge. I suspect it might be quite an expensive solution, though, so I'll have to investigate what I might be expected to pay for sufficient sl...

I concur with Dom's advice about the gauge of the mesh; the 1.6mm wire is pretty substantial stuff and I believe would be sufficient to deter a fox. It certainly aggravated my tennis elbow with the amount of effort to cut it to size, even using a decent pair of side-cutters! For meshing my own coop ...

I'm considering a complete change of heart with the idea that I can continue to keep my hens' coop and attached run on my side lawn, rotating its location as necessary. There are a couple of simple reasons for this about-turn in my thinking. Firstly, the run quickly gets in a mess when we have prolo...

Job done! http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u489/jonnyb4x4/P1010574.jpg It's not very pretty but you do have to work fast with this rapid-setting cement! I had to mix it a bit stiffer than it advised otherwise it would have just fallen out. Even so, it 'bellied' a little so I shoved a strong carri...

Thanks, HappyBob. I think that's really good advice and I'll give it a go. I'm inclined to mostly fill up the cavity with broken brick, small stones and some aggregate, packing it fairly tight and leave the last couple of inches to seal the hole and face off with some of the rapid setting cement you...

While investigating a slow emptying drain - into which my w/m empties and the rainwater from my kitchen roof runs - I discovered that the ceramic/pottery drain casing is broken in the sidewall. A large piece of the sidewall is actually missing and wasn't in the bottom of the chamber when I emptied i...

Steve valentine wrote:

silverback wrote:Is that grass in the run??

Not for long

Well, they have only been in it since Tuesday but it's already starting to look a bit ropey!