making a run for the chickens

[the waltons]

Morning........... can i have your thoughts please..........

chickens in a small new coop at the moment, and was going to fence off somes garden later, when they are older etc. But in 2 minds now, as grass & mud at the moment around the caravan but of course this will just be mud after a short time.... OR do we build a run on slabs & fence some of that off, with the chicken coop inside... wonder what chickens would prefer, we dont have a very big garden,,,, if you keep them on slabs or maybe tarmac, is that ok, i know you would have to have soli/sand & nice things for them to occupy them .......... hmmmmmmmm dont know what to do know...

thanks everyone.... ive been looking at everyones fab coops & runs, but cant afford to build something too exspensive & just bought our posh chilckens & coop

thanks for reading love joanne xxx

[4c lady]

From my own experience ive got very boggy round as my soil is clay so holds the water. My lot ate the grass within months. I had a small covered run where the water kept coming up from the ground when it rained so I dug down a bit and laid down a waterproof membrane and put easibed woodchippings on. Later I extened the run and this is currently sharp sand but owing to the terrible wet ive got this now covered with blue plastic until I can afford a roof. Its price really and what works for you. Slabs are easy to clean and you can put easibed or straw on the top for the girls to scratch around in. Is your run going to be covered? If you leave part soil the chickens can have a dig around/dust bathe when sun appears and to freshen up the soil you can just dig it over and sprinkle with Stalaton F and this keeps smells and flies away. I sprinkle Stalaton F on my sand once a week and it really works.

[k66yla]

This is my set up, I have the run sitting on slabs, they have soil in over half of the run On Saturday I put a tarpaulin over the top to keep the rain off which has helped as I also have clay soil. The run which is 8'x4'6 cost me £48 to build, the main cost being the wire, aviary mesh around the bottom and chicken wire around the top half and roof.
Excuse the state of the lawn , I had a big bonfire there before I got the girls and I'm waiting to seed it.

[jo68]

hi Joanne we have got part slabs and the rest is now mud when we have the money we will be putting a roof on the run at the mo we have got tarp on the top with lots and lots of holes in hence the mud athough it has dried out in the past couple of days but i think its due to rain this afternoon

so my advice would be to get a good cover on the run if you have them on grass/mud


jo x

[foghornleghorn2]

Defo put a roof on, our chooks can still have a dust bath in the worst of the rain.

I would recommend the house in the run as you will have two lines of defence agaist predators.

[redd_angel55]

Hi, I've decided to slab my entire run. I experiemented over month with my small run. Had just mud, then straw on mud, Easybed on mud ect. In the end, I slabbed the entire run floor and put straw on the slabs. For one, it's soooo easy to clean and secondly I am happy that the hens are now safe from digging foxes.
I filled my daughters old plastic sand pit base with soil from the garden for them to dustbath. If the soil needs changing, I'll just empty it over the flowerbeds and refill.
I got all my slabs from freecycle

[the waltons]

morning , thanks for all your advice.... your a clever lot

well what we have done is, as our chicks are looking so muddy (we have had some rain here) better today.........right we have moved the run onto our drive & husband has made another door which will then open onto a bigger run onto the grass, & a rockery patch ........so the actual run is on the tarmac, think this will be much better.........just got to get some good fencing now & posts. But 7 kiddies all want seeing to an interupting daddy !!, he just cant get on..... haha

jo xxx

[4c lady]

Hello Jo

Tell me about it - anyone that comes into my back garden get clustered round and its as if they are telling them how to do the job. My Sky man was particularly impressed with my batty ladies (I just had the 4 batties then) he had never seen a live chicken before and was on his hands and knees fitting a cable to the outside wall under the patio door sill with the girls clustered round so all I could see was 5 bottoms stuck in the air - oh if only I had a digital camcorder. He went home with a how to look after chickens book and the BHWT website address so they were great advertising.

[LynneP]

I was able to get some split patio slabs for free at our hardware store- they're great to give the birds some flat and dry spots when the run gets wet. We're roofed now but it's nice to have an interesting run and every now and then a worm or centipede will come up from under one and the hens go mad for it. Flat rocks are just as useful. Our big problem is predation, so if you have any of that, think about how to add protection!

[Fay]

This is my set up, I have the run sitting on slabs, they have soil in over half of the run On Saturday I put a tarpaulin over the top to keep the rain off which has helped as I also have clay soil. The run which is 8'x4'6 cost me £48 to build, the main cost being the wire, aviary mesh around the bottom and chicken wire around the top half and roof.

Questions, questions -
Did you build the framework yourself? Is this hard (It looks it!) Do you need to have a roof? Do you do a poopick?

I was wondering about the movable fencing, the stuff you spike into the ground and can move around every week or so. I was hoping I'd be able to leave the poo to wash into the ground

Which is better - movable fencing on grass or static run on slabs? I have small children and don't want them playing on poo - hmmn, there isn't a blergh! smiley

thanks for all the great advice

Fay

[k66yla]

I did make the framework myself it was quite easy, the length of the run was determined by the length of the timber i bought, the only cutting I had to do was for the width as I wanted to attach it to the existing house/run. The height was also determined by the length of the timber I bought. I did have to pre-drill the holes as I did'nt want the timber to split. The wire is attached with staples(staple gun) and zip ties. I'm not sure if you need to have wire on the roof but as I had some left over I used it. The tarpaulin keeps the run dry and in the evening I just rake over and sweep out and then everything goes in the compost bin, it takes about 5 mins. The house and separate run can be moved if need be.