New to Hens

[SharonM]

Hi Everyone, I'm new to all this but would be grateful for some advise. I am thinking of getting about 3 Battery hens fron the BHWT and am not sure which type of hen house to get. I quite like the Iglu but hubbie says it is better to get a house (sorry, coup) with the nest boxes separate, so they stick out the side. We have a very large garden and I would like to move the coup around it so the hens have fresh grass and soil. What is the best for the hens as I want to be sure they have the best in their life.
Sorry for all the waffle but I've looked at loads and am very confused.
Thanks for any help.

[wendy]

Hi Sharon,
Welcome to the forum.
How kind of you to want to give a home to the lovely battery hens, you will not regret it.
Somewhere on here are photograpgs of our hen houses. From ornate to functional it is up to you. If you are to move it around I would think that the weight maybe a factor also ease of cleaning. Make sure it is larger than you think you want. Because I think we all have ended up getting bigger houses, when we decided to get more girls.
Wendy

[b_cos_1_can]

the ladies wont mind, anythings better than a cage in their eyes and theyll just be so so grateful!
waterproof, fox proof, draught free and easy to clean out!
if you get 3 they would only need one nest box! theyll all bundle in together!!

[Willow]

Hi and welcome.... I can only say ditto to all of the above.. and have a good look at all the photos,, if you're thinking of moving everything around the garden, what sort of run are you thinking of??

[Richard]

Hello Sharon, welcome,

Agree with all above. I spent a day once building one of those 'outside laying boxes' (you can see it on various photo's of my Chicken House on main website).

They've laid none there. They just strolled around and looked. I even made a sliding bit for the eggs to run down and bump into some carefully placed carpet underlay.

The rats took to that quite well and chewed it off to take away for nesting!!

Good for you to get some birdies.

Hope all goes well. There's a lot of members fairly new to chickens, so they have more recent experience than me !

Good luck, Richard

[Richard]

This video from youtube (one of my favourites) shows the Igloo type. They look good don't they. Bit pricey, but if you can afford one they're ideal

Make sure your sound is on. Click arrow twice to watch. Enjoy!



Absolute magic ?

(if you use Firefox, you may need a plugin, OK in internet explorer)

[SharonM]

Hi All,
Many thanks for your replies I didnt expect to get one so quick!!
I have been looking on ebay and found a few different designs.
From your responses it looks as though I had better get a bigger one than the Iglu and maybe go for a wooden one. I am going to get a big run and will put wire mesh under the edges in case Mr Fox comes.
When I get them should I keep them in the coup for a while before letting them out, and what about the cold weather will they be ok to go out because they will have been kept in the warm?
So many questions...........

[Richard]

Sounds good, probably save you a few bob as well.

Look at some of the photo's on the Forum Members Page

CLICK HERE

There's some real crackers (and Russell's thread 'Want chickens etc)

[chucky egg]

Hello Sharon!!
You won't regret getting the ex-battery hens - they are amazing!!
You said you might go down the fixed pen route so if you do;

We made a fixed run and coop out of a childs summer house with a shelf edged) and a ladder. The pen was out of melded mesh and some large tree trunks we had lying around.
Another was a box (3x3x3) with a sloping roof and felted all round on legs.
when I say we I mean my OH did the clever stuff I just hammered in the staples!
If you are like me then i can highly recommend the link I've (hopefully ) enclosed.
http://pic4.piczo.com/poultryhousing
the guy is smashing, his coops are reasonable and we have three ex-batts who love it. As Richard said they ignore the egg nest and lay were THEY want to lay!

Richard that you tube thingy was very sweet.. Cold and all I sat here with a soppy grin!
Wendy

[melons]

Oh Richard that was so sweet, why oh why did I not film my ladies.

Hi Sharon, try not to let the girls get wet & windy, they have been used to a very hot barn, so it will take a bit to get them used to chilly weather, I brought a movable arc in the first place, but it was hard to move on my own, they destroyed the grass in minutes & it was hard to keep them dry while they were outside, they tend not to go in if the weather is bad, bit dim so I ended up buying a gazebo for the summer months as it was so foul, also their food would get wet outside, so solution, I brought "another" run, this time with their little run & house inside the big one, I have made the little run totally water proof, so they can stay in if it's wet, mine hate it, & come out if it's nice, job done. Just get the biggest you can afford, you'll want more girls, they are very addictive, but you'll save money on the telly licence, as that will go in the bin, you'll be out watching your girls for ever more

[AnnaB]

Hi SharonM

If you look at my coop in the photo's - it cost no more than £50 to make. I have 6 girls in there at present and there is easily enough room for another 2.
I had a look at the bought ones initially and the cost was prohibitive.
The run we eventually made was expensive but the only predator that could get into it would be human.

[Mo]

Yes, the usual advice is to keep the in their house the first day. I have an arc with a small fixed run (inside a bigger, moveable netting run) so I put mine in the arc for a little while then opened the pophole so they could get to the small run, where the food and water were.