| ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
![]() |
Siting your Chicken Coop in the GardenPutting your Coop in the right position makes for happy hens and a happy you!Where you site your Chicken Coop in the garden means fairly careful planning and preparing for what may happen in the future. By the latter I mean that many people start off with three chickens and end up with 20!
The main things to consider are SECURITY from Foxes and Dogs, SAFE by not making it easy for them to escape, HEALTHY by being somewhere where they have shade and sheltered from the extremes and of course YOURSELVES in where it is to go and feed them every morning (can be a chore on a cold rainy January morning!) and of course the MAINTENANCE. There is a false perception that Chickens need grass. Well, to be honest, I let my Chickens out quite a lot when I'm working in the garden Office where I can keep an eye on things and they are rarely seen pecking away at Grass. They have far better fun weeding the Greenhouse, Vegetable Patches and scraping under the Hedges. The Chickens evolutionary habitat is Woodland and tall grass. They only decimate a Lawn because a). that's all there is available and b). they want to get to what's underneath. So putting a Chicken Run in the middle of your Garden on some grass basically means the grass will be gone in a matter of days, you move them on, the same things happen and before you know it, the whole Lawn has become spent and a distant memory of the past! So, I would suggest the following which is based on my experiences plus many Members of the Down the Lane Forum..... Chicken Coops against a FenceHaving a Coop alongside a Fence has it's advantages. You can actually make the Fence a part of the Chicken Coop itself, as long as some wire netting is set down into the ground a foot down along the length to distract foxes digging in. Chicken Coops under TreesSome of the best Chicken Runs I've seen are those which have been put in under Trees, the only thing to watch (which happened to me once) is that Foxes can climb a tree and jump in, so you will need to protect them.
Seen from the HouseIt's always a good idea when you have the Coop in view of from a window of yours. If anything is about, they will often give that squalling call and it's re-assuring plus time saving to be able to see them rather than making a panicked dash down the garden!
|
Chickens like what's on and under the grass
A fence acts as a wind break
Shelter is a key issue Chicken Coops look good when blending in with your garden design A very happy home, under trees and lots to scrape A bit heavy, but can be moved about |
||||||||
Chicken Keeping
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
The Down the Lane Web Site contains Cookies Read our Privacy & Cookie Policy here About this Site | Leave Feedback |
Newsletter | Facebook Group | Twitter | Site Map Copyright © Richard Cannon 2001 - 2024             Down the Lane is now based in Bishop's Waltham, Hampshire, UK
|