I can see the forum is going to shortly be awash with lots of piccies of lovely ex-batts who are happy in new homes rather than going into pies and cat food - YEY!!!!!!!
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Advice needed- considering getting chooks
Welcome p.penn, by the way.
I can see the forum is going to shortly be awash with lots of piccies of lovely ex-batts who are happy in new homes rather than going into pies and cat food - YEY!!!!!!! http://www.freshstartforhens.co.uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Helping to give ex-battery hens a fresh start! http://thevintagebelles.blogspot.co.uk/
WOW! Thanks everyone for your kind welcome. Hi bionic boy - yes think we will be doing the same sort of thing at the same time. And I too am waiting for my chicken house from ebay - SOOO excited! I too have a small garden and am putting tham next to the shed on slabs. I wait to hear how you get on!
I haven't decided on chickens yet - looked at ex batts website and obviously am against battery hens - havent bought a batt egg for years but was a bit dismayed when i realised I hadn't taken into account eggs in custard, quickhes & mayonaisse. But RSPCA have deatils of batt hen free products . Having said that, there arent any available in my area at the moment and as I can only have 2 chickens I need the best egg output too. But on the other hand i feel guilty...........!!!! 
If I had a bigger garden I would have ex batts without hesitation - i have really enjoyed looking at the before & after pictures and it must be really satisfying. But, if i dont get ex batts, will anyone still speak to me?????? of course don't be silly. They are all chickens and we all have a love of chickens. It is just some of us choose to rescue them. But there are many on here who have 'ordinary' hens.
Wendy http://www.busheyk9.co.uk
If you can't be a good example........ you will just have to be a horrible warning
Had a card from DHL when I got home. Wasn't expecting to get coop/ run as yet but checked old emails and it was despatched yesterday which is fantastic news as it's beimg delivered to a neighbours tomorrow, the BBQ's going on Saturday and the chooks are coming the following Saturday.
Gives us a week to sort out feeders, drinkers, etc HI bionic boy. Glad your house is nearly with you )
 mine also dispatched yesterday but no sign of DHL today - probably will deliver tomorrow when i am out! :cry: I have already got feeder & drinker though! Perhaps some chook food would be useful too........!
Thanks to all for encouragement. I am becoming increasingly aware that my original plans for siting hen house and practicalities of letting them roam in my extremely small (but beautiful!) garden may be under reveiw after a few weeks! Maybe a bigger run would be a good idea..... 
If you want to continue having a small but beautiful garden.......I would say yes! You could let them out for short periods then and they won't have too much time to "re-landscape"  Have had a busy day assembling chicken coop with help from my 3 year old grandson (oh yes, and his mummy!). Then we picked up Mabel & Gertie. HOW EXCITING!!
They are getting more settled by the minute and am just hoping they will climb the ladder to bed tonight! Wish I had asked which breed one of them was! I know one is a speckldey but the other is black with some dark green shiny feathers on the body with some brown round the neck area - any ideas? My chicken book is in black & white! 
Hi p.penn - after my first lot of ex-battery hens I went to a local breeder and came home with Dottie the speckledy and Poppy the black rock - spooky or what (sounds like this is what you have).
The blackrock hens are lovely layers - as far as I am aware to be called a blackrock they have to be accredited as being bred by a particular breeder is Scotland. I have some birds now which are called black shavers (to me they look blackrocks!!!) Good luck with your chooks - you'll love them!! http://www.freshstartforhens.co.uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Helping to give ex-battery hens a fresh start! http://thevintagebelles.blogspot.co.uk/
Hello bionic boy. YES! It is a breeze to assemble (I was under pressure to do it thismorning so we could get chooks this afternoon otherwise probably would have left it for my husband to do!) A screwdriver is enough and I was amazed how easy it was.
Only thing is that the parts leaflet wasnt quite right  - i seemed to have an extra bit and it turned out that the bits they say are the floor of the nest box are actually the perches and the mystery bit is the floor of the nest box!!!!! Never mind, I like the occasional challenge! (or at least BT do as I had to ring my daughter.........)
Other (small) thing was that my nest box didnt have a metal closing cleat so have had to put a brick on it tonight. But small detail. ABSOLUTELY THRILLED with coop overall. Great value and seems really good quality. Gertie went up ladder to bed like a good girl but Mabel fell asleep in the most difficult part if the run to reach!! (is this a sign of my future life with chooks???!!!). I had to crawl around on my hands & knees and hand her to my husband who popped her in thru the door of the perching area! )chu: My girls are laughing at me already!!! Hope all goes well with your coop assembly and look forward to hearing about your chooks when they arrive.
The coop/ run is up and it was really easy to do. p.peen- I saw your comments about how mucky the run's getting and I agree about the size. It seems extremely small to me and we're getting three hens (this weekend).
I think we'll build an extension onto the front so there's more space to scratch around in. It's about a foot shy either way of what I expected- the ground space looks about 5" x 2.5". Is there okay for three to scractch around in all day while we're at work? I think they'll be okay for a bit and probably more secure in a smaller place and will extend in a couple of weeks. Any suggestions as to waht to use to attach the new extension to the xisting run so it's moveable but secure?
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