The chickens will probably be happier if you add sand or fine gravel.
And a slightly deeper pot for a sand bath.
Remember the net over the chicken coop.
The goshawk is cruel.
The simplest solution would be to lay out a couple of OSB boards.
A smooth floor makes it easy to clean, unlike rough concrete, where chicken manure sticks.
Then sprinkle stable bedding/wood shavings and it will be good.
How many chickens are you aiming for?
And which breed?
It would be simple to lay out a couple of OSB boards. A smooth floor makes it easy to clean, unlike rough concrete where chicken droppings stick. Then you spread some stall bedding/shavings for a good result.
How many chickens are you aiming for? And which breed?
I don't know which breed yet, but I like Brahma. Maybe I'll start with something simpler. A friend was going to lend me an egg incubator and I assume he would give me eggs too. I want to start on a small scale.
The outdoor solution: we had some problems with both foxes and birds of prey (mostly buzzards). The solution was to set up a pretty hefty Troax dog kennel with Gunnebo fencing buried half a meter deep all around, plus Gunnebo fencing over the entire thing. We happened to have such a dog kennel spare, otherwise one might think the price is daunting. Top quality.
It became a regular Fort Knox, but unfortunately, it didn’t prevent a marten from getting in and causing a bloodbath a few years ago. A Brahma hen as big as Satan put a stop to the massacre, but half of her smaller pals unfortunately perished. She was badly injured, bitten in the neck, but survived and fully recovered after a period of convalescence.
What phenomenally magnificent hens these are; you think Gladiator when you imagine the fight that took place in the dark: razor-sharp claws, powerful beak, iron will. This from a breed that is usually so incredibly peaceful.
We believe that marten got in through rather sparse parts of the door, but it has been reinforced in recent years and no more problems except for having to keep mice and rats in check.
Outdoor solution: we had some problems with both foxes and birds of prey (mostly buzzards). The solution was that we set up a rather hefty Troax dog kennel with buried chain-link fencing half a meter down all around, plus chain-link fencing over the entire thing. We happened to have such a dog kennel to spare; otherwise, one might think the price is off-putting. Super quality.
It became a regular Fort Knox, but unfortunately, it didn't stop a marten from getting in and creating a bloodbath a few years ago. A Brahma hen as big as Satan put a stop to the slaughter, but unfortunately, half of her smaller friends perished. She was badly injured, bitten in the neck but survived and fully recovered after a period of convalescence.
What phenomenally impressive hens these are, you think of Gladiator when you imagine the battle that took place in the dark; razor-sharp claws, powerful beak, iron will. This from a hen of a breed that is normally so incredibly peaceful.
We believe that marten got in through rather sparse parts in the door, but that has been reinforced in recent years, and no problems anymore other than keeping mice and rats at bay.
Really fun with a chicken run, warm good luck!
How sad and unfortunate for you that the marten took your hens. Brahma hens are really fine. I haven't gotten as far as the chicken run itself. Need to fix the chicken coop first and then trim down everything that is on the outside. Lots of stinging nettles among other things. Then I have a concrete foundation with 3 walls there where I thought to put the frame so I don't have to dig down so much netting. Can show a picture later when I've gotten started with the day. Will continue cleaning in the chicken coop. It gets so dusty from all the old stuff that I can't stay in it for long. It would've been nice if I could blow it clean with the pressure washer, but since there's no floor drain, I'm a bit unsure if that's a good idea. Sure, it should dry up quickly if I leave it open in there. I'm not in a hurry with this project, but nice to have something to look forward to. Will also start trimming outside the chicken coop today but will let the neighbors sleep a bit longer. It makes quite a noise. I plan to look for materials in buy and sell to keep costs down as much as possible. Collect materials that people are giving away, etc. For nesting boxes, I'm thinking I'll try to build. Or let my son build them; he's studying building and construction, so he should be of some use.
The outdoor solution: we had some trouble with both foxes and birds of prey (mostly buzzards). The solution was to set up a pretty hefty Troax dog kennel with buried chain-link fencing half a meter down all around, plus chain-link fencing over the whole thing. We happened to have such a dog kennel to spare, otherwise, the price might be discouraging. Super quality.
It turned into a real Fort Knox, but unfortunately, it didn't stop a marten from getting in and causing a bloodbath a few years ago. A Brahma hen as big as hell put an end to the slaughter, but unfortunately, half of her smaller friends didn't make it. She was badly injured, bitten in the neck, but survived and fully recovered after some convalescence.
What phenomenally impressive hens these are. You think Gladiator when you imagine the fight that took place in the dark; sharp claws, powerful beak, iron will. This from a hen of a breed that is normally incredibly peaceful.
We believe that marten got in through some rather spaced-out parts in the door, but it has been reinforced there in recent years, and no more problems, except that mice and rats need to be kept in check.
Having a chicken yard is really fun, best of luck!
Hello again
Troax is super good but too expensive for me as I want to spend as little money as possible while still making it functional. I have a lot of compost grids that I could strengthen with extra netting and bury instead. But as I said earlier, the chicken yard will be a topic for later.
It would be simple to lay out a couple of OSB boards.
A smooth floor makes it easier to clean, unlike rough concrete, where chicken droppings stick.
Then sprinkle some bedding/shavings for a good result.
How many chickens are you aiming for?
And which breed?
OSB will absorb moisture and swell, making it unsuitable for the purpose.
How do chickens fare in a chicken coop without heat? Or should I add extra insulation to the walls?
And
How much lighting is needed in a chicken coop? Is it needed at all, given that chickens managed well before electricity was available?
Currently, I have no electricity connected to this barn building, but it used to have electricity with an entrance and existing installation of cables and lamps. The electricity was drawn from the neighbor's house, which was owned by my house's former owner. But when it was sold, the electricity was, of course, cut off. In the long run, I will look into the possibility of drawing power from my house, but it's not something I want to do this year. I don't believe in any new electricity installation from the electricity cabinet, as they charge quite a bit with high start fees. Of course, I will ask a professional/certified person to help me if needed, but I need to replace the electricity in my house first.
Osb will absorb moisture and swell; it's unsuitable for the purpose.
That's what I've already considered, so I've discarded that idea. You can see just by how the walls have been damaged by moisture and are starting to come apart. They've used very thin panels. I'm thinking of either removing those panels (though I'm not sure how it looks behind them) or finding cheap and leftover boards to put up. Alternatively, maybe using metal sheets, but even those could be expensive if I can't find them really cheap somewhere. The ceiling is okay with visible strong wooden beams and boards. I also want the environment to be pleasant for the chickens.
Start by pouring a layer of concrete over the old one, as rats find holes and like to enter through the floor. Lighting is good to have; when it gets dark outside, if you have the lights on in the henhouse, they will go in by themselves. You might also want chicks in the house, and then they need a heat lamp.
I think you should try without a chicken run if you live in the countryside. We have about 40 free-range hens, and in three years, we've lost one hen.
Insulation is unnecessary; it's just something for the rats to build a nest in.
Start by casting a layer of concrete on top of the old one, rats find holes and like to come in through the floor. Lighting is good to have when it gets dark outside, if you have it on in the chicken coop, they will go in by themselves. You might also want to have chicks in the house and then they need a heat lamp.
I think you should try without a chicken run if you live in the countryside. We have about 40 free-range chickens and in three years we have lost one hen.
I was thinking of recasting the floor and fixing the walls. I could do without the chicken run but I don't know if they would then wander off and, for example, go into neighbors' gardens. Furthermore, I have a dog and I want her to be able to walk past freely (with me, of course) without starting to chase them, so I guess a chicken run is necessary. A simpler kind.
Incidentally, I can recommend if you want some more fun animals to get Indian Runner Ducks.
They eat snails, can't fly so a fence of about 50cm to the neighbors is enough to prevent them from going in there.
They lay about 300 eggs a year and only need a tub to bathe in.
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Fällebyggarn said:
KnockOnWood said:
