right. i reckon i'll have to build my own dream chickenopolis in order to get what i want for less thasn a million squid

[twoGsinBuggerOff]

have decided that 2x 6x4 pent roofed sheds, opposite each other and joined by 4x 3' run panels from Wells either side to make a 12' run, divide by a moveable run divider with each house and run openable to the free range orchard area... easily adapted with makeshift roosting bars and nesting boxes and rat-guarded by raising slightly and paving underneath c- should just about cover my needs for the next few years. i will paint in a lovely cuprinol shade too.
will re-roof the sheds with corroline or something, and roof the run area with clear corruaged sheeting or summat to give nice sheltered area...

sound like chicken heaven or what??

[OldGregg]

Perfect. Sheds are on sale everywhere at the moment or will you try and get 2nd hand?

I use square wooden planters as nest boxes in my brick-built outdoor loo chicken house with homemade rows of perches over the top. But you can buy nestboxes, perches, pop holes etc here.

[twoGsinBuggerOff]

ah, thanks for that link... was wondering about faffing with pophole making... perches seem easy enough to make i reckon, and will make do with makeshift nest boxes for now i reckon... can upgrade later i think.

i have looked at loads of sheds... i reckon i'll paint whatever i get so does it matter too much about the quality of wood? i want as cheap as i can get, but not crap that'll fall apart in no time, nor have a solid enough floor to support it iff the ground (think now i'll use some of the mahoosive treestump bits from a felled tree i have lying about to raise the houses... but how on earth am i supposed to make sure its level?? and do i put weldmesh directly under the floor of the house and slightly up the sides or what? how small does the mesh size need to be to deter rats?

[twoGsinBuggerOff]

wish i could find second hand but have had no luck locally and also, how on earth im going to dismantal, transport and re-assemble a shed with no instructions and no big van...

[HappypillsGalore]

i am STILL looking at shed sites daily.
and checkin the free ads

have found a site that does a freestanding huge run. think ill get that and add my existing cube and a shed, specially adapted to it.
was going to put it straight on the grass, but then add loads of course bark (an open area, but with a pvc roof to provide shelter from rain) if i do that, ill only need to scoop out and change it once a year, right??

if the groung gets fowl sick (how will i tell??) then i can always pave it later... (will cost a fair bit of money to concrete a large area like im planning, or time/effort to dig out, level, sand base and pave. so id rather leave that for now tbh)

any advice always gratefully received, as always

[thesockmonsterofdoom]

is it the flytes of fancy one, look lovely, alibubbles has one with a cube. I have mine on grass with aubiose on top and seems fine, i do change it every 6 weeks (well I have changed it once because I have had them 6 weeks), I have decided i am not going to totally change it again for a long while as I don't think i9t actually needed it and my compost bin is full now.
I am trying to work out how to get more chooks into my not very big garden at the moment.

[HappypillsGalore]

ah sockmonster its addictive isnt it?

i dont think it was flytes of fancyt.. will try to find link

[HappypillsGalore]

heres one and heres another both of them come in really large sizes, so i could just bung them in the middle of the orchard, with pvc roof on, and stick the cube inside it, and add a small shed too... all safe within the confines of the huge run.
which would mean anyone bird-sitting would have a really easy job, wouldnt they. rounding them up of an evening is a piece of piss for me coz im used to them, but it used to take me ages, and is specific-time sensitive.

mind you, i was looking at 8'x10' sheds today... spose i could butt one up to either of those runs?

[HappypillsGalore]

if i had a small garden, id just cage the whole damn thing over and have them loose in that.
not that im obsessed or anything

[thesockmonsterofdoom]

they asre both lovely, i like the second one better (I would it is mnore money)
I am thinking of getting an eglu but with that and the cube+run+extension tht woul atually be half of my lawn filled up. dh will take some working on for that.

[Flamesparrow]

Either come on google and talk to me, phone me, or summat.

Oh, and either apologise for not returning calls, or beat the staff for not passing on messages

[HappypillsGalore]

i mean, um, sorry dude !

on my way