If u could redesign your chicken area again from scratch wwyd?

[arfur]

Am lucky enough to be building a house and therefore (eventually) a new home for my 7 ex-bats. We have had chooks for just over 2 years and love them dearly so want to take the opportunity to plan out a practical and enjoyable space for them. They currently live in a converted (by dh) Wendy house so they have quite a large indoor area where their food and water is. They have a pretty large (roughly 6x8 metre) outdoor area which has a little bit of shelter from the rain but not 100% waterproof iykwim. It is currently a swamp, there are a few paving slabs and the sheltered bit which gives them a bit of respite from the mud but not much. They also get let out in the rest of the smallish garden regularly and seem happy enough, lay well etc. My main questions are eglu or wooden house for them (dh wants wood as he likes to build stuff and is good at it) and what to do for outdoor space. We will have a lot more room so do I give them a smallish space and move them around periodically or give them a huge space with a slabbed area or rubber/wood chips? Also he who shall not be named will be much more of an issue so advice there would be appreciated. All suggestions welcome TIA

Watching this thread with interest as I'm planning on getting hens in the summer/autumn for the first time.

Thinking of locating them in an orchard (ha! which is also yet to be planted!!!). Within a run but with regular free ranging in the orchard. Does that sound suitable?

Any advice at all regarding hen houses/runs would be welcome. I was hoping for a walk-in run and about 10 hens including some ex-batts .

Castle - mine are in a semi grown small orchard, they love it, though, I am stupid rat lady- I have a small decked area and chickens in my garden rat boxes and poison is my chosen method. though even with the chooks and decking I think the river behind has always held a heathy rat population, so I am not entirely responsible.

I think cherry trees are poisonous to chooks btw- so maybe avoid a cherry orchard.

Thanks for the tip about cherry trees pregnantpause.
I didn't realise chickens (or decking!) attracted rats.
Would it be sensible to locate the compost heap well away from the chickens?
Lovely to hear your chooks enjoy their orchard!

I would keep my Eglu cube as I love the height and ease of cleaning but instead of the 9 foot high fenced area. (20x12m2) I would put the cube in a purpose built aviary on slabs or concrete. My current area can get very muddy despite having the shelter of a huge Scots Pine and apple and cherry trees. The girls love the trees and two of them spend more time in them than on the ground which is what stops me from changing the current set up.

We are making a walk in set up with drainage and inside nest boxes. Also the back wall is solid as it is behind the garage and the sides are perspex then mesh. The roof extends a little to help it stay dry and it is built with rain mostly coming from the back a big plus.

The pop door stays open as the pen is secure.

My hens have happily lived under (and in ) a cherry tree for 6 years with no ill effects, the eldest hens are 6 years old and counting, not a bad age for hybrids. I've seen them eating the occasional leaf but the only problem I've encountered is 'cherry poo' once the fruiting season begins. It makes roosting bar cleaning a blooming nightmare.

I have to plan a new one but I'm pondering what to do.
I'd always thought they should have trees (what with chickens being jungle fowl originally) but last summer they took to roosting in a shrub instead of going to bed in their house then they'd get up and lay very early and disturb the neighbours. Our new house also has neighbours close by so I don't want a repeat of the same problem and am thinking I might need to find them somewhere with no branches they can get into.

Luckily mine are all happily tucked up where they should be by nightfall now but I have had a newbie that tried to roost in the cherry tree for the first few nights I had her. I could waste hours designing new chicken accommodation, it's very therapeutic!

The cherry tree tip came from backyard chickens .com and I have in no way checked it's accuracy.

pregnant pause I read the same thing probably on the same site but as I was rather reluctant to remove the tree decided to observe behaviour instead. I know some toxins can build up over time but I have never lost a hen due to ill health, just a very sneaky fox.