nearly there.. but a bit more chicken advice needed please!

[herladyship]

well, run is under construction and dh and ds promise it won't be long now before it is finished..

i have been browsing online to purchase feed and drink containers, there seems to be so many to choose from!

any recommendations of which type to get (or which to avoid!)

thank you

If you're getting less than 6 chickens then the plastic feed hoppers/drinkers should be just fine. Although I hang our feed hopper up so it doesn't get knocked over. If you're getting a mahoosive flock then I'd consider investing in the heavier-duty galvanised versions.

I like to have water available in the hen house and outside - but the outside one is a small trough (plastic window box will do). If your run is less than 6ft long then I might not bother though.

And a plastic dustbin with a firm fitting lid to keep the food in will help keep rodents away.

And I don't use grit dispensers either - I just add a handful of crushed oyster shell to their food hopper everyday and scatter some round the pen. But our hens are in a big pen so they get to scratch up lots of bits of stone anyway.

Do you know where your buying chickens from?

I just chuck mixed corn onto the lawn for the chooks (which the pigeons, robins, sparrows, ducks, rooks, dunnocks and jackdaws all appreciated too) and the water is in an old shallow tupperware dish that is easy to wash.

thank you for your replies

i was wondering about getting chickens from here (i live in lincolnshire)

i think we are getting 4 hens, our run is a converted 8x6 greenhouse and the coop is an old 6x4 playhouse.

Just be careful if you are getting a plastic bin as rodents can chew through plastic, you might be better getting a galvanised metal one.

and you needn to make sure the lid is on the bin (my dd is always leaving it off)