feeeling indecisive - help focus me pls!

[NappiesNoMore]

i think i want the brentford 460 w/ larger nesting box, skids, seperate run and eltex feeder and bell drinker.

but im feeling all [gulp] at making expensive decision! help me get a grip pls.

i have a mixture now of hybrid med sized layers, and 2 large ladies who are pretty and i hope will be good mothers next year.

i currently have and eglu cube, which i reckon i can get around 500 quid for on ebay... and a separate temporary little home for the new girls

they free range within a large fenced area

think thats all relevent info...

oh, and i am desperate to hatch some eggs and play with new fluffy chicks! and expand flock with pretty things... so, am i making right choice??

sorry, link to hen house here: www.henhouses.co.uk/brentford.html

this may not be what you want to hear but...

what about...

• a cheap second hand walk-in wooden garden shed inside your fenced area
• make up some perches and nesting boxes using cheapest b&q wood, maybe some branches, and some of those wooden boxes you see for sale for storage
• large platic trough dug in to the ground for a drinker
• and use the feeder you already have?

loads cheaper and more satisfying
use your savings to expand your stock

what wooden boxes you see for storage? i do love the idea of making my own but but but... i just dont really know what im doing

mind you, i did see plans on ebay fro making your own out of old pallets and think i know where i can get some... but am i up to it??

talk me thru your plan

ok bear with me and I'll find a link to wooden boxes...

oh, and where on earth do i look for second hand sheds??? [useless]

actually plastic crates are a much better idea (assuming you line them with straw/hay?) for easy washing out especially if you get a mite infestation (believe me, I know about this at the mo )

second hand sheds - freecycle, local paper, gumtree, etc example for £80

plastic crates? how would that work?? (like thenlogic on mite btw)

have had a quick look on gumtree and ebay for sheds going locally... not a huge supply but will follow leads...

wonder how much a sheet or two of onduline is to re-roof?

when I say plastic crate I mean this sort of thing. Lots of online shops sell them or maybe some of your local shops might let you have some for free. Good quality strong plastic ones are best obviously.

Got any old freestanding open-backed shelves around the place, either metal or wood? Maybe pop the crates on the lowest shelf, off the floor so draught-free?

don't know about onduline but not too expensive, I shouldn't think. DH was muttering something about getting the right type of nails last time we used some onduline so might be worth checking that out in your diy shop.

this is sort of what I had in mind re shelving except I don't know what material this one is. If it's plastic that's not such a bad thing (the mites thing) but on the other hand it may not be strong enough to withstand any chicken-scrapping over the best nesting box . But you see the same sort of thing in wood too.

ok and just for a little amusement how about a second hand wooden wendy house instead of a shed! how cool would that be!

ok, am back on mother duty again now but that was fun - will pop back later to see if anyone sane with better ideas has come along!

oh right, so just stand them inside the shed at one end/to one side and collect the eggs from inside you mean? was picturing complicated diy to make and attach to outside of shed with gap cut to right size and hinges on top etc - shelf with crates sounds much more do-able!

omg tat house would be seriously cool, if i could get it for a song... no idea where weston super mare is but somerset isnt far... not that id have the first clue how to dismantle the thing to bring it home [ponders the availability of Useful People in my life]

WSM is south-west of bristol, I think? lots of other cheap wendy houses on there too so keep an eye out

yes, that's what I meant about the nesting boxes. As long as you can walk in to your henhouse there's no reason why why shouldn't get the eggs from inside instead of a hatch on the outside imo. And walk-in henhouses have got to be tons easier to clean out.

yep, sounds good to me

i do have half an eye on this one which is enormous and presents plenty of room to grow... i dont wanna pay 250, but seeing as theyre desperate to sell, ive mailed to see if theyll take offers

tho how tf im supposed to dimantle, collect and reassemble it im not quite sure yet

hah - am just about to start a thread askign about incubators (after a fruitless search of archives natch) and have just found this (my) therad... and guess what? i still havnt decided what to do re shed/henhouse
[ommmmmmmm]
have been looking at shed options all day.

is that you, nappies??

whatcha want to know about incubators?

wellies! hi! yesa, its me. in disguise again (not really in disguise but have been on the hunt for the 'perfect' mn name for so long now, it feels weird to be called the same thing from one week to the next)

incubators... whats good? am leaning towards the corti auto as thats what, um, thingamybob...in jersey... whasername... she linked me to it. looks ok to me, but i havent the first clue what im looking for tbh!

atm, the 'is she broody or isnt she' miss pepperpot, Peg, appears to be broody again, but only if she occupies the nesting box of the cube. her patch. fair enough. so shes sitting on the silkie eggs in there, as of this morning.

and wrt what new house to buy ive been all round the houses sheds and come back to the brentford from kintaline coz its all ready to go and well/purpose made... only maybe going for the bigger one so's i dont have to go through all this again in a years time!

oh, and if i hatch eggs in the corti, i then need a chicks pen and lamp and crumbs and water, right?

nutterlyuts! thats who linked to the corti.

The corty looks quite good, includes lots of stuff, but you'll have to ask around or search other forums for opinions on how reliable etc they are

We have a really basic chicktec one. You have to do the turning yourself. We've been happy with it but we did lose one batch because it could never seem to reach the right temperature. However that was in January and we get very cold winters here so it's possible it was struggling with the constantly changing ambient temperature (overnight as the central heating dipped).

And yes, you'll need a separate pen for them. Have you got a garage or shed? Somwhere where you could pen off a corner with some wood and connect a lamp up over them? Remember it will stink to high heaven, esp as they get bigger, so preferably somewhere that isn't part of your house . They'll need crumbs and water in something like the plastic feeders in the pic of the corti. If you have lots of chicks you may need more than one of each. I have found that they tend to clog up the water thing very quickly - they eat and then don't swallow all the crumbs and go and drink and leave crumbs in the water - sooo uncouth!

Back to your shed - maybe the ready-made is easier! But hey it was fun looking for ideas, wasn't it!

or theres this which looks foolproof! kind of small (can only do 3 eggs at a time, but hey, how many chicks can i handle at once eh?