CHICKEN HOUSES - a few questions - I NEED ANSWERS!!!

[tortoiseSHELL]

1. What house do your chickens live in?
2. How many and what sort of chickens are they?
3. How big is your garden?
4. Is it easily movable?

Thank you!!!

i don't know about size exactly but my advice is go for the biggest thing you can afford to build with lots of run space. it needs to be moved often (at least 3 times a week) to save your grass as they make a huge mess. And you will wnat more chickens soon enough, they are addictive!

I was thinking we could move it every couple of days.

Am so excited!

ooh it is great to see this thread

Have fun Tortoise!

I was wondering what you'd decided!

It was me that killed your other thread [proud]

Ours are free range so haven't much practical advice, but home-made eggs are lovely.

I am about to move to a house with 1/2 an acre of garden, mostly grass, with fruit trees, the last people who lived there had a hen that roosted in one of the plum trees for years before it fell off its perch(died),

we are planning on getting 3 hens, I am not sure about the housing situation for them, though foxes seem to be scarce here, I just want them to be comfy, warm and happy, and hopefully to provide us with a few eggs.

so it has been a long time since I had hens, any advice welcome.

Can I ask, if any of you have a 'boughton' style coop (i.e. one with an upstairs!) like this - what width is the ladder and what width is the floor at the point that it meets the second storey (that's not clear what I mean - how much room is there either side of the ladder upstairs?)

Thanks!!!!!

BUMP

torty - i have been looking into getting hens too... and found \link{http://www.henhouses.co.uk/this website} to be a mine of information re housing etc. and if you email them with specific questions they get right back to you and are really v helpful. they reckon the ark shape houses are really bad, btw.
have a browse through.

doh!

That's interesting - I suppose it's logical that a square house gives them more room!

it is good to see what is available commercially, thanks nappsgal - how many hens are you thinking of getting?

I think we'll have a home made house.

yes - highly sensible to make own out of a shed or whatever - all the info for making it an A1 hen palace are on that site.

dunno really (about how many to get) plan has been put on hold for a few months anyway as too much going on at home already.

was reading in Grow It mag the other day that Pekins are an ideal breed to get for gardens. apparently they dont cause as much damage as other breeds and are v pretty too.

we started off with pekin bantams and they are really friendly and cuddly. child friendly indeed! but bantams don't lay so many eggs as bigger breeds. depends on what you want but generally bantams lay march - october whereas rhode islands (eg ) lay almost all year round. you need to look up breed and number of eggs a year. and bear in mind that well looked after (and if you are fox free) chickens can live for years. we have just lost our oldest (8 years old) hen to a fox and there was much sadness all round. and we can't ever be get rid of a past laying chook, we are too soft...

i do worry about foxes. there are many round here. i see one most days in our fields. there are LOTS of rabbits etc out there to keep them interested tho...

Otterinnit - we're on the west/north yorks border (near the A1), i'm in leeds often as well though.
do ask your friend - we have 5 cockerels atm, they are real beauties, seems a shame to coq au vin them