Getting hens for the back garden; any hints?

the_syco

Hey all,
My mum has been threatening to get hens for the past few years (her sister has some down the country), and it seems the time is nigh!

So far, I know I'll be digging down half a foot to a foot to put down chicken wire, to keep the rats out (we've had a rats problem, but not seen any rats for a year or so now) and also to ensure that a fox doesn't burrow it's way in (field is two meters away. There is a five foot high wall between the hens and the field.

The hens will be kept in a 3foot by 3foot hen house, in a 6 foot by 11 foot enclosure. The enclosure will go down by maybe a foot, and will be about 5 foot high. It'll have wooden posts at the side, and wooden planks on the bottoms and tops of the chicken wire to help keep it secure.

Based in North Kildare, so wondering if anyone has any hints on where to buy stuff (such as chicken wire and hen house), or hints on what not to do (or mistakes that you made)?

aonb

Mistakes I have made - hah! The list would go on for pages

Just first thing - how many hens are you planning on getting? 6' x 11' isnt very big for an enclosure really - I would say, the most important thing is to make the run the absolute biggest you can afford. The more space the better - reduces stress on the birds, helps with hygiene and the ground wont be an absolute quagmire come winter.

I found putting a netting 'roof' on the run was a major success. Keeps crows/wild birds out of the run and eating the food. (Jackdaws/Magpies can steal eggs - crows will eat more of your hen food than the hens :mad:)

Make space for a dust bath. Makes for happy hens & helps keep fleas/mites/nasties out of their feathers - anything will do - old tyre or a baby-bath or sand pit - just to contain the sand/grit

Fresh water always available. More than 1 container, so no bullying.
Keep the pellets dry - a hopper with a 'rain hood' is ideal, but failing that, think about putting the pellets out of the rain - they should be always available, and again, better more than 1 container (prevents bullying)

Put a branch or something they can climb on in the run - boredom causes bullying! Hang a cabbage/brocolli or something in the run now and then too

Grit/oyster shell is good for their crops. Diatom. Earth is great to put in their coop/nest boxes/dust bath to help remove mites/fleas. Buy Flubenvet wormer!

Make sure your mother buys from a reliable supplier of Point of Lay hens (if not she could end up with cockerals!!)

Askim

Hi get 1" mesh much stronger, brace you're corner posts, this will keep wire tight.
Buy your fencing stuff in a farm supply shop, I.e. co-op or Agri merchant, much cheaper than woodies & the like, roll of wire may be 50m but it is handy to have spare.
Let them out of then run as often as you can
Try get different breeds, leghorn have white eggs & Rhode island red have brown eggs, I have both.
Got mine from a guy in moate.


A

the_syco

She's going to "start" with two (or maybe three :eek:) Rhode island hens. Also, she wonders is it better to use wood-shavings or moss peat in the coop, rather than hay?

aonb

Dont get just 2 - if one dies, you will be left with one - hens dont do well on their own - better start with 3.

I wouldnt use woodshavings - sometimes the wood is treated and there could be an issue with the hens inhaling chemicals or even just the dust.

Line your coop with thick wad of newspaper - then just pick up a few sheets at a time to clean out the poop - put some fresh newspapers on top. Use straw rather than hay in a coop if you want to go that route - they might eat the hay and that could cause impacted crops! I use newspapers in my 3 coops - much easier to clean out, its free and provides insulation in the winter. I line my nest boxes with newspaper too and top them with a bit of straw, then to clean out the nest box (they do poo in them unfortunately) I just lift up newspaper & straw and tip the poo off, replacing both newspaper/straw in the box.

Check with the person you buy the pullets from, what they are fed - they may be fed pellets or mash, and you will need to introduce them to new food slowly. I would suggest Layers Pellets - whether you moisten them to make mash or feed as pellets, its a good feed all round nutritionally. You can feed kitchen scraps if you have them, google a list of foods that you should not feed hens (surprising things like Avocados! Then dangerous things like salt etc) Oh, and the other thing, you should consider clipping the flight feathers on ONE wing, if your fence is only 5ft high! I think you mentioned that you previously had a rat problem (Ive just recovered from one!) so consider a means of hanging/suspending your feed hoppers to keep rats away. Oh and bring in any pellets overnight - when I close up my coops at night, I just automatically bring in the hoppers too.
Hope your mother enjoys keeping hens - they make an excellent hobby and the eggs are marvellous. Good luck with it!

baaba maal

I'd go with everything Aonb says (really knows a huge amount about hens!). I'd also add from recent experience to go with the biggest possible run- I ended up having to extend mine as the first one was just too small.

Lucyn

I agree with what the previous posters have said about the wood shavings and straw. My girls won't lay on the wood shavings but they will on straw. It took me a few days to figure out why they'd stopped laying. They love a clean fresh straw bed. The old straw is brilliant fertiliser for the veg patch, very high in nitrogen. I also like to give them treats in addition to the pellets. They love cucumber, tomatoes, strawberries and melon! I have them spoiled!!!

Maphisto

Some good posts here. Just my €0.02;)

Something to bear in mind. During the winter (remember them ), when we hit the rainy patches the run will become a muddy mess, especially with the hens scraping about. A bit of straw thrown down just tidies it up a bit.

I'm not a fan of chicken wire at all. It will keep the hens in but it wont keep everything out. It tears and gets messy quickly. I'd use weldmesh or similar.

Best of luck and enjoy your hens.

the_syco

So, digging down, and found rat holes are back (but maybe dormant?). We had a small westie who kept the rats out, but Holly has since gone to doggy heaven, and thus we're not sure if the rats will return. Was thinking of putting chicken wire down, and about half a foot of much above it, but since Google says rats can chew through chicken wire, I'm unsure if it's a waste of money (and time) if it doesn't stop them (and also cos I'll have to redig to fix the holes).

So, what sort of wire should I be looking at to put at the bottom of the coop?

aonb

waste of time trying to keep rats out - they will eat their way through anything, and can squeeze through the tiniest holes (moveable plates in their skulls!) The wire you put down is to protect the hens from incoming larger predators - foxes/mink/dogs etc. If you can get something better than chickenwire (covered mesh wire - someone posted on here the other day - cant rem what its called) to put down might as well do that when you are doing the work now.

Rats you will never keep away from your hens - the only thing you can do, is to be particular about hygiene. Always bring in any uneaten food overnight. Collect eggs, dont leave them there all day. Use dishes/hoppers for food - avoiding food on the ground. If scattering food on the ground for the hens, do it early in the evening/late afternoon, so that hens will have eaten it before nightfall when the rats will come out to clean up.

Maphisto

+1 ^^

You won't keep rats out as said above.

As to anti tunneling measures. Either site the house on a concrete slab or they sell expanded metal on rolls at builders merchants. Its used as a reinforcement for concrete. This buried and tied in to your house walls will do the job.

Let me try and explain it a little better with some examples. We have four houses for chickens and ducks. Fox, mink or whomever could possibly tunnel under the walls and get into the house and kill the flock:

Houses 1 and 2 are double skinned plastic and about 2 feet off the ground. They're like this https://www.omlet.co.uk/shop/chicken_keeping/eglu_cube/

House 3 is an old wartime boiler house that we reroofed and put in a concrete floor.

House 4 is a wooden duck house that sits on a concrete slab and is lifted off for cleaning.

I hope this helps

Hesh's Umpire

The rats won't trouble you so much at this time of year but as the evenings get shorter and colder, you'll have to do as was pointed out above.

NEVER leave food out overnight, they will be all over your run. If there's nothing there for them to eat, they will push on somewhere else with luck!

taytobreath

Get a cat! I have hens and had a rat problem because of the food left out for the hens. But as soon as the cat came the rats went.

Lobsterlady

I'm thinking of getting hens also, living in the countryside with a big garden space but with only a basic wooden fence between our garden and surrounding fields.

If I bought a coop similiar to this

http://store.farmfowl.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=35

would this have to be dug into the ground?? It wouldn't be fox proof as is would it? Just wondering as the experience posters are recommending digging down.

Thanks

aonb

If there are foxes, it wil easily dig under that 'run' if it tries.

The fact that the hen house is raised, might be enough to protect your hens... if you took down the 'ramp' the hens use to climb up to get into the house every night...

Can I just say that these coops with enclosed runs have some serious disadvantages: 1. the hens get very restricted daylight/sunshine (vital for egg production) 2. unless you move the entire set up v.regularly, the hens will be on bare ground after a couple of days. Hens love to scratch - that tiny area of grass will be bare earth in 2 days max! 3. Boredom will be a major issue in such a tiny/enclosed space - bullying/feather plucking could become an issue. 4. That set up's 'run' space should take no more than 2 hens (the coop space is prob fine for 4 hens?) - very expensive for just 2 hens! For $200, I would suggest spending that much on posts/wire to make your own run giving your hens enough space to have a decent run. Their coop could be an old kennel or even a barrel on its side - they'll only use it to sleep/shelter/lay in! The run that they will be in all day (if they cant free range) is THE most essential thing you can give them

Maphisto

^+1

The ideal would be that they can free range in a good sized plot during the day and then sleep inside the house.

The house you're intending to buy looks lovely. However most of them do when they're brand spanking new on a sunny day. The proof of the pudding is after a couple of years wear and a bit of wind and rain.

Have fun with your chucks

syklops

Last time I was down home I designed and built Stallag 52 to keep Houdini in. Houdini is the nickname given to one particular Rhode Island Red who who can get out of all previous runs she has been in. That the fox has not nabbed her yet is a miracle. So far though she has remained locked in.

I'd recommend putting a light in the hen house on a timer for the winter months. It will ensure egg production during the winter. We have had eggs on Christmas day thanks to the light in the morning. 12 volts DC is plenty powerful while still being low voltage.

Lock the hen house at night. A fox will get into the run easily enough. Sinking the henhouse down a foot makes it secure, but making sure the door is closed will save them from fantastic Mr Fox, or his evil twin brother the mink.

Iyaibeji

Your best bet is to get a decent coop and build a separate run for it.
The run space in those all-in-1 set up's is nowhere sufficient.
I started off with 3 hens and a coop similar to that one and ended up extending the run with wire panels.
In the end of the day though the coop was very poor quality and the roof blew off it one night in a storm.
As soon as I could afford to I bought a lovely sturdy coop and made a run myself.

brianiac

Anyone with experience of electric mesh fencing? I dont have any animals but have seen videos of joel salatins movable coops surrounded by the stuff and it appears to work. Easily moved too so less over exposure of ground patches if moved frequently

the_syco

syklops wrote: »

I'd recommend putting a light in the hen house on a timer for the winter months. It will ensure egg production during the winter. We have had eggs on Christmas day thanks to the light in the morning. 12 volts DC is plenty powerful while still being low voltage.

Aye, the light sounds like a good idea.

syklops wrote: »

Lock the hen house at night. A fox will get into the run easily enough. Sinking the henhouse down a foot makes it secure, but making sure the door is closed will save them from fantastic Mr Fox, or his evil twin brother the mink.

Door is always closed. If it's open, the hens will be gone in no time (there's a field next to the house).

=-=



The bin is placed next to the coop to give an idea of its size.



The guy who made it makes dog houses. So it's a f**king doghouse converted to be used for hens. F**king tiny thing. Shall make one myself next year if the hens are kept.


All in, with a door. Half a foot of the ground so that they can go underneath it

If I do make another one, I'll have the door to collect the eggs accessible from the outside, maybe a small door in the fence for such, to avoid having to go into the coop. Likewise for the feeding things.

Oh, and put the feeding things and water things up, as the f**kers sh|t everywhere. In their house, on the roof of the coop, in their water bowls, in their food trays. Everywhere. Luckily i knew this, but the mother seems to have been remembering her days of minding the hens with rose-tinted glasses :pac:



The hens. The brown one is still nervous, and has yet to lay eggs. When getting the hens, she wasn't part of the main hen group, but the other two were. They get on grand, but bully the brown hen. The grey and the black hen usually lay an egg each every day.

We've had them for about 2 or 3 weeks now, and they now see all us humans as feeders, and thus they make noise if they see us. I'll see if I can get an updated picture, as there have been a few additions to the coop, such as two large branches to allow them to get on top of the hen house, etc.

Kovu

Lovely syco! A nice trio of colours to look at and their run looks very professional:D

We used to have a few of those blue chickens, lovely dinky greeny-blue eggs from them. Maybe it was just ours but they were very cheeky, used to cluck around us until we'd turn over stones for them to get woodlice & slugs....yummy :pac:

Farmer Pudsey

A great idea for a run is an old tramploine frame. Put chicken wire around and a bit of netting on top. If you have a bit of area you can move it around. They are easy enough to come accross.

Charliebull

Farmer Pudsey wrote: »

A great idea for a run is an old tramploine frame. Put chicken wire around and a bit of netting on top. If you have a bit of area you can move it around. They are easy enough to come accross.

well fcuk ya, why didnt you tell me that a few weeks ago, just sold the fcuking trampoline for next to nothing

Farmer Pudsey

Charliebull wrote: »

well fcuk ya, why didnt you tell me that a few weeks ago, just sold the fcuking trampoline for next to nothing

Was it off you I bought it for 20 snots.:rolleyes: Springs are handy for gates.

Charliebull

Farmer Pudsey wrote: »

Was it off you I bought it for 20 snots.:rolleyes: Springs are handy for gates.

i wouldnt let a kerry man within 100 yards of me house;)

the_syco

The feeder to the left is a water feeder. Feeder in the middle is a food feeder. The pot is on top to keep the food inside dry. They're both on top of bricks to make it harder for the hens to poop in them. Harder, but not impossible it would seem!

The brown pots are filled with water, but the hens like to either knock them over, or poop into them. The branches lead up to the top of the hen house, as they like sitting up there, to get more sun. There's three white bowls so that the brown hen gets to eat out of one of them.

=-=

Does anyone know where I can get a 10L tup that will allow me to fill it up, and extract the feed from the bottom? Just something neater than two bags of feed.

Something along the lines of;

aonb

Your set up looks good. Its a bit small, so having the extra feeders is critical to the bullied hen, so that she can get to feed without being harrassed by the bullies. Think about putting a hanger in there that you can tie a head of brocolli to, or cabbage or sweetcorn or any other veg that they like, that will be boredom busters. The ground in the run will probably be very muddy in winter - might be worth putting a tarp (clear not dark plastic which would make the run darker) up, which would have the advantage of keeping the feed dry.
You can get hoppers with a "rain hat" - or fashion one yourself - wet food soon goes off and is a waste.
The drawing you included previously - do you mean to put that in the run for the hens, or for storage of feed? Anything that drops feed out the bottom like that is going to involve waste - the hens will knock over the bowl it collects in...
Have a look at these:

https://www.google.ie/search?q=hen+feeder+with+rain+hat&client=firefox-a&hs=bIn&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=fflb&tbm=isch&imgil=WkljNBM0RLJv-M%253A%253BFUJtd_5ABwGAdM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.chicken-house.co.uk%25252Facatalog%25252FRain_Hat_for_12kg_Heavy_duty_plastic_chicken_feeder.html&source=iu&pf=m&fir=WkljNBM0RLJv-M%253A%252CFUJtd_5ABwGAdM%252C_&usg=__OjaC5K8d0cwBYib5UMjLXfUfIf4%3D&biw=1024&bih=506&ved=0CDsQyjc&ei=JewjVJmIKeiu7AaJvICADQ#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=WkljNBM0RLJv-M%253A%3BFUJtd_5ABwGAdM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.chicken-house.co.uk%252Facatalog%252FTAY_C_FEEDER_WITH_RAIN_HAT_300.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.chicken-house.co.uk%252Facatalog%252FRain_Hat_for_12kg_Heavy_duty_plastic_chicken_feeder.html%3B300%3B300

- I have them, fill up the central 'bin' and it trickles down in to the tray, more importantly it keeps the feed dry.
You could throw them some greens - dandelion etc to provide a bit of greenery...

the_syco

aonb wrote: »

Your set up looks good. Its a bit small, so having the extra feeders is critical to the bullied hen, so that she can get to feed without being harrassed by the bullies.

Yup, it's small indeed. Currently have three bowls, but the other two run around trying to ensure she doesn't get food.

aonb wrote: »

Think about putting a hanger in there that you can tie a head of brocolli to, or cabbage or sweetcorn or any other veg that they like, that will be boredom busters. The ground in the run will probably be very muddy in winter - might be worth putting a tarp (clear not dark plastic which would make the run darker) up, which would have the advantage of keeping the feed dry.

Will look into getting the clear tarp. The hangers, maybe. At the moment, we just throw the cabbage leaves into the coop, and the hens eat it.

aonb wrote: »

The drawing you included previously - do you mean to put that in the run for the hens, or for storage of feed? Anything that drops feed out the bottom like that is going to involve waste - the hens will knock over the bowl it collects in...

It'd be for storage of the feed in the house.

aonb wrote: »

https://www.google.ie/search?q=hen+feeder+with+rain+hat&client=firefox-a&hs=bIn&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=fflb&tbm=isch&imgil=WkljNBM0RLJv-M%253A%253BFUJtd_5ABwGAdM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.chicken-house.co.uk%25252Facatalog%25252FRain_Hat_for_12kg_Heavy_duty_plastic_chicken_feeder.html&source=iu&pf=m&fir=WkljNBM0RLJv-M%253A%252CFUJtd_5ABwGAdM%252C_&usg=__OjaC5K8d0cwBYib5UMjLXfUfIf4%3D&biw=1024&bih=506&ved=0CDsQyjc&ei=JewjVJmIKeiu7AaJvICADQ#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=WkljNBM0RLJv-M%253A%3BFUJtd_5ABwGAdM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.chicken-house.co.uk%252Facatalog%252FTAY_C_FEEDER_WITH_RAIN_HAT_300.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.chicken-house.co.uk%252Facatalog%252FRain_Hat_for_12kg_Heavy_duty_plastic_chicken_feeder.html%3B300%3B300

- I have them, fill up the central 'bin' and it trickles down in to the tray, more importantly it keeps the feed dry.
You could throw them some greens - dandelion etc to provide a bit of greenery...

That is actually what we have. minus the cap on top. Not sure why the mother didn't buy one with a cap on top, but I gave up asking.

aonb

a hanger could be a bit of a clothes hanger strung from the roof of your run - or a (blunted) big nail stuck thru an "x" of wood onto which you could impale a cabbage. Hours of endless pecking - will give the 3rd hen a chance to eat while the other two are occupied. Keep an eye on her, if they up the bullying any blood they draw should be covered with sudocrem or similar, or they will keep at the bloodied spot til shes in big trouble (hens are attracted to red!)

I got feed storage bins - you know those blue plastic small 'barrels' - from our local feed place. You could use an old dustbin or buy any plastic bin/box/crate with a lid in a DIY place - lift the lid and scoop out the food... With only 3 hens a bag of feed will do you for a long time - be aware that pellets do 'go off' if stored too long...
Are the 3 laying yet?

the_syco

aonb wrote: »

Are the 3 laying yet?

The black and gray lay an egg each most days. One lays an egg, and then the other sits on top of the egg, and lays another one. The brown one is seemingly younger than the other two, and could be the reason why it hasn't laid yet, but I'm guessing it's stress and/or lack of food, but time will tell.

brianiac

the_syco wrote: »

The feeder to the left is a water feeder. Feeder in the middle is a food feeder. The pot is on top to keep the food inside dry. They're both on top of bricks to make it harder for the hens to poop in them. Harder, but not impossible it would seem!

The brown pots are filled with water, but the hens like to either knock them over, or poop into them. The branches lead up to the top of the hen house, as they like sitting up there, to get more sun. There's three white bowls so that the brown hen gets to eat out of one of them.

=-=

Does anyone know where I can get a 10L tup that will allow me to fill it up, and extract the feed from the bottom? Just something neater than two bags of feed.

Youtube 'Simple DIY automatic chicken feeder' and have the hens feed themselves! (i cant post links yet...) You could potentially use an old dustbin if you wanted to store a lot of feed / or put multiple feeding holes if you have lots of birds...

the_syco

If anyone is planning on making a coop, ensure that you can access the inside of the henhouse from outside the coop. It makes life a lot handier!


Since last picture, we moved the henhouse over to the right, so it's next to the side. It also allows us to open the door of the henhouse without having to enter the coop. We're thinking of putting a pulley system in place to make it easier to do so.

We also hang cabbage/cauliflower/broccoli off a wire to let the hens peck at it. The green rectangular feeder to the right is for their morning and evening feed. The stuff in the white bowl near the front is grit. The stick is there so the hens can walk up it, as the hens like chillin on top of the roof in the sun.


We then installed a door on that side.


This allows us to open the side flap easily, and collect eggs without having to enter the coop (great when it's wet and muddy). It also allows us to clean the henhouse easier.


The feeder and the watering thing are both hanging off wood the top, so the hens can't poop into them. Put a flower pot base over the feed to keep it dry.

aonb

Excellent improvements! Thanks for the photos/ideas
I like the flower pot 'lid' to keep the food dry - v.clever
Its funny how many changes/improvements etc that you come up with after you have your set-up going for a little while.
Do you have a dust bath? Always a good addition, and keeps them happy for hours