Hen run advice

casscass4444

Hi all.just wondering could any of ye advise me.i am planning on putting up a hen run in lawn just wondering how high the stakes will have to be and could I just use chicken wire or would I need a sheep wire base reinforcing it.im trying to keep costs down.i have a garden shed on lawn I'm going putting stakes and wire around it.birds will be a mix of hybrid layers and game birds.would 6 foot light stakes keep them in.i don't fancy chasing birds back in to the run every day.not planning on wiring the roof either if I can.probably give them big enough run if it turns mucky after a while I'll bark mulch it.dont want them all over the garden.many thanks for any advice

M.T.D

Most birds will go back to their house as dusk arrives with out any prompting. If not, a bamboo cane in each hand gives you a width ( from the hens view point) of 14' and makes herding them reasonably easy. Most of the time if the hens are out and I go into the run they follow me in no herding needed.
Make their hen house secure both the door you use and the hens pop hole. If you can open it one action one handed so can a fox.
If your budget is limited, think of the run as something to keep the hens in, rather than predators out. A fox will scale a 5' fence or burrow under it if the mesh does not go under ground.
Chickens can fly, some breeds fly quite well, Guinea fowl can take off vertically, so if you do not intend putting a net roof on the run clip the feathers on one wing only.
I have secure hen houses within a run (a chicken wire cage with roof) there is also a pop hole with sliding door to let them loose in the garden when I am home. They then roam freely, and if I am going out I herd them back into their runs.
They will fertilise and scarify your lawn, both good. What they do to flower beds is another matter.
Currently I move the runs each week to a new patch of grass, great when the grass is growing but not so good in the winter when the grass is dormant.

casscass4444

Thanks for advice.im planning permanent run around the shed I don't want them all over lawn and site I'll give them big run I will probably just bark mulch it if it gets very mucky.i don't fancy hens around foot paths and house plus my dogs would probably chase them if hens were out around the house.dogs don't roam free just if they were out to the toilet if they spotted hens they would chase

M.T.D

You should be able to explain to the dog not to chase. If we are sat out in the garden, we would have the dog, cat and chickens for company. Hens free to roam behave much differently than those caged and can be quite entertaining, If it does not rain that day a hose rinses away any mess.

aonb

The run's fences dont need to be very strong to keep the hens IN, the issue is the fence being strong enough to keep foxes, dogs etc OUT. If you are 100% sure that foxes are not going to be an issue, then chickenwire with 6ft poles should be fine. If there are any foxes in the area however they will be attracted to your hens! If foxes are a possibility, you would need to dig down and put the wire at least a foot or more into the ground

As the previous poster said, hens will happily go back to their coop when dusk comes. You just need to get into a routine with them. Sounds like you are not going to let them out of the run at all - the previous poster mentioned that free ranging hens (even for a couple of hours/day) will be much happier hens, and will produce beter quality eggs and be healthier. But if thats the way you're doing it, then fine... So, I would DEFINITELY put some sort of netting over the run if possible at all - keep wild birds out of your run, they will eat your hens food and bring in germs. A pond net for example is very cheap...

Be careful about using bark mulch on the ground of the run. There are some bark mulches that will NOT be good for hens. Bacteria will grow under bark mulch if its very wet too. Bugs/insects wont live under some mulch, which means that the hens wont be have anything to scratch for!

Oh and make sure to put in a dust bath - an old tyre filled with sand/earth (as long as its covered to keep dry) will be good

DBB

Re wood chippings... I have a couple of hens who are allergic to evergreen wood chippings. It was only after I started using mulch from leylandii we had felled that their little faces swelled to the point that they couldn't open their eyes I read up on it then, and discovered that it's a *thing* with pine and evergreen mulch!

aonb

DBB wrote: »

Re wood chippings... I have a couple of hens who are allergic to evergreen wood chippings. It was only after I started using mulch from leylandii we had felled that their little faces swelled to the point that they couldn't open their eyes I read up on it then, and discovered that it's a *thing* with pine and evergreen mulch!

:eek::eek::eek:

I had heard that woodchip - bark mulch - is a really bad idea for hens - the oil from conifers or something? - wow, your poor little hens

DBB

aonb wrote: »

:eek::eek::eek:

I had heard that woodchip - bark mulch - is a really bad idea for hens - the oil from conifers or something? - wow, your poor little hens

Aw stop aonb... You know yourself... When any of the animals aren't well it makes feel crap. It's worse when you realise you've caused it

aonb

I know, its the pits, and you probably thought you were giving them a lovely surface to keep them out of the mud and wet I gave my hens lots of lettuce from the veg garden, it had bolted (the lettuce) and they all had diarrahea for a couple of days :eek:

dozy doctor

Instead of the wood chip try putting down a sand area.... I put larger stones to assist with drainage and then around 4 inches of sand... It also helps with the chicken poop mess,,,, and is dead easy to keep clean....

Bunnyslippers

I wouldn't use bark mulch either it can harbour aspergillosis which can kill them. A good 6ft tall fence should be fine to deter foxes, a determined one will climb though, and it needs to be buried a foot down to help stop digging in! If you're not roofing it then you need to make sure you are home every evening before dark to shut the coop door without fail as it always happens that one evening your late foxy will be waiting!
As others have said a good fox and rat proof house is a must - if you have birds constantly in one place I'm afraid you will always get rats so making it harder for them to get at the birds and feed is a must. A coop on stilts is a good idea to stop the rats hiding, nesting and eating a hole into the bottom of the house - rats are horrid things!
Also as you're keeping your birds on one spot you need to worm regularly as you'll have a high number of parasites. If you're not going to let the poor birds out you need to come up with lots of ways to keep them occupied so they don't start bullying, feather pecking and egg eating, hanging things they can eat up in the coop, things like broccoli, cabbage and corn on the cob every so often so they can graze on something would be good as well as a good sod of grass, as hens are pretty smart birds!:). They are good fun though and well worth it!:)