The chicken design project
The chicken run is positioned at the east end of the site enclosed on 2 sides by hedging and by the shed and poly tunnel on the north and west side, the run had to be from recycled materials and give as much room for the chickens to range as possible.
The design had to meet all the needs of the chickens with room for expansion in the future. There is a run area which is safe from predators and an extended run for when when we are on site the coop is set on blocks to give chickens a place to rest in hot weather, (this has the added benefit of giving no nesting sites for vermin). The coop has a door with lock for access to the internal chicken pellet feeder and for cleaning, there are roosts and 2 nesting boxes, the chickens have access via a ramp and small doorway into the run area. The water feeder is situated in the run area and an extra nesting box has been provided. Large tree branches have been placed to provide roosting areas and a gate to the extended run.
The design is 18m x 3m x 2.4m split in 2 sections the main run area and a second run area used when we are on site which has no roof. The construction used as many recycled materials as possible scaffold piping and key link for the structure from a building site,curb stones and scaffold boards from and old building yard lock mesh from a local school the timber and pallets for the coop from various skips. We used screws and zip ties for the coop and securing the mesh.
The design is 18m x 3m x 2.4m split in 2 sections the main run area and a second run area used when we are on site which has no roof. The construction used as many recycled materials as possible scaffold piping and key link for the structure from a building site,curb stones and scaffold boards from and old building yard lock mesh from a local school the timber and pallets for the coop from various skips. We used screws and zip ties for the coop and securing the mesh.
The chickens.
We wanted chickens that would be a good egg bird with proven track record of success and easy to keep.The needs of chicken are relatively easy to provide;
The characteristics of Warreners, brown with white flecks very hardy, docile and child friendly birds good for first time keepers with an annual production range of 300- 320 brow eggs at the cost of £6 each we bought 10 this seamed an ideal choice.
- Security from predators and theft
- Shelter form the elements
- Access to water
- Provision of a mixed diet of grains,green and grubs
- A safe run to mimic there natural environment, to allow inherent behaviour patterns (scratching,pecking and digging)
- Other chickens
- Nesting boxes for egg laying
- A place to shelter from the sun and dust bath
The characteristics of Warreners, brown with white flecks very hardy, docile and child friendly birds good for first time keepers with an annual production range of 300- 320 brow eggs at the cost of £6 each we bought 10 this seamed an ideal choice.
Implementation
The design only took 1 planning session in the pub which we tends to happen after a day on the allotment on the way home(the allotment friendly pub doesn't mind our dirty clothes and muddy boots). The ground was levelled and cleared before we built the poly tunnel as we used the space to prep the polythene, the scaffold structure was built over a weekend as was the coop and mesh covering.The smaller jobs of painting the coop installing the door lock,roosts and feeders were completed over the following week in just in time for the arrival of the chickens. The construction was straight forward and went to plan having 3 people was a big advantage especially when erecting the scaffold structure.
Tweaks
The tweaks happened very quickly through observation we noticed several problems, we changed the ramp angle and grip to the coop as the chickens were struggling to enter, the roosts in the coop were removed as they preferring to use the pallet structure to roost and a board installed above the nesting boxes to prevent excrement accumulation. The roof now has a gutter to collect water and prevent the run becoming water logged.
The behaviour of the chickens changes over time as they form a pecking order this changed the way extra feed is given I now spread
the feed over a wide area to give all the chickens an equal opportunity.
The behaviour of the chickens changes over time as they form a pecking order this changed the way extra feed is given I now spread
the feed over a wide area to give all the chickens an equal opportunity.