Rich & Ange Posted March 14, 2008 Share Posted March 14, 2008 (edited) After what has seemed like an age, today finally came, and we collected our first batch of hens from a local breeder on the way home from work! In truth we've both been a little nervous, and the drive home with the gentle clucking from the boxes was also a little nervewracking, as we had visions of the chooks emerging from the boxes in a flurry of feathers and causing an accident! However, once home the fun began... quietly. After carefully transferring the chooks from the boxes into the Cube, we all sat back and wondered what to do next! With a couple of hours to go until sunset, we throught the girls might like to explore their new pen, so we coaxed them out with a little corn. And here are the first piccies... And here's a full shot of the pen, bought from Flytesofancy; in fairness it was eye wateringly expensive, but work is so busy at the moment that we just had no time to contemplate building our own from scratch. That said, it is well made, and we are very pleased with it - it stood up to the high winds this week no trouble at all... Final shot for tonight, my Buff Orpington (now named Rosy) looking out to her new free ranging area... just got to get the net fencing up now! Going to be a busy weekend... (Rich) Edited March 15, 2008 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeckyBoo Posted March 14, 2008 Share Posted March 14, 2008 Wow, what a fantastic looking run! Looks like Kew Gardens! Are your chooks on stones - they'll chuck them everywhere won't they? And good luck raking the poo off!! Love the Buff Orpington, they are so gorgeous, big fluffy knickers!! Hope you have a fab weekend with your new girlies, very of the run. Mrs Bertie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich & Ange Posted March 14, 2008 Author Share Posted March 14, 2008 I expect they will make a royal mess of it! After visiting FeeMcg and her 14 girls at an Omlet party, we decided gravel would be best for the fixed run while we are at work, as it can be hosed off at the weekends to get rid of the poo and won't end up a barren muddy mess (couldn't face replacing that amount of bark chippings on a regular basis ). The rest of our garden is all grass and borders, so they'll have plenty of free ranging at weekends and in the afternoons when the kids get home from school. Seemed like the best compromise for easy care yet decent environments for them to live in. We hope! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tessa the Duchess Posted March 14, 2008 Share Posted March 14, 2008 Your run is fabulous. So are your chickens, I love the brown one with the white speckles, very, very nice set up. Tessa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowy Posted March 14, 2008 Share Posted March 14, 2008 (edited) Fabulous set up and what gorgeous girls (i particularly love speckled sussex ) Have loads of fun with them! Mine love scratching about in the gravel - lots of bugs underneath it I think. Just make sure there is nothing breakable nearby - it doesn't half pick up some speed when they are kicking it about! Edited March 14, 2008 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich & Ange Posted March 14, 2008 Author Share Posted March 14, 2008 Thank you all, Tessa - the spotty one is our speckled sussex, Anna. She is the youngest hen and already being bossed about by the other girls! Ange Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feemcg Posted March 14, 2008 Share Posted March 14, 2008 Looks like a great set-up Ange - and lovely girls too . Congratulations.....and what are you like with the colour co-ordinated trampoline Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJuff Posted March 14, 2008 Share Posted March 14, 2008 Wow, an amazing run. I like it a lot, looks so neat too. Your new girls are lovely, I'm sure you'll enjoy them a lot. Your pictures made me a little thoughtful, I recognised the local stone immediately and thought back to when I lived in Aberdeenshire. A beautiful place to be. Married Oh there and had our first child ther too. No hen there though, they would have blown away!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feemcg Posted March 14, 2008 Share Posted March 14, 2008 Just told Anna you've called one of your chooks Anna Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted March 14, 2008 Share Posted March 14, 2008 Love the colour of that cube and your run is amazing . It all looks so lovely and clean (we'll expect an updated photo in a month or so ). Very pretty girls too . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich & Ange Posted March 15, 2008 Author Share Posted March 15, 2008 Looks like a great set-up Ange - and lovely girls too . Congratulations.....and what are you like with the colour co-ordinated trampoline Wait until you see the lilac eglu in there, it is all very colour co-ordinated! We all love purple! There is the chance the girls will blow away, it can be mega windy, we figured in the run they can't go to far, they will be safely held against the side of the run until the wind dies down! Rich made me get up before the children at 7am to let the chickens out, so we have all been standing in the garden in our pjs waiting for the girls to come out of the cube. What a sight we must look! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eyren Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 Fantastic run, Rich and Ange - I'm v jealous! Gravel seems like a very sensible option up there - we have family in Aberdeenshire (near Turriff), so we're well aware of how rainy it is. Let us know how you get on with that set-up! (You might find it useful to put a single run of planks round the bottom to stop them kicking it everywhere.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chocchick Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 It's lovely. I'd like something like that when I have more money and a bigger garden. OH does not seem to have got the idea about run building and we just have chicken wire and canes. I like the way they are just ignoring the football (very chickeny). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moomin Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 That looks gorgeous what lucky chickens!! I've ordered a buff and a speckled sussex as well, they should be coming in early summer. Down here there's a six month wait for Orpingtons!! Well done they are lovely girls! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelsea Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 BEAUTIFUL run absolutey gorgeous (best I've ever seen!) Very lucky chooks. Stunning, they are going to be very happy in their new home. Eglutine like's those runs - *shouts to Eglutine come and have a look!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich & Ange Posted March 15, 2008 Author Share Posted March 15, 2008 Thank you all for your lovely comments. It's nice to know people who have a clue (unlike us!) say that we have done ok by our girls, so far. Not sure the neighbours are too happy, but hopefully I can bribe them with eggs in the future The run was expensive, but we have just sold Rich's car and as we work together we can live with just my car, so we used some of the money from the sale of the car to pay for it. Best to start as you mean to go on. They are having some lettuce and cucumber at the moment, maybe a bit early in the afternoon, but our human girls are getting bored as the chooks aren't laying eggs yet and we have said no picking them up yet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelsea Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 What a lovely view the chooks have aswell - out towards the hills/mountains. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mirkwood Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 Fantastic run well done. the girls look good too, they will be living the life Reilly in there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich & Ange Posted March 15, 2008 Author Share Posted March 15, 2008 Gawd I'm sore!!! A full day at it today, installing a compost bin, weeding the lower borders (to remove all traces of baby foxgloves!), mowing the lawn and painting part of the fence, ahead of fixing up our Omlet netting tomorrow. I finished off with a cup of tea and took these piccies of our girls... Off to bed early tonight... weather looks good for tomorrow, and we've got 50m of netting to put up! Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovemychooks Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 How do the chooks get to their food ?? The grub is quite high or is that to give them something to do ?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich & Ange Posted March 15, 2008 Author Share Posted March 15, 2008 Lol, they must be super tall, as it's actually at head height for all of them! We made a few changes to the run today to include an extra grub and an extra glug, and we did install the new grub slightly lower just to be on the safe side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hen Watch Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 hi Rich & Ange, What lovely pictures (both of your set up and the individual chook pics). I'd love to have that run, it looks great..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feemcg Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 Beautiful pics - out of interest, how old is Helena?. Don't know if it's the angle of the pic but I wondered if the saddle feathers are a bit pointy and droopy Wee Anna looks so young compared to the rest, bless her....and looks like a 'proper' Speckled Sussex. unlike my big, fat, mostly black Evie . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich & Ange Posted March 16, 2008 Author Share Posted March 16, 2008 Beautiful pics - out of interest, how old is Helena?. Don't know if it's the angle of the pic but I wondered if the saddle feathers are a bit pointy and droopy Not sure; when we collected them the chap we had been dealing with by e-mail was out, and his partner saw to the handover... but she wasn't sure of the exact ages. Our feeling is that Helena is significantly older than the others; her legs are a lot thicker and more gnarly looking as well as her being much bigger in general (see what you mean about the saddle area, we'll look again today)! In the next day or two we are going to try to give them all an evening examination like you suggested; it will be nice to give them a proper looking over for any problems so far unnoticed. Let's just hope they remain sleepy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted March 16, 2008 Share Posted March 16, 2008 Is that the flytesofancy poultry protection pen? It looks smashing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
