4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[pbfhpunk]

Hi all

 

Chooks have settled in well, I think so at least! I'm going to clean the run out tomorrow - well attempt to so was going to let the girls free range in the garden, because of how are garden is laid out I think for a coupld of times it would be best to have them in an enclosed area but I didn't get any omlet netting when I got the cube, as I need to do it this weekend I haven't got time to order any, does any one have a recommendationof where else I can get some from, it doesn't need to be too fancy as will just be used a few times until they get a bit tamer.

 

Near me is a Wickes a Homebase and a pets at home.

 

Thanks

 

Helen

[Hen Watch]

Helen, when I researched netting both online and from DIY places, I actually ended up getting it from Omlet in the end.

 

As the Omlet netting is flexible you can make any shape enclosure with it. It is green which is good and has lots of spare poles (I used every single one).

 

Online I found netting cheaper but it was bright orange, or it came with less poles.

 

But I'm sure others will come along and be able to advise on alternatives they bought.

[pbfhpunk]

Thanks I probably will end up getting the omlet stuff but just need really an interim for this weekend.

 

Thanks again

 

Helen

[cliveb]

For what its worth I have the Omlet netting and poles.As stated its flexibel, a good colour and easy to move around

[Westie]

I also bought the omlet netting - it is a shorter length than most sell and it was cheaper than others that I found at the time but it was last year. Its useful as it is flexible, infact I'm thinking of buying a second net so that I can let the scoundrels freerange in specific areas to rake up the moss! The orange netting has too big a square (I have a 50 m orange net for dog training, when I got the chooks I thought I would save money - kept the dog away from them but not the chooks away from the dog!)

 

You can get cheap chicken wire from DIY places/garden centres but it may not be high enough to stop them exploring, and by the time you have rigged it up, bought poles etc,you may have lsot your appetite for the job or spent a fair bit of money.

 

I not familiar with the set up of a cube - how difficult would be be to remove the cage part and put an old sheet or somehting over the open end. Can you take up the ladder so that they can stay in the cage while you clean out the cube? Would this give you enough time to send for netting from omlet ? or have the girls got to earn some pocket money first?

 

 

Westie

[Olly]

I recommend the Omlet netting, however if you need something temporary and cheap, look for some expandable trellis fencing - it's usually quite cheap, the girls WILL be able to fly over it, but it may keep them off the borders/veg patch for a short while, or generally keep them contained.

 

Sprinkle some corn or mealworms inside the area, and there's a good chance they will stay in there long enough for you to clean the Cube.

[..lay a little egg for me]

Hi! We are also newbies, but I did a lot of research on the internet before letting our hens out. I found electric netting (Flexinet) which looks identical to the netting from Omelet at a good price from farmcareuk.com (there are lots of more expensive suppliers of the same thing). Farmcare were very quick to deliver.

 

As others have pointed out, the Omelet netting has more poles than the flexinet. However, I bought some bamboo sticks (20 for £2.50) from the garden centre and used these to add extra rigidity. You don't have to have the fence electrified...we did because several of our neighbours have dogs that won't stay in their gardens but come to visit ours and one of them had killed a pheasant in our field earlier in the year so we were worried about the hens' safety. The electric sender (that sends out the pulse of electricity) is the most expensive part of the set up, so if you were to get just the netting it wouldn't be too bad.

 

We have 50 m of fence for four hens and they haven't tried to escape yet (out all day scratching about). Only one (as far as I know) has actually had a shock from the fence, the others have made no escape attempts at all. They have all had their wings clipped though.

 

We did keep them in for over a week before allowing them into the fenced off area, and when we first let them out, they stayed really close to the hen house for a couple of days. So you might not need anything at all if they are only going to be out for a short while!!!

 

Hope this helps

[redhotchick]

If it's just a temporary fix why not just use some garden canes and strawberry netting.

 

Put a small nail in the top of the pole to hook the netting onto and peg it down at the bottom.

 

I did this a few weeks ago to keep the chickens off my veg. It worked and it's still up! It cost less than a fiver. I have a choice of pound shops and HomeBargain type places to go to. I had some plastic pegs for horticultural fleece already.