Solitary chicken - need advice

[meg]

Hi everyone, this is my first post although I have been reading this forum for a while now. I have quite a big dilemma before I get my first chickens. The big question is....can you make a chicken coop/run 100% foxproof and badgerproof?

 

My husband informed our neighbour this morning that we are going to build a chicken run at the bottom of our garden. We know we have lots of foxes in the area, so already we knew that we have to make our run like fort knox But our neighbour has shocked us by telling us that her neighbour the other side kept chickens and no matter what he did they always got killed by the fox!! Also the badger burrowed underneath the run and also got the chickens

 

We were planning on slabbing the run inside and also outside to prevent digging underneath. Also using fox proof wire and of course a roof. Also we are looking into electric fencing for around the garden.

 

Any advice would so much be appreciated as if this is too risky a venture then I would rather not get the chickens in the first place than knowing they will definately get caught by the predators in this area. As we have only lived here for 10 months we had no idea anyone else had kept chickens in our road until today. I probably would not let the chickens free range the garden as I have seen a fox come out the hedge in broad daylight to chase our cat that had just caught a pigeon The cat dropped the pigeon in shock and it flew away

[jackiepoppies]

Hi Meg,

Welcome to the forum!

If you are going to slab the run inside and out, use a good weld mesh and roof it, I don't see how a fox or badger could get to your chickens!

It might be worth having a word with the neighbour who had the chooks, you might find they weren't quite so concientious as you are planning to be!

Personally, I don't think you will have a problem and after a little while you might even let them out to play when you are there to supervise

Do you know what you are getting yet and how many Do keep us posted on run progress and chook choices

 

Jackiex

 

 

p.s. Your neighbour wouldn't be trying to put you off would she? Some people on here have had problems with theirs.

[Egluntyne]

Welcome aboard.

 

I don't suppose anything can be absolutely 100% foxproof , but paving slabs and a good quality weld mesh will help.

 

Remember that Monsieur Reynard is clever enough to slide bog standard bolts.

[meg]

Hi Jackie, thank you so much for your reply, it was exactly what I was hoping to hear My guess is that you are probably right about the other neighbours who lost all their chickens not being as clued up on them as we are today, it may possibly be quite a while ago too. I for one, if I hadn't read this forum inside out and researched the keeping of chickens beforehand, might also think that get a hen house, sticke a run over it and hey presto you have your chicken house and run instantly!! Of course in reality it is a much longer crusade if you are going to get it right first time.

 

As we have a limited budget, we are going to probably have to do the whole chicken thing over a few months. My husband will be building the run We have been out measuring this morning and the biggest we can get in the space allocated is 12ft x 6ft. We are removing our greenhouse and the concrete base will form part of the run. I am sad to be loosing the greenhouse as it was here when we brought the house last year and we haven't had a chance to use it yet (apart from tomatoes). But we need that space to form part of the run.

 

We had originally planned to get a cube, but as they are so pricey we have decided we will get a wooden house to start with and hopefully after Xmas we will be able to afford to buy a cube. If we buy the cube now, it will clean us out and we won't have a run or any chickens so you can see where I am coming from. I know the wooden house will be hard work to keep clean but I am prepared for that (I think)

 

Chicken choice....ex batts are my first choice although my husband isn't fully behind me on that one and wants to be able to choose some chickens of selective breeds (no idea at this stage what though). We may compromise and get half and half. I am not sure how many hens I could have in a run this size, but we were thinking of about 4/5 hens. I am going for the biggest hen house I can afford so they have plenty of room

[meg]

Remember that Monsieur Reynard is clever enough to slide bog standard bolts.

Must remember that one, thanks.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Hello Meg and welcome to the forum .

 

Have you considered getting an eglu? The reason I say that is that if you have a large walk-in run, 4/5 hens should be fine sleeping in one eglu (although they might need another nestbox of some sort). An eglu without a run probably wouldn't cost more than a good wooden coop.

 

Then, you could save up for your cube and use the proceeds from the sale of your eglu (which hold their value really well). I'm not sure how well second hand wooden coops sell. Bear in mind too that wooden coops require maintenance and vigilence against the dreaded red mite.

 

I'm not dissing wooden coops, I think they look great, but just thought it might be an idea for you to consider .

[meg]

Thank you for all your replies. We are now confident after alot of research on the web (including this forum) that we can make our new hen house and walk in run fox proof.

 

Today we brought the hen house I am getting very excited now, so are the kids As much as I would like an eglu, well really I want a cube rather than an eglue, there is just no way that we can stretch our budget to one at this moment. I know that this wooden house will be hard work but hopefully it will be short term until we can afford the cube. I have been busy this weekend pricing up the materials for the walk in run. Next week I hope to start buying the materials we need and to dismantle the green house

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Congratulations on the new hen house and good luck building your new run . Keep us posted on your progress, we like seeing homemade runs .