My eco solution to rat problems

[Guest]

Hi Cookiemonster

Yes please would love to see the pics of the butt the butt of a cube to WIR

 

I havent got to that bit yet Or the door...

I have 3 sides put up and am going to start on the roof next when i am off this Friday which i am sure will now pour with Rain

 

I think the door and the butting will b more complicated test of my carpentry skills 0/10!

 

In a way its probably good i am waiting so long for the ..my biggest concern was that Thornes was never going to have any more chickens for sale EVER!! thank you indie

[hillfamily]

Hen run panels being delivered tomorrow, but OH says he's not assembling it until Easter weekend! has he no compassion for my nerves!?

 

But runs have to be built as soon as they arrive

 

I've been sorting out all the other bits and bobs ready for when the run arrives in 14 days :D

 

I've got a pallet of woodchip and compost coming tomorrow to spruce up the area around the run :D I've collected 2 bales of hemcore for the WIR An Ocado shop booked for the day before 'run building day' so the run building team have yummy food to eat (and greens and sweetcorn for the girls) All assistants are confirmed.......me as chief builder DS and mate are run panel luggers and holders and Mum is chief chicken supervisor and tea maker

 

Now I just need to order sunny weather

[Falkor]

Palmer was wondering with all the nice weather when your Wir was imminently to be finished

It looks really nice and big and congratulations to the Team...

I like your big door and I am interested how you butted the cube up as thats what i had in mind..Lisa one of the other omleters I have seen some pics of her cube similarly parked up to the run. Exactly as i hope to do mine.

 

The rest of my wood arrived today (typical off most of sunny last week now its going to rain and I have got to work) SO will try to crack on with it end of this week prior to

 

I am debating whether its off to cambridge poultry or Thornes now for two more to join my when they turn up..but am reading your info on the introductions of new stock. So many locals here v pleased with Thornes..

 

Bet u are glad to have it all finished

 

indie

 

With ALL the nice weather we were having I was wondering too but I have learnt that you can`t rush FIL so it was slowly slowly. Although the arrival of the new chooks on Saturday meant that it HAD to be done ASAP so we all worked really hard on Sunday AND i managed to good Mothering Sunday lunch for us all

 

My cube is just butted up to the run. The front frame is level and so is the cube front thanks to OH laying those slabs so perfectly (sucking up here a bit). This has resulted in a very neat and secure seal. FIL built the frame and added the horizontal bits just by measuring the height of the cube base to the floor and then the top of the door.

 

DO be mindful of the cube ladder as this should fit to the front of the cube and has a bit that goes under the cube when set up as normal however as we have the cross beam in the way this is not possible. Cookies wonderful OH has solved this problem with a shelf stylee arrrangement. Will see if I can find the pics she sent me although she has probably sent them already!

 

Have Thornes got stock in then?

[Redwing]

Well done ANH and Em, smashing runs I cant believe you are making a table yourself ANH

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I cant believe you are making a table yourself ANH

 

I'm cheating a bit as I already have a metal frame with legs . I have to fit the pallet on so it doesn't move and I also need to make a ladder and an extra bit so the girls don't fall through a gap!

[mostin]

Just to let you know that before OH went away for a week on business he anchored down the tarpaulin a bit more on our new WIR. Good job he did as I'm sure it was gale force here last night .

 

It's all holding firm though, so I'll be able to give him good news when he phones home for a "run report" today .

[Falkor]

Well one good thing about this nasty weather is that we have been able to test the roof for leaks.

 

And we DO have a leak. Easily solved, just got to rejig a small piece of the plastic sheet. We got our overlapping and underlapping wrong

[wiblick]

Walk in Run panels arrived today, will take pics later. My Dad sat in for the delivery. We planned to have a 4 sided run but my Dad says "would you not fix it to the garden wall and have one twice as long?"... my OHs response? "when I'm dead and buried"....

[Falkor]

Walk in Run panels arrived today, will take pics later. My Dad sat in for the delivery. We planned to have a 4 sided run but my Dad says "would you not fix it to the garden wall and have one twice as long?"... my OHs response? "when I'm dead and buried"....

 

Ignore OH, dad is ALWAYS right!

[wiblick]

Ignore OH, dad is ALWAYS right!

 

one should always respect ones elders after all...

[Falkor]

Ignore OH, dad is ALWAYS right!

 

one should always respect ones elders after all...

 

 

ABSOLUTLEY! When does building begin?

[wiblick]

Building doesn't start until Easter! But since my hens won't be ready until May I suppose that's okay. But don't you know I'm going to spend a lot of time on eglu and dust bath placement and seeing how weather exposed it all is etc. Strategic placement of sunshade will be achieved before arrival of girls!

 

Pic of hen run panels...

 

much drumming of fingers!

[Ain't Nobody Here]

We planned to have a 4 sided run but my Dad says "would you not fix it to the garden wall and have one twice as long?"... my OHs response? "when I'm dead and buried"....

 

. Just be warned, we built ours onto a garage wall which was not quite straight and it did cause a few problems. It would definitely be easier building a 4 sided run.

 

I've built my table and ladder . What do you think? The girls had varying degrees of success with the ladder - Maisie got up without being spotted, Milly flew up and Molly had to be helped up . Still got the bench, logs and hemcore to put in but it's taking shape .

 

[abwsco]

I haven't checked this thread out for ages so just want to say WOW. I can't believe the progress that you've all made. Some fantastic runs

[Chickvic]

That looks great ANH! Wiblick how can you stand the tension? I'd be out there half cocked just to get it done

[wiblick]

our garden wall is very higgeldy piggeldy and leaning rather ominously (luckily towards next door!), so perhaps best to have a free standing run.

 

It's hard to wait I can't deny that, I've been planning this since January 1st.

 

I love your run ANH. And the ladder is very cool. I got two cube ladders to build attach to our tables, but I think I'll put a sheet of wood behind them as the spacings do seem rather large. I'll have to keep mine only about 18" off the ground as I'm not very tall and need to be 'above' the doors to open them.

 

My purple eglu also turns out to have some minor faults, like the washer missing on the egg port door handle which makes it harder to open, I only noticed because the blue eglu has one and is far easier to open.

 

I've loved looking at everyone else's progress.

[atsw]

... Still got the bench, logs and hemcore to put in but it's taking shape.

Oh, that's looking really great, well done indeed . I've now realised why you had a double height stable door, one opening for the chooks and the other for you to reach in and collect eggs from the elevated Eglu, very cool .

 

Congratulations on a job well done .

 

Andrew

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Thanks everyone .

 

Andrew & I have been helping Tony from Aviaries4u to develop his grub/glug feeding station. There have been a few issues with it which we're passing back to him. We seem to be developing 2 different types so I suggested starting a thread to find out which people would like.

 

I'll start a new thread but if you could all add your tuppence worth, I'm sure Tony would be very grateful (and you could add a fab feeding station to go with your nice new runs) .

[Guest]

ANH that looks really slick ..the ladder and it all looks so great

u must b well pleased

indie

[Cooks]

ANH that looks brilliant!

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Thank you .

 

I must have particularly daft chickens though, they're really struggling with the ladder . Will they learn how to use it? OH thinks it's too steep for them (I could move the table so it sits on the soil and would be much lower).

 

Molly even tried to get on the bar of the glug/grub holder - presumably to roost for the night .

[Seagazer]

ANH - your run looks fantastic. I especially like the way you matched the rungs of the ladder to your eglu colour

 

I've no idea about whether the ladder is too steep. The legs of your table look like they're metal so I suppose it wouldn't be easy to chop them down a bit?

 

Has the run been all you've dreamt about? Do the girls seem really happy?

 

Wiblick your run looks fantastic. What a great space your girls will have.

[Falkor]

Looks great ANH! I am very impressed!

 

re your ladder, my girls took two days to sort themselves out and were making a blooming racket while doing it but now they have settled into it and are up and down like yo yos!

Mine is not steep though as it is about five foot long. It will be exchanged for the cube ladder shortly.

 

Just popping over to your feeder post as FIL made my feeding stations yesterday

[hillfamily]

Looking very impressive V :D

 

I've added by thoughts to the feeder station thread

[Ain't Nobody Here]

The legs of your table look like they're metal so I suppose it wouldn't be easy to chop them down a bit?

The legs are resting on the concrete base at the moment so I could move it to sit on the soil. The legs would sink in a bit and then it would be a good bit lower. Not sure how the metal would react being underground though and would it be a bit unstable? I might leave it a few days to see if they get the hang of it.

 

Has the run been all you've dreamt about? Do the girls seem really happy?

The run is fab although I'm itching to get the roof on (it's just too windy to attempt it) - every time it rains I worry they've got nowhere to shelter . The girls seem very happy but still stand at the side gazing adoringly at the world beyond . Once I get more Omlet netting I'll be able to give them much more space outside .

 

I'm so glad I've taken the turf out - all the poo just sat on top of it and looked & smelt revolting. I want to put the Hemcore in but will have to wait till the roof's on . The bench & logs will go in this afternoon .