Chicken bald back

[Space Chick]

OK, this is where you run in terror when I tell you all the price of my WIR!!!

 

The Tony run itself was just under £800 including the roof, guttering, delivery and a few "extra" bits like the inner double doors, perch, glug and grub holder.

 

The BIG expense was the ground works, for those of you that have followed the progress it was quite considerable.

 

Firstly, due to my uneven garden, the whole side of my WIR spot had to be elevated to the same level (so I now have a lower and upper path to my WIR which is )

 

Photos of progress start on Page 16 or 17, virtually every day is documented

 

I also had the permanent back wall built, and I had to have a raised area the same height for my Cube to sit on the feed into the run itself. I had a path built all the way around, and all the inside of the run is slabbed. It was quite a considerable amount of work that ended up costing £2200, and was about 10 man days work (including building the Tony run on top) and boy did they work hard

 

So total cost for my 18ft by 6ft WIR was £3000

 

But do you know what, when I watch my girls scratch around in it, and seem so contented, it is worth every single penny, who needs a summer holiday anyway (as I chose a WIR over a holiday as we couldn't afford to do both, I have a very wonderful and understanding husband )

Edited August 5, 2009 by Guest

[Cooks]

wow £3000 is a huge layout, but like you say you cant really put a price of their happiness can you.

 

Em I am glad you have a good price and a set date...I hate to think how many more chooks you can get in the WIR then. :lol: no orp is safe.........

[Space Chick]

I do get the odd sarcastic comments from OH occasionally saying that they should be laying Golden or Faberge eggs the price they cost us

[Falkor]

wow £3000 is a huge layout, but like you say you cant really put a price of their happiness can you.

 

Em I am glad you have a good price and a set date...I hate to think how many more chooks you can get in the WIR then. :lol: no orp is safe.........

 

Well def no more this year.....unless there is an Orp in desperate need of a home of course! Remember Lynsey...ROCK!!!!!!!

 

Debs that is a big cost but I am with you...I would rather have happy chooks and spend my hols with them in the garden! You could set up a tent inside your WIR and holiday with them!

[Cooks]

sorry Em ... I will try to be stronger for you and less of a bad influence in furture

[Redwing]

So total cost for my 18ft by 6ft WIR was £3000

 

 

I don't think I am reading this right, I think I have something crazy in my eye

 

Joking apart that run is going to last forever so must be worth the money, if you get fed up of the chooks you will have a lovely patio

[Janty]

I have just had an (informal) quote to have a concrete base laid for the WIR. It will be 2.75m x 6.5m (21ft x 9ft), and includes levelling the sloping ground (but does not include the cost of removing the dug out earth)...

 

 

£1200-£1500

 

Is this normal!?!?! I have never had anything like this done before, so have nothing to compare it to. The guy was recommended by my neighbour, and I have no reason to think that he is not a decent workman (I have seen the work he did for my neighbour). But WOW!

 

Any thoughts please?

 

My concrete base for the WIR which is just short of 5mtrs x 7mtrs was about £650. However, that was for perimeter foundations that are about 12cm above the ground and about 30 cm wide. I didn't want a slab of concrete across the whole base.

[Space Chick]

So total cost for my 18ft by 6ft WIR was £3000

 

 

I don't think I am reading this right, I think I have something crazy in my eye

 

Joking apart that run is going to last forever so must be worth the money, if you get fed up of the chooks you will have a lovely patio

 

Thats what the builder said But get fed up of chooks Such a thing is not possible

[Falkor]

Right I am off outside to lay slabs for the extension and bantam wing....who wants pics of EACH slab as it goes down?! ......

 

No-one??????? Ok

[Lewis]

Right I am off outside to lay slabs for the extension and bantam wing....who wants pics of EACH slab as it goes down?! ......

 

No-one??????? Ok

Go on then!

[Chickvic]

Yep - you've twisted my arm! We'll look at every slab

[Space Chick]

Is the first slab down yet Em.

 

Wheres the progress pictures

 

Pictures, pictures, we want pictures

[Falkor]

Come back in for a light beveridge (Pimms O'clock!)

 

I have laid 5 normal sized slabs and 2 of the huge thick ex council slabs.......I am quite proud of myself! OK so there are a few little gaps but they will be inside the run and under the aubiose so won`t be seen!

 

I was joking about the slab by slab pics!

 

Well I spose I best get back to it, don`t want to waste the sunshine....WIR extension being delivered and built in 7 days and counting!

[Lewis]

I was joking about the slab by slab pics!

 

 

 

 

 

[Space Chick]

Message to Em

 

BOO!!!!! We want slab pictures, we want slab pictures

 

[Falkor]

Message to Em

 

BOO!!!!! We want slab pictures, we want slab pictures

 

 

Ok OK!!!!

 

I have finished for the day.......here they are......

I did the five at the front and added another row at the back of the cube... PHEW, I am pooped!

 

More to go tomorrow as the extension will be up to the edge of the slabs at the back of cube currently so Cube needs new hard standing to stand on!

 

Had to move Rum and Raison into the WIR as they were on the new cube site....they are currently shouting their little heads off in protest

 

And here is a picture of Gin and OSH "helping" me.....nearly decapitated OSH a few times as she kept darting her head in and out to get the worms

 

And here is a picture of Molly the devel cat you clearly did not want me to get at the layers pellets in the tubs underneath her!

Edited July 25, 2009 by Guest

[Lewis]

Looks good They'll love it when its extended.

 

at Molly!!

[Redwing]

That is some excellent slabbage

[Cooks]

waaahey matey, you've been working hard!

[Space Chick]

Good work Em

[Chickvic]

Well done

[chickencam]

My new house and WIR just before completion. It is a family effort from the design to the paint stage

 

 

4 out of 5 of the new residents having a look round

 

[Rachel33pink]

WOW! I came in to turn the pc off and go to bed and got side tracked into readig 22 pages of WIR's (didn't even know that phrase 1 hour ago!!). They are all so impressive and I fel I know Tony really well .

 

Just wondering about cleaning... If I chose slabs around the edge to put the run on and left soil in the middle do you just scoop up the poo or leave it to "soak" into the ground? Is auboise preferable to chipped bark? Would this be fox proof as we know have a visitor?

 

I am turning this off now before i get tempted to look at avaries 4 u!!

[Falkor]

WOW! I came in to turn the pc off and go to bed and got side tracked into readig 22 pages of WIR's (didn't even know that phrase 1 hour ago!!). They are all so impressive and I fel I know Tony really well .

 

Just wondering about cleaning... If I chose slabs around the edge to put the run on and left soil in the middle do you just scoop up the poo or leave it to "soak" into the ground? Is auboise preferable to chipped bark? Would this be fox proof as we know have a visitor?

 

I am turning this off now before i get tempted to look at avaries 4 u!!

 

this is the SECOND thread on WIR there are 97 pages in the first!!! If you look a little further down the page it should be stickyfied.

 

Slabs arouns the edge should make it fox proof from the bottom providing the slabs stick out a bit so they leave a skirt like the eglu run.

 

Cleaning....In my opinion Aubiose is preferable to bark as it soaks up the poo and composts down a lot quicker. You will need a roof on the WIR to use Aubiose as it will soak up ALL moisture. I do a clean out of the WIR every 6-8 weeks, shovel all the aubiose into old compost sacks and then pop it on Freecycle. It is normally gone within the hour.

Chipped bark can harbour mouldy spours apparently.

 

Avaries4u are great runs, some of us have made our own from scratch, some have brought in ready made panels. there are a fair few websites now that sell ready made runs and panels and also Ebay has a couple of sellers too.

[Rachel33pink]

Thank you Palmer07 - I'm not even going to look at the first thread! (BTW How do you choose a section to put into a quote?)

 

Good to know about the slabs - we've just undergone a big extention and I think my husband may have freaked about building a concrete base!

 

The cleaning also sounds manageable - does it all break down to compost then? I only use a small amount of hemcore in the eglu run if its very wet, which, thinking about it does "disappear"!

 

I'm off to check out websites!!