What makes a chicken coop easy to live with?

[Tammy27]

Right... the eglu is on its way.. what shall I do with it?? PLease dont confuse me as I am new to chickens.

Shall I put on the concrete? what shall I put in the run? Shall I put it on the grass, put anything in the run? Shall I move it around or keep it in one place? Shall I section of the garden and move it in there? so many options? Also whats this about garlic and red mite should I be overly concerned??

 

So confused !!!

[atsw]

Right... the eglu is on its way.. what shall I do with it?? PLease dont confuse me as I am new to chickens.

 

Shall I put on the concrete? What shall I put in the run? If you do put the whole thing on concrete you'll need some sort of bedding on the run floor. Use Aubiouse, Hemcore, Easibed, chipped bark, etc etc.

 

Shall I put it on the grass, put anything in the run? This is what most people do. The chickens just need food and water as a minimum. Perches and 'toys' can come later.

 

Shall I move it around or keep it in one place? If you don't move it the grass will only last a few weeks. It re-grows in the summer of course, but in Winter it will turn to mud and stay like that.

 

Shall I section of the garden and move it in there? It depends how much you value your garden plants. Chooks will eat anything tender and dig up most anything else!

 

Also whats this about garlic and red mite should I be overly concerned??? Not to start with. Garlic lessens the smell of the poo (you'll get lots of poo!). If you have an Eglu the chances of red mite are very small, as they hide in wood and there's no wood in a modern day Eglu.

Hope this helps!

 

Andrew

[Busybird]

If you put it on concrete then you help to protect the chickens from vermin (e.g rats) and predators that may try to dig in. You will, however need bedding (e.g. aubiose) and to cover the run (something like a shower curtain bungee'd down) to keep the bedding dry. The bedding will need to be changed every 6 weeks or so - the used stuff can be composted.

 

I have my run on grass which is now mud. I don't move it around as, when I did this, the whole chicken area became mud. I have had rats dig in so now keep bait boxes around the garden. I dig over the mud every couple of months (more regularly in winter) and put down Stalosan F (a sort of ground disinfectant). I also dig in garden lime from time to time. This helps to keep smells at bay.

 

When you get your chickens you will work out what is best for you. The Eglu and run are easy to move around so if a setup doesn't suit you can easily change it. Good luck!