Best liner/ bedding for drop tray

[chocchick]

I have quite a few questions for people who have already bought a run (want to buy rather than build).

 

Are there any other companies apart from Flytes of fancy and Aviaries4U?

If you sit the frame on paving slabs round the edge of a WIR does the weight of the frame hold it still on the slabs?

What's the most foxproof design in terms of securing to the floor, skirts and flooring? Would you go for the Aviaries4U substrate board and/or paving slabs or even wire? Would you need a skirt?

How did you make perches-we'd like it to be more 3D.

 

Aviaries4U-is the substrate board just a piece of wood round the edges of the run?

Has anyone got any of the customisations-are they worth it?

Did you assemble yourself? We are out of the catchment area for assembly, might actually be cheaper to drive and collect than post

 

I look forward to your replies, this is my belated birthday present and new home for 2 pampered and an

Maybe more chickens when the time is right.....

[atsw]

I have quite a few questions for people who have already bought a run (want to buy rather than build).

 

Are there any other companies apart from Flytes of fancy and Aviaries4U?

Those were the only two I considered.

 

If you sit the frame on paving slabs round the edge of a WIR does the weight of the frame hold it still on the slabs?

Mine weighs about 150Kg. It's not moved since being installed in February, even in quite high winds soon after construction.

 

What's the most foxproof design in terms of securing to the floor, skirts and flooring?

A solid floor.

 

Would you go for the Aviaries4U substrate board and/or paving slabs or even wire? Would you need a skirt?

The substrate board stops the materials being kicked out, it's a standard part of an A4U run.

 

How did you make perches-we'd like it to be more 3D.

I have an old bench in mine. Have a look at ANH's posts and pictures.

 

Aviaries4U-is the substrate board just a piece of wood round the edges of the run?

No, it's an integral part of each panel.

 

Has anyone got any of the customisations-are they worth it?

Only the roof. Did my own gutters.

 

Did you assemble yourself? We are out of the catchment area for assembly, might actually be cheaper to drive and collect than post

Built it myself - see *here* for a slideshow

I've linked to this in many posts, but have a look here for more details of my run.

 

Hope this helps

 

Andrew

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Can't answer all your questions but here's my tuppence worth for the ones I can .

 

If you sit the frame on paving slabs round the edge of a WIR does the weight of the frame hold it still on the slabs?

Yes I would imagine so but mine is attached to my garage wall so couldn't move anyway. I did find there was some give along my door side so screwed it to the slabs using a spare bit of wood.

 

What's the most foxproof design in terms of securing to the floor, skirts and flooring? Would you go for the Aviaries4U substrate board and/or paving slabs or even wire? Would you need a skirt?

Mine is on slabs (which were laid properly as a path) so it's totally foxproof.

 

How did you make perches-we'd like it to be more 3D.

Check out this thread . Latest version at the very end .

 

Aviaries4U-is the substrate board just a piece of wood round the edges of the run?

Andrew is your man for technical stuff .

 

Has anyone got any of the customisations-are they worth it?

I have a stable door (invented by me ). It's fantastic . Door opening inwards is good too. Roof and guttering are worthwhile additions.

 

Did you assemble yourself?

Got a friend's OH to do it. Easy if you're a DIYer, I reckon.

 

We are out of the catchment area for assembly, might actually be cheaper to drive and collect than post

I think delivery was about £70 or 80? Worth it for me for the distance.

 

.

[Janty]

 

 

 

We went for a deep concrete base all around the edge of the run with the centre filled with soil and aubiouse. The run sits on the outer edge of the concrete.

[Olly]

I've been quoted £40 delivery and £55 for construction. Haven't ordered yet because I'm still dithering over size/where to put it, but I will be going with Aviaries4U just because of the positive reviews on here.

 

I also like the fact that they are designed to work with the Eglu/Cube and so you can have hatches for removing the droppings tray or getting to the eggs, and so on.

 

And I am planning to put mine on a slab 'border' and trusting that the weight will be enough to keep it in place.

[Redwing]

You can get run panels on ebay if you are on a budget many people on here have made perfectly good runs with those

[debbier]

I built my Aviaries4U run very recently with the help of my teenaged son. I have a cordless drill/driver, which helped. The panels are very solid and well constructed, with decent instructions.

 

We had it in a temporary position for a few weeks, then moved it across (one person on each corner: it wasn't far , and was flat ground!) once the ground had been prepared. It's now resting on one solid cast concrete edge (there already) and three sides which are 18" square slabs. These weren't fixed down with mortar: I figured I'd try it without first as it should be ok. It's been down only a couple of weeks but is looking good.

 

 

 

I have the table, a roof, and an eglu port door. This definitely makes it easier to get the eglu out to clean without fear of the chickens getting out (or my dog getting in!). It's so much better than my old eglu + run on the lawn setup.

 

More pics in my blog (in sig).

[Janty]

 

And I am planning to put mine on a slab 'border' and trusting that the weight will be enough to keep it in place.

 

I can give you the name of my builder if you want a similar base to ours. He lives on the Suffolk/Essex border.

[chocchick]

Thanks for all the replies. Need to look at with OH and think about the base. I do like the Aviaries4U runs and all the modifications.

 

Like the perches (and chickens on perches ).

[welovemarmite]

my avaries 4 u is coming on friday with tony putting it up. We went to him beacuse of all the positive feedback on here. My husband rang him with all our questions and he was really helpful. We have railway sleepers around the edge a couple deep and the centre is council strength reclaimed slabs so if a fox can get into it i will be running as fast as i can.....

 

we have gone for a roof and guttering and a hold for the cube door as we are having out cube on the outside. Will let you know how it goes - with pics - as soon as i can...

[Olly]

Thanks for the offer, Janty, I was planning to lay slabs on sand and hope that will be enough. I'm trying to keep the cost down, although your base looks marvellous.

[welovemarmite]

our slabs are on a dry sand and cement mix with 8 parts sand and one part cement.

[welovemarmite]

all i can say is buy buy buy from avaries 4u. Tony came and put ours up today. Fantastic product, blends in well and given that our garden is quite small it doesnt take it over. Tony is a lovely bloke and his customer service is second to none!

[Olly]

That's great to hear, thanks. I really want to order but I need to do various other things in the garden first.

 

I'm very envious that you've got yours - we need to see some pictures!

[Ain't Nobody Here]

You'll see them here, Olly .

 

Marmite, how come yours is a lovely stained dark colour ? Did you do that yourselves?

[chocchick]

More questions, will look at photos in a bit.

 

If the eglu is in the run do you still lock it at night or leave the door open, or shut but unlocked so the chickens can push their way out?

Can the eglu fit through the door or would I need to add an access panel to remove and clean (or do you clear the bedding and wash in the run)?

What dimensions have you chosen for an eglu run? I have 2 chickens but hope for maybe 3-4 (unless OH fancies buying me a cube or other eglu )

 

edit: Andrew those photos are very helpful and can get an idea of size and how to do paving slabs

Can you hang the grub and glub vertically or does the feeder (which I can see is sloped back) stop the contents spilling out?

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I do shut and lock my eglu every night but there's no real need to. I just like them to be cosy .

 

My eglu can fit through my door. It's really a 2 man job taking the whole eglu out but I tend to take the roof off, leave that in the run and remove the whole of the bottom section (which I can do by myself!). I can do a mini-clean without removing it from the run.

 

My WIR is 2.5m x 2m (the space was dictated by a tree - which perhaps I should have had taken out with hindsight ). Five is really the maximum I can fit in but I think they're perfectly happy with the space - with freeranging time too.

 

I have the older prototype A4u feeder. It works well although I think the weldmesh will probably break eventually as the feeders are heavy when full. I think the Ikea kitchen rail things are a great idea.

[chocchick]

I do shut and lock my eglu every night but there's no real need to. I just like them to be cosy .

 

Nothing wrong with that I like the photos and your garden looks really neat. We're debating having a hole in the slabs in the middle too. Andrew's looks so clean and easier to clean on paving but I know they like digging.

 

We're considering paving over one lawn and getting a little carried away with the paving. I think this is the first step in tackling an unmanageable garden. Could be on a longer time scale than we thought with the paving and actual time we have for working on it.

 

I think we will go bigger as they will spend most/all their time in the run and they will be able to flap round a lot more if we put in some perches. If we got some omlet netting I can see a stable door or separate pop hole and freeranging hole would be good.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I wonder if it's actually easier (cleaning-wise) to have most of the run on soil . You then don't have anything to wash or scrub down. The bedding gets raked over constantly by the girls and as long as you put garden lime and a disinfectant down, it won't harbour any nasties. (I do poo pick daily but it's not a hassle at all.)

[atsw]

Andrew, can you hang the grub and glub vertically or does the feeder (which I can see is sloped back) stop the contents spilling out?

The stand can go vertical, in which case you'd probably want to remove the legs and attach it to the run frame (as ANH does). Mines free-standing, so has the slope created by the legs. Note that I had to put wires from the free-standing unit to the side of the run to stop the girls running behind it and knocking everything over!

 

Cleaning my WIR is easy. I simply brush all the Aubiose to one end and into a wheel barrow, then into the compost heap. A sweep with a stiff yard brush gets the slabs clean where poo has got stuck, then a quick wash down with disinfectant before putting new Aubiose in. All very easy.

 

Andrew

[Janty]

I have soil and aubiose in the centre of mine and it works brilliantly. We just rake out the aubiose and straw (when they trash the bales that we put in for them) and replace it with new stuff. the only scrubbing we have to do is the concrete that the run sits on around the perimeter.

 

I don't close mine up at all now. they sleep anywhere and everywhere in the WIR. The roof is a firm favourite at the moment with Ronnie Moran, Paisley and the pekins.