Sooo much pooping

[ChrisEllis]

Time for a 'spring clean' and fix, wanted to refelt my coop roofs and also hammer in some nails to keep it tight, also wanted to find a good wood treatment that i can treat my coops with and leave them to air for the day. Does anyone know any good treatments, maybe tht are already chicken friendly or animal friendly, or if anyone has any good wood treatments but could tell me how long i would have to 'air' the coop for before the chickens moved back in >< rehoming them for in another coop for a few days wouldn't be a problem.

[Lewis]

Cuprinol is 'animal friendly' I think

Just have a look at the paint tins and it'll tell you - ours has a big sticker on the front.

I use it for everything - the wendy house, hutches, perches, run and wooden nesting box ...

 

If you let them into the run and do it in the morning, it shouldn't take very long to dry at all (couple of hours in the summer, longer in winter), and they'll be fine to go back in it that night

[ChrisEllis]

oh thankyou, was just the response i was looking for, sounds perfect

[Chicktastic]

Hi, when I had guinea pigs, i used to use an animal friendly stain from pets at home. Not sure weather they still have it but it might be worth a try x

[tom123]

I would think about using onduline instead of felt due to the risk of mites? Have a think

[ChrisEllis]

Never heard of onduline, what is it?

[Lewis]

Its a plasticcy(?) corrugated roof, they sell it in B&Q and wickes etc

 

[ChrisEllis]

Is that a picture of your coop? And it looks a good idea...but wont teh felt thats underneath it harber many red mites??

[Redwing]

Onduline is actually suggested as a far better replacement for felt when it comes to mites, its ideal for coops

[ChrisEllis]

So what steps should i take, is it a case of chiseling or removing the felt or whatever the rubber chippings are - i think its felt...from teh coop and then applying the plastic stuff?

[Lewis]

Is that a picture of your coop? And it looks a good idea...but wont teh felt thats underneath it harber many red mites??

Nope I wish I had that for a garden!

Google

 

You'd have to take the whole roof (so the felt and the wood its attached to) and just replace it with onduline

[ChrisEllis]

But then wouldnt there be a draft and it wuld be very cold ?

[Plum]

I think you may put a wood roof on and then the onduline for insulation

[ChrisEllis]

so if the felt thats already on comes off easy enough i cna keep the wood thats already there and just onduline voer it...save me making a whole new roof

[Jools]

But doesn't onduline over wood create the same red mite haven as felt over wood???

 

If you have enough overhang with the onduline, there shouldn't be a problem with draughts.

 

Otherwise if you want to put something else over the wood (once the felt is removed), what about corrugated plastic.

[Lewis]

Onduline goes on instead of wood and felt - as Jools said, you normally have quite a big overlap so no rain gets in, and don't usually have a problem with the cold.

 

The duck shed at the farm had similar and they were always fine, for the ducks it meant they didn't smell as much too

 

Do you have any housing suppliers by you? maybe go and have a look at how they've done their rooves and see if you can do similar?

[ChrisEllis]

Is onduline flat underneath, i think ive got the idea that it has bumps like corregated metal top and botton

[Lewis]

The whole thing is corrugated, not flat.

 

You can see there are gaps for ventilation there, with an overlap.

[ChrisEllis]

Oh i see. Yes that looks like a good idea. might have to fix some wood on tho - need to be able to lift the roof up and have it stay held up for when im cleaning out. I'll muster something up, anything has got to be better than the rubbihs felt at the moment.

[Lewis]

I don't have it so don't know, but it looks like that coop's onduline is screwed onto a frame that lifts up, if you look you can see the hinges on the front

[Redwing]

I always thought that Onduline should be fixed over a wooden roof - all the coops of that design I have seen have been like that, I understood its because Onduline is prone to bowing but how true that is I dont know!

 

All recommendations I have seen on this subject say remove the felt and fix Onduline to the wood

 

If you dont fix Onduline to the wood you might want to make sure there is mesh inside to stop rodents climbing in

[abwsco]

The onduline on our shed is fixed onto the supporting roof struts. Where there was a gap at the apex we covered that with the same mesh as we used on the WIR.

[ChrisEllis]

Ooooo so many possibilities, i think im going to take the felt off the roof...then sort the roof out...nail in to keep it tihgt as it was warping a bit, then treat it and stick the onduline on...how would i attach onduline to the roof? Because nails might crack the plastic and moisture would seep through?

[abwsco]

Chris, you get special nails called profile nails. Not sure if this pic will help

[ChrisEllis]

That looks pretty good to me gonna wait until theres a day that is dry then can get everything sorted!!