What makes a chicken coop easy to live with?

[JanTheDiver]

DH and I created a brand new playpen for the girls yesterday, they seem to be enjoying it in the sun

 

[Plum]

Looks great, and good position you can watch them from inside and vice versa. But yesterday What have you got superchooks they've cleared the grass already

[Snowy]

That looks great Jan!

[Ain't Nobody Here]

That looks great - lovely big area . Like the strategically placed slabs .

 

I was admiring your two-tone grass too .

[Redwing]

That looks brilliant

 

How did you get the wire so tight on those long bits?

[scarlettohara]

Fantastic ! My son has promised me a run after our fox attack so will show him these pictures Do you get foxes ? And what sort of posts should I ask for ? (sorry new to being single and just learning DIY )

[sadietoo]

Fantastic ! My son has promised me a run after our fox attack so will show him these pictures Do you get foxes ? And what sort of posts should I ask for ? (sorry new to being single and just learning DIY )

 

Sadly I think it would only work as fox protection if the fence was electrified or had a roof (ie a wir) scarlettohara

[scarlettohara]

Yes I had thought that and have looked at energisers

[JanTheDiver]

Answers to the many questions.

 

What have you got superchooks they've cleared the grass already

We have had the chooks since 31st August last year, hence the lack of grass ; we had a temporary plastic netting run up to yesterday

 

How did you get the wire so tight on those long bits?

We just pulled the wire tight over the the posts, wearing thick work gloves put your fingers through the mesh and pull. This probably would not work with thinner gauge wire. We used 1" square 16g wire. It moved quite easily.

 

And what sort of posts should I ask for ?

We bought the posts at Upsons Farm, Hatfield Peveral (http://www.upsonsfarm.co.uk), they are 3" stakes. They do them machined or rough, ours are machined. If you use these hire or buy a post rammer, it is virtually impossible to get the stakes in straight and whole without.

 

My son has promised me a run after our fox attack so will show him these pictures Do you get foxes ?

In 9 years of living here I have only seen two fox poos in the garden, so although we are near fields they don't seem to come onto the estate. We actually said yesterday that it could be electrified if we wanted to make it more fox proof but the girls are only allowed in the run when we are home. I work from home a lot so they will get to use it quite a bit over the summer.

 

Glad you all like it as much as the girls do

[chelsea]

Wow, how lovely and tidy. The blue run cover looks very swish. Nice dustbathing area for your girls.

[oneyolktoanother]

its great

[Seagazer]

That looks fantastic, what a great space they have to play in.

[debbie26pet]

wow that is very good, can i ask were u got the blue rubbery container from, i got 2 from asda yesterday but wanted them bigger but not deep.

[LittleOwl]

Looks brilliant!!

[JanTheDiver]

I actually got the blue low trug from our local farm/chicken place Upsons Farm (see link above) but you may be able to get them in garden centres too.

 

Hope this helps