Britannia Ovens (esp Range cookers) your experience

[midori]

We have decided to build a WIR for our girls but I have a few questions.

 

-Does anyone mind sharing pictures with us please?

 

-Any tips for materials/building? (we are ok at DIY but not experts!)

 

-Any tips on where to buy materials cost effectively?

 

Anything I might need ot know but haven't asked?

 

Thankyou!

[Ain't Nobody Here]

You won't regret the decision - best thing I ever did . Have a look here and here for ideas and inspiration .

 

We're not DIYers at all so I got mine from Tony at Aviaries4u - you'll see mine in my signature link . I can highly recommend him .

 

PS I've just popped this into Eglus, Cubes and Runs for you .

[Plum]

That will keep you busy for a bit, took me best part of a week to read.

[Redwing]

they are epic those threads

 

In short - mesh from Hills of Devon, weldmesh not chicken wire, 19g or 16g

 

wood 2 x 1.5 pressure treated, planks for keeping bedding in around the bottom

 

Make panels and screw together

 

Panels can be bought from ebay if you are turning pale at the thought of making them!

 

Roof - corrugated plastic

 

hinges, handles, bolts etc.. add quite a bit to the total

 

I built my own run, it is still standing 15 months later!

[Tutti Frutti]

...And cross members on the roof section to support the corrugated plastic, otherwise it'll sag and crack under the weight of rain (or snow, in my case!). Roof should have a slight incline (ours is 2cm every metre) so rainwater runs off it - guttering is a good idea. We replaced the corrugated plastic with Onduline and it's so much smarter - and bone dry with NO leaks!!!

 

We bought all the metal bits (hinges, screws etc) from ScrewFix - rediculously cheap, compared to B&Q and Wickes!

[chick wiggle]

Well if you've made it through those 'walk in run' threads you are no doubt boggle eyed with ideas now!

My OH made ours, and i agree, the best thing we ever did. It makes everything sooooo much easier and is much nicer for the girls too.

Good Luck and dont forget the progress piccies please!

[taz1967]

Sorry for Hi-Jacking.

 

What is the BEST of the BEST for the run flooring?? We too are in the process of building a WIR. We were going to go with a solid base (Block Pavers) and then spread Hemcore over the top of it for the CHickens to walk on. But. My neighbour has said that I should only be putting the Chickens onto soil so they can scratch around. I was going to be putting in a big tub with loads of soil/sand mix (whats best) for them to do that, but he has now got me thinking that Im going to be doing this all wrong.

 

Oh, and yes we do have Foxes every night run across the garden.

 

Cheers

Gary

11 days and counting lol

[Tutti Frutti]

I'd say, go for Hemcore on the floor and put soil in a separate dustbath (I bought this underbed storage tray but you can use plastic storage tubs, big plant pots, even tyres). Thing is, chooks produce their body weight in poo (just kiddin', it's actually more like double ) and the Hemcore will dry it out, make it easy to poo pick and keep the smell down. IMHO soil would just get really yucky and be horrendous to poo pick but I know some people slab around the edges of the run (to stop Mr Fox digging in) and leave soil in the middle...

[Cinnamon]

Mine is on soil,but has proper house-like concrete foundations so nothing can dig in.

We have Aubiose,but within 6 weeks it is very mixed with soil - I like them to be on soil for the grit & (very unlucky) worms!

I don't poo pick - I just dig the entire lot out about 4 times a year & put it on Freecycle,where it goes in a flash!

 

Picture of my set up in my signature below.The shape evolved because it is sited where we used to have a swimming pool

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I'm one who has slabs round the outside (properly laid with hardcore and stuff!) and soil in the middle. I have a good roof and also tarpaulins round the sides in bad weather so it never gets soggy and smelly. In fact, it's a bit on the dusty, dry side . They love digging big holes and dustbathing in it . I clear it out every couple of months and put down Stalosan F and new bedding. I don't need to poo pick much at all, just what's landed on the perches/bench etc.

[midori]

Thankyou all. Some fab runs everyone has!

 

I feel a little daunted, not least as I am not that great at DIY, but my husband makes me look like Handy Andy! We have managed to build the odd thing between us though, and we can't really afford to spend too much at the moment, so we can't justify buying one or anything.

 

The area we plan on using is down the side of our house, and is a gravelled area although it will overlap onto paving slabs/a pathway all along one side, so if we paving slab on the outside of the run at either end, should that make it fairly fox proof? We are using the boundary fence as one side of the run, it is double sided, (eg, we havea fence there and they have the same fence next door, against ours) and vertical planks of wood about 1/2" apart, so ventilated but sheltered. It should be cool in summer as the house and half the run will be in the shade, and protected from the elements in winter. We also get lots of spiders etc in the fence, so I thought the hens would like to peck about for these. The only downside to using that space is that although we can make the run 8m long, it will only be 1m 20 wide. Is that likely to get on my nerves after a while?!

 

We are going to visit B and Q and local timber merchants at the weekend to price up and maybe buy the materials and make a start.

 

I might be a bit excited... all the pictures of everyone else's lovely runs aren't helping....