Part 0800.0005

[the-real-tinkerbell]

im moving house tomorro and im dying to order my walk in run buttttttt

how big does it need to be ,i have 6 ladys but i would like room for a couple more

 

space isnt a problem as my new garden is moooossssssiiiiivvvee (i brought the house for the garden lol ) its 100ft by 40ft

 

i thought i would ask how big i need before i order the wrong size as im having quite a few blonde moments today lol

 

thanks in advance kellie-anne

[scarlettohara]

I asked the same questions recently but for 8 hybrids and 2 bantams - I have ordered 18x6x 6if that helps (cube on outside)

[bigmommasally]

If space is no problem then go as big as you can afford. You'll then have room to divide it up for introductions. Have a look at Janty's on page 5 of this thread it's amazing.

 

http://club.omlet.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=45544&hilit=Tony&start=60

 

[the-real-tinkerbell]

i love her run but size is not a problem however cash flow is after just buying the house lol

[bigmommasally]

Blooming lack of pennies always gets in the way doesn't it Go as big as you can afford then. Perhaps build it will the option to extend at a later date when pennies allow.

 

Good Luck with your house move tomorrow - anyway what are you doing on here shouldn't you be packing or something equally exciting?

[the-real-tinkerbell]

im all packed up but it will be a little while till i move in fully i need to get clean and decorated before my son can move in as he is oxygen dependent ,im dreding it to be honest but it has potential lol

 

the nettles in the garden are waist high

 

but then again its not the cost of the run ,ive been pricing up slabs today and they will be the killer

[Tutti Frutti]

What ever size you go for, I would stick with it being 6 feet (1.8m) deep (front to back)! Mine is 7ft deep (2.1m) and we couldn't get any Onduline (the tarmac'd, corrugated roofing) long enough to fit so we had to buy extra sheets and overlap them aghh

 

Also, if you buy panels from Aviaries 4U or Bay Animal Housing (or others), they are generally 6ft TALL so, if you stick to the run being 6ft DEEP, you have the option of buying exactly the same panels to use as the roof. So, you can extend your run just by buying 3 more panels (front, roof and back). With me? Clear as mud, I know

 

I've read on here about people going for 9ft deep and it works - but you'd just need vertical columns inside the run for support.

 

Good luck with your move!

 

PS the recommendation is 1sq metre per chook so for 8 birds, that's 4m x 1.8 should do it. You can add extra interest and space by putting benches in/perches up.

[bigmommasally]

 

the nettles in the garden are waist high

 

but then again its not the cost of the run ,ive been pricing up slabs today and they will be the killer

 

Maybe the chickens will eat the nettles and clear the garden for you

 

The slabs do work out very expensive - We've just slabbed our area ready to put a WIR on it and it cost over £1000 as we decided to match it to our other patio (This was for when we come to move as we figured the house would be easier to sell with matching patios - so there was a sort of method in our madness ) Other people on here have just slabbed round the edge leaving the middle as bare earth for the girls to scratch about in which would work out cheaper.

[the-real-tinkerbell]

i was thinking about strimming it and then letting the chickens loose will be alot cheaper that weedkiler for such a massive garden lol

[scarlettohara]

I can't afford to slab mine so have sacrificed our top lawn which we don't normally use - will be putting down a layer of bedmax as I have done in the cube run and it works really well