Sooo much pooping

[Stedic]

Hello all,

 

I've finally decided. I'm going to finish this pesky night shift, sleep for a bit and then....order my WIR!

 

I've decided on a 9ft x 6ft run with an Onduline roof from Chirpy Coops as it seems to match my requirements without costing the earth. I did give Aviaries for you a ring, but the quote was so much higher that I can't justify it (at the moment!).

 

The plan is to slab the area with leftover slabs that I have around the garden and then put the run onto them. I haven't really decided which flooring I'll use. At the moment I use woodchips on soil, which do get a bit grim in the rain but last for ages, despite being wet. I use Easibed inside their house as a petshop about 2 mins away stocks it. I'm a tad concerned that it'd get wet from sideways rain though.

 

To start with I'll put my two girls in the WIR with their Eglu, and hopefully find them some ex-batt friends to play with in a few weeks (I can use the eglu run with a rabbit hutch type house to isolate them for a bit as they build their strength).

 

Exciting!

 

And, not that I can have more....how many could I squeeze into a 9 x 6 run, if, on the off chance, I wanted some more and could add more Eglus or a Cube.

 

Photos to follow!

[Mercedes55]

Good for you, I really think a WIR is the way to go as the runs that come with the Eglu are very hard to keep clean and you can't have many hens in them. As for what to put on the floor, I think it would depend on how wet it gets. We were going to get a load of aubiose and put that in ours when it's done, but until we find out how wet it gets we are going to wait. I know a roof does keep a WIR drier but I think without putting stuff on the side the prevailing wind will ensure the rain gets in. Look forward to seeing pics of yours when you have it

[chicken bark]

Good luck with the WIR.

 

I think the minimum requirement is 10 sq ft per hen, so you'd manage to squeeze 5 and a bit into that run if my maths is right. Bantams obviously need less space and you could add cube run bits to make the space bigger too. Of course it all depends on how much FR time they have too.

[Plum]

Congratulations, I look forward to seeing it and your new rescues

[batcatz]

fab! You won't regret it.