My eco solution to rat problems

[Chortle Chook]

Think of it this way - Introducing your chooks to their new WIR will be something worth getting back from your hols for.

[Hayleybug]

Well done Hayleybug and Hayleybug OH. It is all looking very neat ... but you'll have to keep that hedge cut if you are to get to your compost bin

 

(For re-sizing pictures from photobucket - load up your picture, then double click on it so you get just that one picture, hover your mouse near the top of your picture and a button saying 'resize' comes up. Select 320 x 240 and click the confirmation button when the 'are you sure' message appears. Then click on the IMG code box on the right which will copy the code that you can then paste (ctrl V) into your Omlet post. )

thanks, will definitely be keeping on top of the hedge trimming now! and thanks for the pic tips, will try again when i get the next stage done (it seems to have chopped off the right hand side of the pics as i posted them above, but you get the general idea!)

OH got many brownie points for this, im sure if i'd done it by myself i wouldnt have taken so long over it (i have a short attention span) and it wouldnt have looked half as good!

[Hayleybug]

The run is here, mostly painted, the tree is down and the slabs are going in as we speak, can't wait to post some pics!

oooh exciting!!! pics pics pics!!

[hopingforchickens]

Been a very busy bee today (well mainy hubby and dad!), the sides of the run are up, two of the children have been inside pretending to be chickens and it looks amazing!!! Need to finish painting the roof over the weekend, and rid the garden of a massive pile of soil and tree then the roof is going up hopefully on Tuesday

 

The girls won't be moving back in now until after our hols, which gives me the rest of next week to sort out some perches (which may also be painted a contrasting colour) and put the easybed etc down. I'm so happy, no pics at the mo, I want to post them all together if you don't mind, but I've taken lots along the way. Hope everyone else's runs are coming along well too, can't wait to see all your pics as well.

[Chortle Chook]

hopingforchickens painting perches may look pretty but might be a waste of time as by the time you have washed them loads and s"Ooops, word censored!"ed poo off them umpteen times, the colour will probably all come off On the other hand, if you want a 'shabby chick' look then you'd get one

[hopingforchickens]

Is it just me, or are plush super-delux WIRs very hard work to organise?! I'm exhausted and it's only half up!!! Hoping to get it finished by Tuesday (although probably not the guttering and water butt), then need to design perches etc (due notice taken re painted perches btw ).

 

My husband is about ready to kill me as the garden has been a bomb site for well over a fortnight now and we will more than likely have to reseed most of the grass. Good job we are going on holiday on Saturday - I think we will need it

[Chortle Chook]

At least the sun came out to help you. Your WIR will be the Grand Designs of chicken runs

[Hayleybug]

*twiddles fingers waiting for WIR*

ordered on the 9th, still no news (apart from when i emailed him to ask for an update yesterday, and he said i wasnt on the dispatch list yet as i 'only ordered on the 9th')

i did ask for a few changes to the design so i can imagine it is because of this that there is a bit more of a wait but he really should explain that on the ebay advert methinks!

im not a very patient person

[hopingforchickens]

Really hope it turns up for you soon, I know how agonising the wait can be! I think really the 10 day promise must be a bit unrealistic, but hopefully you should hear something really soon.

[hopingforchickens]

Well my epic battle with the excavated soil has been (almost) won! There was a guesstimated one and a half tonnes to move, it's been spread around the allotment, in flower beds and has been used to create an impromptu rockery type thing in the front garden. The rest for now has been hidden under a tarp on the patio to give my grass a chance of life. My hands are blistered, my arms ache (yes I have moved every single last bit on my own ) and now I'm off for a bath.

 

On a high note, the plastic is going on top of the roof of the run tomorrow night and hopefully by Friday night I will be posting pictures on here of the finished run

[Hayleybug]

Well my epic battle with the excavated soil has been (almost) won! There was a guesstimated one and a half tonnes to move, it's been spread around the allotment, in flower beds and has been used to create an impromptu rockery type thing in the front garden. The rest for now has been hidden under a tarp on the patio to give my grass a chance of life. My hands are blistered, my arms ache (yes I have moved every single last bit on my own ) and now I'm off for a bath.

 

On a high note, the plastic is going on top of the roof of the run tomorrow night and hopefully by Friday night I will be posting pictures on here of the finished run

oh well done! always more satisfying when you have the chance to get stuck in yourself! cant wait to see your pics

[hopingforchickens]

The run is finished! All I need to do now is the perches (which I fully intend to do tomorrow whilst I should be packing for my holiday ) and then tomorrow night I will finally post some pics, I promise - although there will be no chickens in them as they are staying at my lovely friend's house whilst we are away. PHEW!

 

Have you heard anymore Hayleybug?

[scubababe]

The run is finished! All I need to do now is the perches (which I fully intend to do tomorrow whilst I should be packing for my holiday ) and then tomorrow night I will finally post some pics, I promise - although there will be no chickens in them as they are staying at my lovely friend's house whilst we are away. PHEW!

 

Have you heard anymore Hayleybug?

 

 

Well done HFC. You must be soo chuffed. Piccies please & have a fab holiday

[Plum]

Well done getting it done, enjoy your holiday

[Chortle Chook]

Well done you hopingforchickens. Your holiday will be well deserved. Take a

Now the focus is on you Hayleybug

[hl050]

HELP Please

 

Has anyone put together a WIR with a sloping roof from PETPENS4U

 

they seem incapable of sending assembly instructions and i can't work out if i've got the incorrect/incomplete panels or just being daft. well not thaat daft as i don't have a complete set of side panels?

[hopingforchickens]

Taking pics for you now, I never got my instructions either x

[hl050]

brilliant THANK YOU

[hopingforchickens]

PM'd you x

[Plum]

You could work out by looking at the top edge and seeing the slope.

 

I put all the panels in order of size then divided in two and the shortest ones were back of run, the longest the front and the ones with a bit of a slope were the sides.

 

Then I matched the side ones into two piles and put luggage labels on them all so we wouldn't get mixed up again. We screwed them together but predrilled holes and added extra struts to the roof for strength as I though it would start bowing.

 

We did mistake the roof strutts for surplace wood and made a dustbath from it so had to go out and get more timber

 

I had to remake some sections because they hadn't understood my diagrams but it turned out well in the end.

[Hayleybug]

The run is finished! All I need to do now is the perches (which I fully intend to do tomorrow whilst I should be packing for my holiday ) and then tomorrow night I will finally post some pics, I promise - although there will be no chickens in them as they are staying at my lovely friend's house whilst we are away. PHEW!

 

Have you heard anymore Hayleybug?

no nothing!! am trying to resist the urge to email them again but its now been 15 days and nothing! how long did you have to wait in the end? i notice they have had another feedback on ebay since i bought mine saying that it is a great product but 'you will have to wait for it'! obviously judging by other posts on here im going to have to make up how it goes together aswell since no one seems to get any instructions!

[Hayleybug]

my OH just said 'it'll be here in the long run'

[hopingforchickens]

I can't remember exactly how long mine took, but it was over 14 working days... hope it comes soon, do you want to see why it's all worth it?...

 

 

this is my beautiful run!

 

 

this is my old house, with a lick of paint (I love it)

 

 

this is the shading on the door, that I hope will create a nice cool area under the house when the sun is hot

 

 

this is what I've designed to stop the easybed coming out!

 

 

this is the dustbath, mezzanine and perch area - the perch has been surrounded by shading, to give next door some privacy from my girls and the girls somewhere cosy to sleep!

 

 

this is the whole of the mezzanine, made with my old greenhouse shelving!

 

 

this was niggling me as it looked bare... so...

 

 

I made this!!! I'm going to put a walkway between that and the dustbath table

 

So there you have it, I hope you appreciate it has just taken me all night to do that, I'm supposed to be doing paperwork!

 

When I get back off my hols I will post some pics of the chooks actually in the run, along with the full story, it's been a bit of a slog!

 

I would also just like to say to anyone looking for inspiration for a new run, that I got mine off ebay from petpens4u, I'm really pleased with the end result, but they are not a company I could in all good conscience recommend...

[Plum]

It looks great you've done a good job . I wouldn't put the girls in there they'll only spoil it.

 

and what about a pic of your shed next door that looks interesting

[hopingforchickens]

It looks great you've done a good job . I wouldn't put the girls in there they'll only spoil it.

 

and what about a pic of your shed next door that looks interesting

 

Thankyou! The shed is a funny story, it was a kind of compromise for my husband, he is a West Brom fan so I am in the middle of painting it Baggies colours although it's not finished yet. The door will be blue and white stripes, but it's not finished yet.