What makes a chicken coop easy to live with?

[goodinparts]

OK...so after many weeks of dithering/inertia I seem to have convinced OH that more chickens are on the way and yesterday he moved a pile of paving slabs into the chicken's "garden" prior to putting them down for the benefit of the feathery feet that I hope will soon be scratching about the garden...

Now we just have to decide who is getting which housing.

I currently have 3 hybrids in a with extension: they are fine in there as they get out & about nearly every day...but it would in many ways make more sense to move them into the (which also has an extended run) - specially if I can work out a way of dividing it so that I can introduce a couple of LF faverolles whom I hope to house with the hybrids eventually....

This will leave the free for some bantams - but how many could I fit in there? My MoreHens disease is pretty bad at the moment and Reading bantam show has been ringed on the calendar for weeks...I KNOW I'll want at least 4...maybe even 5 or 6...So perhaps I should leave my hybrids in the go, forget about faverolles til I lose a hybrid & sort out the intros as best I can then - as I'm sure I could easily fit 6 bantams into the cube with extensions. What do you all think? I need to decide fairly rapidly as OH is only around at w'ends & the paving needs to be down before the birds arrive....

I'm planning woodchip or aubiose on the paving, whichever set up I use, and extensive use of tarpaulins to keep things dry. Though the hen garden is bare earth (under some conifers, so nothing will grow) it has mostly stayed pretty dry through the winter so I'm not TOO worried about poor conditions for feathery legs.

[Redwing]

If you dont go for large Orpington or Brahma bantams then you's get four or five bantams in the Go with extension

 

Thats what I would personally do, the cube would be more suitable for the large fowl and would give you the flexibilty to add those Favs later on

[Lewis]

I'd use the Go for the banties and cube for the hybrids

 

You'll get a fair few banties in there, esp with the extension on

[goodinparts]

Success!

I moved the hybrids into the on Wednesday as I'm away all next week so free ranging time will be minimal to non- existant...Day 1 none of them made it up the stairs to bed, so I found myself on my tummy in the mud trying to catch chooks in the dark

Day 2 the speckledy, Broody Brigid, plus Barbara the bluebelle negotiated the stairs to bed while Margot was so freaked out that she couldn't even find her way into the run at bedtime...More diving for chooks in the dark......

Tonight ALL THREE were safely tucked up in bed.

OK Brigid roosts in the nesting box, but that was bound to happen, given her history.......so all in all, operation change-over has been successfully accomplished.

 

Next stop - BANTAMS

[Plum]

Yeh, love bantams but which ones?

[goodinparts]

Which ones? That is, indeed, the question...

The hope is to come home from Reading next Sunday with a frizzle (which has to be black - this being the first & only variety of chicken to excite OH...), a buff or partridge Pekin & a couple of Wyandottes....

But I'm open to Sussex bantams or sablepoots or........

 

For some reason I don't actually like bantam faverolles, though LF favs are at the top of my wish-list there - but we'll see what happens. If not Reading, them I'm off on a shopping spree soooooooooooon

[Lewis]

Good news K!!!

[daxigirl]

Hooray for you. Just been to an auction and am in love with the modern game bantams, they're so tiny. My dachshund would think the cockerels were squeaky toys when they crowed.

[Purplemaniacs]

Goodinparts your plan is quite similar to mine, I have got my hybrids in the cube with the WIR, I am going to use my eglu for the exbatts that I hope to get next month and once they are integrated with the others I plan on gettting some bantams for the eglu.

 

I look forward to hearing what you get from Reading.

 

When I moved my girls into the cube they managed the ladder with no problems although I did put a big up-turned flower pot at the base of the ladder to help them on their way.

 

Chrissie

[Janty]

Why don't you ask if anybody is selling a door and extra run section. That way you can easily separate the two LF groups for intros. There would be the main door for you to gain access into the new group and then a second door for you to get into the older girls.