How high can a chicken jump?

[jennym]

Good morning clucky friends,

 

After 4 weeks we are now on our 4th piece of ruined grass, and although we have lots of space it's pretty unsightly so it's time to get the permanent-run plan into gear.

 

We have a classic with a 3m run and we'd like to put it on wood chips, like the Omlet recommendation. According to the Omlet instructions we would just put down the edging, fill it, level it out and put the eglu & run on top - that's it. Sounds simple but surely a wiley fox could easily dig through/pull out the wood chips and crawl under? Surely that would be much easier than digging through the ground, which many on here have already discovered they can do! We were thinking of putting down chicken wire, then a layer of permeable fabric (the stuff you put down to stop weeds), pegging the coop down to this and THEN putting the woodchips inside and around the coop. This would mean there's a kind of raised floor inside the coop so they'd lose about 5 cm of height to the run.

 

Has anyone tried the Omlet solution? How did you secure the run? Does anyone see a problem with our solution? My apologies if there are threads about this but searching through the forums I couldn't find what I needed - most people seem to talk about (& show pictures of) their lovely walk-in runs!

 

Thanks,

Jen

[LunaKiw1]

We haven't used the Omlet approach but placed our Eglu Classic and 2m run straight onto gravel/beaten earth base. Then we used strips of wood about floor board width and attached these with plastic clothes pegs along the inside sides of the run. Then we scattered wood chips on the floor of the run. When they excavate and dig around inside the wood edges stop (most!) of the wood chips being flung outside.

[pips_pekins]

We were thinking of putting down chicken wire, then a layer of permeable fabric (the stuff you put down to stop weeds), pegging the coop down to this and THEN putting the woodchips inside and around the coop.

 

I have only had my chickens a short time so others will be along soon with much more experience but my first thought when I read this was that I would be wary of using chicken wire as I would worry that they might scratch through the fabric and hurt themselves on the wire. Also, I was considering permeable fabric for my WIR which is going to be sited on grass but have concerns about drainage and where the poo will go when hosing the chips down

 

I have my classic set up on the patio. I use wood chips and like LunaKiw1 have put wooden boards around the sides of the run to contain the chips but I have put them on the outside. I hold the wood in place with paving slabs which sit on the run skirt and are pushed tight up to the wood.

[jennym]

I would be wary of using chicken wire as I would worry that they might scratch through the fabric and hurt themselves on the wire.

 

Sorry, not really chicken wire. We're planning to use 19-guage wire - with PVC coating, most likely, so hopefully it won't hurt their feet or rust.

 

have concerns about drainage and where the poo will go when hosing the chips down

 

Yes, I worry about this too. But I'm not sure having on paving stones (for example) would be any better - where would the poo go then? Does it drain well when it's on your patio (I'm assuming that's either wood or stone)?

 

We haven't used the Omlet approach but placed our Eglu Classic and 2m run straight onto gravel/beaten earth base. Then we used strips of wood about floor board width and attached these with plastic clothes pegs along the inside sides of the run. Then we scattered wood chips on the floor of the run. When they excavate and dig around inside the wood edges stop (most!) of the wood chips being flung outside.

 

This was our original plan - some sort of edging INSIDE the run, then fill it with wood chips. Then we could peg the run down as we do now, tight to the ground with lots of tent pegs. I still like this idea but OH doesn't, for some reason - I think he likes the look of it in the omlet pictures .

 

Thanks for your replies, I have plenty to think about!

[Egluntyne]

Having an Eglu on slabs is dead easy. When you dig it all out, you hose the slabs down and the job is done.

[ThinkingChickens]

Well, we don't have foxes here in CA, at least not that I've seen. We have chicken wire, then a layer of gravel and then back filled with dirty. Our girls have turned a lot of the dirt and gravel but have never gotten as far down as the chicken wire. I think when we build our WIR we'll probably do wire, then landscape fabric then sand about six inches deep. At least that's the current plan.

[pips_pekins]

[

have concerns about drainage and where the poo will go when hosing the chips down

 

Yes, I worry about this too. But I'm not sure having on paving stones (for example) would be any better - where would the poo go then? Does it drain well when it's on your patio (I'm assuming that's either wood or stone)?

 

 

Hi. Sorry for the delay in replying. I gave the eglu and run a really good clean on Sunday and checked on this as I was doing it so I could let you know

 

I spray the chips with the hose which is quite powerful but it is not a jet washer. Whilst spraying I rake the chips up a bit to ensure that they all get washed. Everything just runs off and drains away and I keep spraying until I am happy it is clean. I am not sure if my thinking is correct with the fabric as obviously it does allow for drainage of water but what about anything else? When I was researching this, I read that quite a few people kept their runs on slabs and to me that made sense. When I change the chips, I will use the garden broom to give it a good scrub and then replace with new chips.

 

Everyone has a different way of doing things. For me, this was the best option. It has certainly proved very easy to manage. Let us know what you decide and don't forget photos!

[jennym]

I gave the eglu and run a really good clean on Sunday and checked on this as I was doing it so I could let you know

 

Aw, thanks Pips! It sounds like you have a good, low-maintenance system. I'm leaning towards slabs & wood chips, now I just need to figure out how to do the edging - inside/outside run with just the run filled with chips, or on the edge of the slabs with the whole area filled (omlet-style). Decisions, decisions

 

Jen

[Lavenders_Blue]

I'm not sure how this would with an eglu coop and run, but for my wooden coop and run, hubby made me a run base with the exact same dimensions as the coop and run, so that they stand on the base. The base is a wooden frame about 6" deep and we have stapled weldmesh onto the bottom. This means when the run is shut nothing can (fingers crossed etc) dig in. We fill the base with woodchips/bedmax mainly to keep the girls' feet off the weldmesh. It works well for us and keeps Mr Ratty out brilliantly (thankfully not yet tested against Mr Fox).

[squiffs]

I've placed my eglu on my patio with a thick pondliner fabric (£20 B&Q) underneath it, some broken up paving slabs along the skirt of the run(to act as a buffer and to weigh the skirt down in case the foxes are super determined) and have got 5 50litre bags of hardwood beech woodchip from my local compost co-op which I will fill the run with tonight. I didn't have the money or the resources to use the omlet method - edging in my price range was flimsy and I had nowhere to attach the edging to to keep it from blowing over/away. I figure this will keep maintenance down, the pondliner drains off easily - it rained earlier this week and there were a few tiny puddles left on the pondliner but it didn't fill up and the wet spots soon disappeared, and I've got a shower curtain to go over the run so that will minimise water retention in the run anyway. The pondliner will also act as a bit of a buffer for the patio so it doesn't get ruined by chicken scratches.

 

 

All in all setting up the run cost me £50 - £20 for pondliner, £25 for woodchips, £5 for shower curtain and freecycle got me some large paving slabs. This is much cheaper for us than other options that were open to us.

[Henchanted]

I have used a plastic lawn edging strip like this, http://www.primrose-london.co.uk/images/GS0071B.jpg/url] along the run to stop too much flooring escaping.

[pips_pekins]

freecycle got me some large paving slabs

 

Brilliant! Got some free from a neighbour who was changing their garden layout but not enough. Will check freecycle

 

I have used a plastic lawn edging strip like this, http://www.primrose-london.co.uk/images/GS0071B.jpg/url] along the run to stop too much flooring escaping.

 

I have the bits that went round the bottom of our old kitchen cupboards . They look a bit tatty but the girls don't mind. I explained that shabby chic was in . My girls are so messy that, as you say Henchanted, it only really prevents too much flooring escaping!

 

inside/outside run with just the run filled with chips, or on the edge of the slabs with the whole area filled (omlet-style)Jen

 

I have put mine on the outside but only because I have the 3m run with the Classic and I could not crawl far enough inside the run. It also makes it a bit easier for me to remove them for cleaning and pushing stray chips back in etc.

 

It sounds like you have a good, low-maintenance system.Jen

 

Which I feel it is and which is why I got the Eglu in the first place. Due to minor health issues I have problems with some physical tasks but really wanted chickens. I thought that it would be too much for me to manage so did lots of research first to find out about the Eglus. Thankfully, with the help of DH, I am able to manage it pretty well and am really enjoying it. Not sure if I am doing it right yet but it seems to work for us all so far