Pro - Does anyone else's nest boxes get soaked in rain?

[taffeta]

I cannot take the mud bath that is my back garden any longer and hate seeing my 3 girls muddy all the time. They have an extended cube run and a small area fenced off around it but even so it's filthy. So I have decided that it's time for a proper wooden WIR. Having read the various threads I wondered if it would be feasible to make one myself? Funds are low so buying one might be too expensive. If anyone has actually made their own can you advise me if it's a job that could be tackled by a total novice, and what kind of equipment would I require. My husband is quite handy at that sort of thing and has some basic tools but lacks the time to help much. Thanks so much for your help.

[scubababe]

Hi taffeta,

 

That could have been me writing your post I am embarking on building my own WIR. Just waiting to get some funds together for the bits!!

 

I know what I want to achieve & with my OH's skills and my limited skills we will do it. I am in the process of drawing up the plans, having like you, read so many different posts on here.

 

OH only has weekends and I only have limited time during the week so the build will take time..but it will be worth it in the end!

 

Good luck. It can be done AND YOU CAN DO IT!!

[Sam]

We made one Well I say we... mainly dad

 

Ours back onto the garage though so we only made 3 sides. Because of this, we concreted the posts into the ground, however if yours had 4 sides it would stand without needing to be concreted.

 

Best advice would be to make it all in panels! We started off by just wrapping the weldmesh around the posts but it felt really loose, so we decided to make big square panels then assemble them all together. As you can see from the photo below, we laid these panels horizontally between the two posts.

 

 

As for the roof, ours just slopes all towards the garage roofs and shares the garages guttering. However if you're making it with all 4 sides, you'd just need to make sure it all slopes down to one side and make sure your roof has enough supports. I was really worried about the roof coming off with all the heavy wind but it's been brilliant and is still there

 

 

I've just read through that and have probably made you even more confused but honestly it wasn't that bad! Just start it in summer, and not november like we did last year Was too cold!!

 

Good luck

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I can't take any credit for any of my WIR - it was made by Aviaries4u and built by a friend's OH but I wondered if a few photos of it might help you with your construction. You'll see it in the link in my signature.

 

You might find inspiration from these threads too. Good luck and keep us posted with your progress .

 

http://club.omlet.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=4703

http://club.omlet.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=73995

[taffeta]

Thankyou all for replying. Sam can I ask you if your dad needed any particular tools to do it? We've got a hammer, saw etc but I'm wondering how you attached the weld mesh to the wood etc. Just trying to work out if this is do-able by a total novice or if I need to save up for a professional!

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I think the weldmesh is generally fixed on with a staple gun. There's a post here with some useful info about weldmesh.

[Sam]

Used these kind of staples, and just used a hammer to whack them in

Nothing special needed really, just the wood, weldmesh, screws and staples. All we needed was a saw, hammer, and electric screwdriver (The screws were used to screw the frame together and to put the triangles on the corner. Without the triangles it was really loose and wobbly)

 

 

 

[Redwing]

I made my first run myself

 

I made it in panels, I made the panels as wide as the mesh meaning that there was limited wastage, the wood was about 30mm x 19mm I think, if I remember correctly the uprights were one bit of 1800mm long wood and the crossbars were that size cut in half, the mesh fitted exactly, I think these things must be pretty popular measurements

 

I screwed the panels together using Wickes east drive screws which are just the best screws ever and they come with the right sized drill bit which makes all the difference

 

I used a cheap Ryobi cordless drill/screwdriver to make the panels and a Homebase heavy duty staple gun for the mesh (but check and restaple as the years go on as the staples rust) an electric staple gun would be better really, I used a circular table top saw to cut the wood but a handsaw will do the job well too

 

I made the roof with my brother a couple of months after the rest of the run and its corrugated plastic on a slanted frame (saves making angles within the run - the run is all squared off with a mesh roof then the slanted waterproof roof was added on)

 

Guttering is a good idea, my runs dont have it but it gets mighty muddy around them!

 

Here is the run when it was finished:

 

 

You can see the angle of the roof here:

 

[Mum]

My dh is DIY challenged: he puts coal on the BBQ upside down and even dropped a 6'x6' fence panel on my head this morning! (Don't ask! ) but, having said that, we bought the components of a WIR and he had to put it together.

 

Now, I am very delighted with the company we used and have no complaints in any context with the WIR we purchased. Having said that, once I saw that it is basically panels covered in a wire mesh, which all screw together; well, suffice to say, it would be no harder than a patchwork quilt, just on a slightly larger scale! (I'm a quilter ).

 

So, when we need to extend our WIR - which morehens disease dictates - I will build my own panels so I can extend. I have a mitre block, saw, hammer, drill with screwdriver attachment, stable gun and a pragmatic approach now I have seen how it is done.

 

DIY is not my forte, but I think I am a tad better at it than my dh ( ) because I have women's logic as my secret weapon

[Mum]

Redwing, that looks absolutely FAB!!

[Mum]

Sam, that is inspirational! I have a garage that I initially wanted to attach a WIR to .... ... maybe I could make a "Summer" WIR against my garage wall for my girlies and the one I have now can be their Winter retreat?

[taffeta]

Wow! I just checked my thread again and so many replies! Thankyou all. Redwing, your WIR is exactly the sort of thing I'm thinking off and it's encouraging to hear that so many people think it's a possibility to make one myself. We have all the tools we'd need and it could be my next project for spring and summer. Hopefully this time next year my girls will be in a lovely secure and dry run. I will show my husband all your photos and get his advice too. I'm very impressed with them all.

[Chooksrus]

It's completely do-able even for a novice and doesn't have to be expensive or even perfect. Have a good look on the other threads and steal their ideas. They won't notice. Plan it carefully and have a good think about the size, how many chicken you're planning for(add extra space if you can - you'll probably fill it) and fit it to the shape of your garden. I made mine mostly from remnants of my neighbours shed but what about freecycle? The only wood I bought was the uprights. The rest should be pretty easy to salvage. When I moved into my house the previous owner had left a part roll of roofing felt - so along with some plywood, so that was the roof sorted. You'll have to pay for the wire, of course, but I got a good deal from the internet. Of course the chooks won't really care as long they have enough shade & shelter. Some good tips I picked up from other posts are 1) Make sure it's big enough to walk in without stooping 2) Make the door open inwards 3) if you let them free range make them a hatch (ours is big enough for the chooks but small enough to keep out the dog!) 4) Use kick boards along the bottom of the run - stops the edges getting too messy 5) Think about having it possible to split in 2 sections for introductions 6) Have 2 doors/hatches on different sides so that you can section off the area they free-range in - allowing the garden to have some respite! I have my run set within my veg plot which is fenced off from the rest of the garden. The fence runs up to and meets the run, so the main door opens into the rest of my garden. This allows me to let the chooks free-range in the main part of the garden in the summer, leaving the veggies alone but in the winter I open another door to allow them to free-range in the veg plot. At the moment they are doing a great job of devouring the left-over veg and fertilising the ground for the spring. Everybody's happy. Good luck.

[Chooksrus]

One last thing - the guttering, as mentioned before, is a great idea. Run it into a water butt for a steady supply for the chooks. Overflow can be put into the ground.

[MummyHen]

The advice on this board is excellent - as already suggested have a look through old posts

But there is nothing like seeing one on the flesh - Is there anyone near you that has a WIR that you could visit?

[BizzyMomma]

Am also embarking on a DIY WIR and would like to say Thanks for all the tips on here!! You are all a total inspiration to me...now where'd I put that screwdriver

[Fourbecameeight]

We purchased readymade panels from West Hagley Aviaries and just screwed them together. We used the same panels for the roof and then screwed on clear corrugated plastic with a slight angle.

[sjp]

there are a couple of projects in this book for run panels that you can adapt for a walk in run

[http://www.amazon.co.uk/Poultry-House-Construction-Gold-Cockerel/dp/0947870210/ref=sr_1_11?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1326438720&sr=1-11*]

I've made all 4 of my runs useing 50mmx 22mm treated timber from wickes.all they are is basic stud work type frames top middle bottom and 2 sides butt jointed screwed togeather using 75mmx 4mm dia woodscrews with 1x1 wire weld mesh staples on mesh from hills of Devon once you've cut the timber to the size that you need for each panel the simplest way for the side wall is to set the hieght at the stcok size that timber comes in with wickes and B&Q that 1800mm (panels finnish 1900ish high) the width is the width of the mesh which is either 900 or 920 or to keep the cutting to a minimum 1800 for the top and bottom and 1800 less twice the width of timber battons screwed togeathe with 2 screw at each joint useing the 50mm side as the face they don't take long to put togeather once the first one is done used that as the pattern a batery drill/driver is a must other tools needed are a tape measure pencil small wood saw hammer side cutters for the mesh if you are going to make a lot of run a staple gun of some sort is a god send netting staple are a pain to use

Edited January 13, 2012 by Guest

[coco]

My OH built my WIR and the chicken house. He made the frames himself then we nailed the weldmesh to it. The house is built into the frame of the run and was built to my exact requirements. It took about 6 months to complete, we put it together one week last winter when it was minus 10 during the day. Worth it though.

[taffeta]

Well, firstly thankyou very much for all the kind replies. I've been busy pricing up all the bits and pieces I'd need and was preparing to wage a campaign of persuasion on my husband. Initially he was very sceptical but, funnily enough, after I'd shown him everybody's photos of their homemade runs he's been quite enthusiastic. In fact he's now said he thinks he should make a slabbed area and has been to B & Q with me to look at wood! So I will let you all know how I get on in the next few months. Thankyou all again, especially those of you who took the time to post your photos.