Mrs Potts Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 Hello. Sorry if this has been asked before - how many ex battery hens would sleep comfortably in a Classic hen house? Four? Five? There's a WIR outside. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
percy049 Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 In the actual house you should have a maximum of 4 laying hens, as you should have one nestbox for every 3/4 laying hens. I have however had 5 hens in one Eglu, and there was plenty of space still With more hens you will also need to clean the house out more often, and they need sufficient space in the run Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAJ Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 4 in mine are very happy - 5ould not be a sleeping issue, but a nesting box issue. Tracy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparkysmum Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 Hi Mrs Potts, congratulations on thinking of giving ex batts a loving home. Yo will love them. 4 should be fine in a classic and the nesting box shouldn't be too much of an issue either. What determines their happiness factor more than anything else has to be the size of their run. Yo mention they will have access to a WIR what size will this be, will they be sharing with many more hens, will they have much f/r time? Ex batts will get along with pretty well anything else but the crucial thing really is space/hen. If they can access a WIR you could always put nestbox in there if there were queues in the classic. Hope this helps a bit. Alli x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Potts Posted March 15, 2012 Author Share Posted March 15, 2012 Hello! I have not-so-Lonely Leia the ex battery hen at the moment, as her three original friends have passed away - two only ten days ago. She has taken to being a lone hen embarrassingly well and now runs and shouts at anything that passes by - cats, people and wild birds. Apart from OH and his rich tea biscuit break in the morning ( I know, I know), I don't think she is welcoming anyone in and I am not looking forward to introductions. I have an Omlet WIR with extension and the Classic fits on the side, to maximise space and they will have supervised FR at weekends/summer evenings. Going to buy Leia a mirror this week so she remembers she is a hen. I have asked to re-home three more on the 24th March but as I am in love with ex-battery hens, only have morehens disease for these as they are so friendly, was sort of wondering if I could sneak a fourth into the box ... but would they all fit in the Classic comfortably? Not much point in replicating what the conditions I have just rescued them from but it sounds as if that might be all right .. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purplemaniacs Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 I had three ex batts in my but have had four hybrids in it with extra run space and they had no problem with sleeping or nest space often coping with a broody hybrid too. Chrissie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
