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

[denni]

Good morning folks,

this is my first post on this forum so hello! I'm a stay at home dad and we have had an Eglu cube sat in the garden for about 6 months but have put off getting any chickens as my other half was away a lot with the Nvy and i've been busy with a feral 2 year old!

 

Anyway, we are moving in about a month or so and other half will be around so it is chicken time. We have an Eglu Cube with about 10 metres of run (whole lot bought off someone for £400, bargain..) and we are intending getting 4 chickens.

 

I have read a wee bit about it all but just after some advice about how to start it all off. I'll be getting the chickens from Longdown Dairy Farm near Southampton, all vaccinated etc and well looked after. My plan is to set the Cube up, lay down a fair whack of bark chippings, leave them in the run for about 5 days or so to get used to the routine, then let them out now and again.

 

My other half is quite happy to let them wander around aimlessly all the time but as i'm the one that does all the garden bits and bobs, i'm only planning on letting them out daily for a couple of hours as i don't want the garden trashed. My thinking is that they have heaps of room, there are only 4 of them and i don't want to constantly have to clean up the mess! This is reasonable don't you think? Will let them out more if our daughter Daisy is in the garden of course.

 

I haven't really investigated their food yet, that is on my to do list but, any pointers would be grand. I realise these are all probably simple questions to answer but there is always differing advice so will take an average!

 

I was also wondering about the warmth when it comes to winter. A friend has the same sort of set up and in winter she puts a cat basket in the cube so they can get closer to keep them warmer. is this a concern with the cube or are they sufficiently insulated?

 

Apologies for the long ramble, small feral child awake last night and strong coffee. Any advice appreciated on anything and am looking forward to posting some more and keeping you all up to date on the chicken eggstravaganza!

 

Have a grand day, Denni

[shemybelle]

Hi and welcome

 

I'm fairly new to chicken-keeping myself, and like you I got a great bargain (Classic for £50).

 

What kind of hens are you getting? I have a Rhode Rock (big, good layer, top hen, fairly friendly), a Bluebell (medium sized, no egs yet, very timid and skittish), and a Snowdrop (smallest of my 3, fantastic layer, super friendly).

 

I think you're right about the garden. They make such a mess. My hens FR all day, but I've had to put up a net fence to protect some of my garden.

 

I hear that Marriages layers pellets are very good and I'm going to get some for my hens tomorrow.

 

Do keep us posted on what you get and how it goes!

 

Lx

[Olly]

Welcome to the forum, this is a great place to get your questions answered, and if you go to the main index you'll see there are some sections with FAQs on various subjects.

 

To answer just one point - I too like gardening, and whilst I love to see the hens in the garden I would be very upset if it got trashed. Your plan to let them out for a couple of hours a day sounds fine, apart from anything else, if you let them free range all day then they will be at risk from foxes. I like to let mine out when I am in the garden doing things, or in and out at least, so I can keep an eye on them. Although they will eat some plants (and if you grow vegetables you'll need to fence them off) the worst damage is from scratching, mine will jump into containers and dig around for bugs and scratch all the earth out while doing so. I use slate chippings on containers, although this doesn't always work, and I use Omlet netting/chicken wire to keep them off the vegetables, rhubarb and anything particularly tasty and tender.

 

Oh, and regarding the winter - they should be fine in the Cube together, they will probably all huddle together anyway, I wouldn't bother putting anything else inside.

 

Let us know which breeds you are getting. Your daughter will love them!

[chick wiggle]

Hi and welcome to the forum, the best piece of advice i could give, you have already done, is to join this forum!

Your set up sounds great to me, chickens get used to whatever set up you give them, so if they are only let out for a few hours a day, they will be happy with that.

Its all very exciting and i cant wait to hear what you get. Dont worry about asking any questions on here, chances are, we have all asked them at some point and there is no such thing as a silly question either

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Welcome to the forum from me too . Can't really add to the excellent advice given above . You could consider getting some netting to keep them contained so they don't eat all your plants and poo where your child plays!

 

Look forward to hearing your progress (photos are compulsory ).

[cluckingmad]

Helloo and welcome to the forum and the highly addictive world of chickens! Ditto to above, I'm a gardener too so totally understand the need to protect plants etc, I'm aso mum to a 14 month old so get the bit about not wanting to have little ones playing in poo! Only thing I'd add is we use Aubiose rather than bark, its incredibly absorbant, will last very well and decomposes much quicker when added to a compost heap

[Jenthelibrarian]

Hiya!

 

We have two hens in an extended Eglu run, on woodchip. This has worked out very well, we let them out to FR under supervision as often as we can. This can be for the best part of the day, if someone is gardening etc, or just for 10 mins while we have a coffee out with them.

 

The one thing that has surprised me is the amount of mess they make of the woodchip, ours shift it about all the time, make great heaps and holes and chuck it through the mesh of the run. We regularly lift the house and run off and tidy it all up but the girls apparently have plans to dig to Australia!

 

I have also been happily surprised to find what a delight they are, gardening is so much fun with company, bok-bok-boking about with you, pouncing on worms and bugs and scritch-scratching under the shrubs. They are both silly-tame and hop onto laps to share 'elevenses'

 

I have had to net my veggie patch and introducing the cat was a bit...scary. If he's around then so is a primed water-pistol. Today they saw him off, and they chase the magpies, too. Who said chickens are chicken?

[Looney]

Hello!

 

We used to let our out into the garden more often but they really do trash it and I wasn't happy about my kids playing around where there is poo. The mess as much as anything on clothes etc.

 

I have had my eglu/cube and run and extended area on a range of bases and have just put slabs down on the whole area apart from under the bushes and a raised bed area that is full of soil and sand (and is covered to stop it get swampy). I got fed up with it becoming a mud pit so this has done the trick - or at least I hope it has! They have a large fenced off area, we used Harris fencing which is about 10ft long.

 

Your daughter will love the chickens, my son and daughter adore feeding them treats

[Spinning Top]

Hello and welcome to the forum. You'll get loads of support and help on here and more fun than you can possibly imagine from your girls. Your set up sounds lovely - lucky girls. One suggestion would be wood chip in the run rather than bark, which can get very soggy and apparently grows mould. Wood chips drain well, even in the recent deluge.

[Luvachicken]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

Everyone on here is really friendly and helpful.

 

My set up is similar to Looney's, as I also wanted to keep my garden.

My children are older so the poo that way wasn't a problem, but you could guarantee that my dog would find any poops I didn't sweep, which I didn't like.

 

Looking forward to hearing what you get and of course don't forget the photos.