Britannia Ovens (esp Range cookers) your experience

[snowfearn]

Hello, My name is Marie and I am very new to this so please forgive my 20 questions. I have 4 hybrid chickens purchased 2 weeks ago, they are all lovely and im getting 4 eggs a day since day 1 so think they are quite happy or at least I hope so . I just have a few questions re cleaning etc of the coop and run. I have a wooden coop with a small run attached that has wood chip on top of grass in the run area,they are kept inside this only on occasion when no one is home. I have purchased a 21m omlet fence and made a meduim sized grass run too but this has turned into grass mush after 2 weeks of them destroying it lol. I poo pick the coop every day but find it difficult to poo pick the wood chip run as it blends in? how often should I be changing the wood chip? also does anyone know if i need to disinfect the outer run/grass area as the poop just gets mixed onto the soil so i cant really poo pick the grass very much? I have children so need to keep the area as germ free as I can (I dont let the children into the area but still want to keep it germ free as much as I can). Thank you so much for reading if you have got this far, I have tried to look for others asking similar questions but cannot find the answers .

 

Marie

[jackian]

First of all welcome to the forum and the wonderful world of chicken keeping . You will aways find someone on here to answer questions you have.

I have 4 chickens in a wooden coup (well 2 coups but they all squeeze into one) I have a home built walk in run which is covered by a sloping corragated plastic roof so it does not get to much water in there . The ground is covered by wood chip and I poo pick at least once a day . I just keep a small bucket and a trowel outside and add to it every time I'm out . I have a small kiddies rake which I rake over the ground once a week when I clean the coup out and that usely brings any missed poo to the surface..

I use Nettex ground sanatizing powder scattered on the ground which mixes in with the earth after the girls have been at it for a couple of minutes and only change the wood chip every couple of months or so which then goes in the compost bin... I also use Diatrom powder in the coup when I clean it out which is once a week to ward off red mite ,which my coups have not had yet fingers crossed in over 2 years .

....You still have grass ?

 

Jackie .

[Olly]

Welcome to the forum. I'd echo wha'ts been said above - I don't poo pick (I have a walk-in run) but I dig it out every few months and rake in some garden lime to help sanitise the ground.

 

Can I just add that the Omlet netting is great to keep chickens in, but it's not predator proof. If your hens are out, even if someone is at home, they could be taken by a fox - it's happened to others on here, unfortunately. I would recommend that they're kept in a secure covered run unless you are actually out in the garden to scare off any predators.

[snowfearn]

Hello and thank you so much for the replies, I have noticed a few holes in my omlet fence the past couple of days and I thought the chickens were breaking it somehow but then realised that was probably not the case and that foxes have been about!!. I am already very attached to my girls so would be mortified if anything happened to them so will have to not let them out so much . I will invest in some more secure fencing i think, do you know of any thats easy to put up? Thank you also for letting me know about the cleaner for the run I dont have much grass left its kind of turned onto dead grasss mush, I dont know how such small creatures can make so much mess.

 

Thanks again, Marie

[PoachedPlease]

Hello, I have only been keeping my hybrids for a year now, but I have read everything I can get my hands on(obsessed moi??) I have a similar set up to you, and the omlet netting has made a big difference. If we are at home we just let them out into the 21m of grass/earth. We have foxes here but they do not like climbing over soft fencing, they tend to try to squeeze under. I have made sure the base of the netting has railway sleepers or big stones along the inside. That together with the pegs seems to do the trick.

 

I use sand in my covered run and as it desiccates the poop there seems to be less to pick. I guess it all depends how much time you want to spend on cleaning and how maintenance free you can make your set up! Just when I think I've sussed it, I just hatched 2 chicks with our broody. That adds another level of worries!

 

Xx

[Patricia W]

I've got the Omlet netting which can be electrified. Not sure if you've got this or the other one. An electric fence is a good investment if you are worried about foxes and don't want a large WIR.