Chicken bald back

[auntielizzie]

is equal to the quest for the perfect handbag No matter what new handbag you buy, it doesn't take long before you wish it had this, or wish it had that and there you are again, always on the lookout for that perfect bag

 

It's the same with the chicken set up - I thought it would be the perfect thing to have the run set on slabs, but now I'm thinking that I'm not so happy with that, as stuff sticks to the slabs and you have to pick/bash/s"Ooops, word censored!"e it off. It would help if I could find a supplier of cheap hardwood chips but I can't, so I'm always experimenting with different floor coverings trying to decide which is best. Currently I'm back to straw.

 

Not only that, but I wish my run was bigger I've limited myself to a maximum of six chickens with the house/run I've got - and I worry that if I did have six chickens in there, would it be big enough On the flip side though, my chicken hobby can't get out of hand by being restricted by the run size (which pleases OH). (I'm sure if I was left to my own devices, I would have one of these and one of those and a couple of those and oh, I must have that one too ).

 

I guess it's easier collecting handbags

[peachachecha]

is equal to the quest for the perfect handbag No matter what new handbag you buy, it doesn't take long before you wish it had this, or wish it had that and there you are again, always on the lookout for that perfect bag

 

It's the same with the chicken set up - I thought it would be the perfect thing to have the run set on slabs, but now I'm thinking that I'm not so happy with that, as stuff sticks to the slabs and you have to pick/bash/s"Ooops, word censored!"e it off. It would help if I could find a supplier of cheap hardwood chips but I can't, so I'm always experimenting with different floor coverings trying to decide which is best. Currently I'm back to straw.

 

Not only that, but I wish my run was bigger I've limited myself to a maximum of six chickens with the house/run I've got - and I worry that if I did have six chickens in there, would it be big enough On the flip side though, my chicken hobby can't get out of hand by being restricted by the run size (which pleases OH). (I'm sure if I was left to my own devices, I would have one of these and one of those and a couple of those and oh, I must have that one too ).

 

I guess it's easier collecting handbags

It would be easier collecting handbags but one can not sit with a cup of tea or coffee for hours watching what new thing the handbag is up to. Hope you do find the perfect setup. Just being able to have chickens sounds perfect. It would be fun having many different setups, your post made me smile.

[jjiande]

I know what you mean. I started off with a cheap coop and tiny run, and (very) quickly moved on to an Omlet WIR with extension (didn't dare tell anyone how much it actually cost) with a mini hen loft inside it. In the summer my hens free-ranged a lot, but now it's getting dark while I'm still at work, I'm really tempted to get another extension kit... And I've only got two hens...

[PoachedPlease]

Auntielizzie you speak for us all

 

I have a 3m by 1.5m run with a raised coop on concrete and sand. It doesn't matter how many times I do the sums I can't really have more than 5 chickens in that space, but I still keep looking at the numbers! Sand does wok well on the outside WIR but I keep thinking I should give them something else, but it will only get wet.

 

I guess the answer is to extend again, but how?

 

Maybe next year I will just have to buy another WIR???but how much poop can I cope with...sigh!

X

[Grandmashazzie]

I know what you mean.I wish we could get the flooring right too.We have WIR covered with tarpaulin for winter have some concrete slabs which seem to need power hosed constantly,have tried wood chips and OH's last bright idea was sawdust.Not to be recommended there is more in t he house than WIR.I wish I had time to dig it all out and put the membrane etc. down that's advised in preventing mud baths in WIR section.Maybe next year

[Lavenders_Blue]

Ah yes... The 'perfect set up', the Holy Grail of chicken keeping!

 

After 4 years of keeping chooks I'm pretty happy with the set up I have now, but even so, I keep thinking of ways it could be improved

[Margaret]

Just dont ever work out how much you have spent every time you change the set up

I stopped (I think last year ) at it was a whopping £3,000.

Started small as most of us do then moved to a different area of the garden, got rid of the purple rubber, that cost a blooming fortune (bad mistake) changed to concrete, another WIR, Cube, then changed from auboise to hardwood each winter. new perches, goodness how many feeders at least double figers.......

Thank goodness we love them so much, but if we had any idea in the beginning how addictive it could be, we could start large and save a fortune.

[Chortle Chook]

Agreed this is certainly not a cheap hobby. Can't think where I got the original idea that I could keep just 3 chooks in a small run/coop by the shed My set up is fairly set now but I am far more easily satisfied with a hand bag than I am with the number of chooks I have. I keep wanting this breed and that breed, this feather pattern and that feather pattern and make endless lists

 

For the hardwood chips, by the way, last spring I phoned around various companies who said they did hard wood chips and all quoted vast sums of money. Then I found a dear tree surgeon who was more than happy to deliver me half a lorry load of hardwood chips for free. He's going to do it again this next spring too . He was so kind and made certain that it did not come from any trees that might have nasty spiky bits or could be toxic. I bumped into him cutting trees in the local park for the council. He said it was easier to come and put the tree chips in my drive than take it away to dispose of. It did take me a wee while to ferry it in tub trugs (I don't have a wheel barrow) to the right places but it has been so well worth it.