Ammonia smell in coop-first time owner

[sarkymite]

I have about another hundred questions....!

 

I have been away for a few nights for work leaing OH to look after the chickens. Was quite excited to see them when I got back today!!

I went straight down to the run when I got home and found that despite the run having a full-length heavy duty rain cover on it, all our lovely fresh new bark chipings have turned into a slimy, muddy quagmire.

 

So... clearly bark chippings aren't the answer. Have done more research and now thinking hardwood pellets. There's a poultry website that recommends laying a turf protector mesh under the wood chippings - has anyone done this and does it actually help keep the mud at bay? Do you find the chickens kick the hardood pellets out of the run more than they do with bark chips (as the hardwood chips are a bit smaller) ?

 

Onto another question or seven - This afternoon while the hens were free ranging OH went indoors for a minute and when he came back out he was a bit confused as there were 4 chickens - there was on sitting on the fence at the rear of the garden (which is about 5 foot at our side but lower from the other side if you see what I mean). It was about to jump down into our garden so he shoo'd it away (as far as I understand from his story telling which isn't always entirely coherent...). Moments later a chap in the garden that just about backs onto the very end of ours (the gardens are a funny shape (ours especially) so we actually share fences with 4 other properties) yells over to him "have you seen my chicken?". We knew someone nearby has chickens as they have a rooster, but we hadn't realised it was this neighbour as you can't actually see in his garden from ours due to his shed.

So OH says yes he had seen it, and points what direction it went in - this bloke then reappeared behind his shed (too late to find/catch the escapee, who had vanished) and introduced himself and they had a chat over the fence and the bloke told him that the fox got a load of his chickens. My OH didn't think to probe as to when and how - but it's left me scared!

 

We have the eglu classic and extended run. We've just started leaving the eglu door open at night and I'm now wondering whether that is really safe - the clips holding the run together don't look all that sturdy to me (I might attack it with a load of cable ties tomorrow!!!) and so I'm guessing a fox could get in if really determined even if he can't burrow under. We've agreeed this evening there is to be absolutely no unsupervised free ranging (OH had been popping in and out while they were free ranging but I think we will say one of us HAS to be in the garden). Is there anything else we can do to deter/prevent fox attacks?

 

Lastly, presumably there's a million reasons why the cube is better than the classic - when free ranging Hen and Wilma like to jump up to sit on a wooden pole that we have in the garden (which is actually there so I can drape fleece over frost-sensitive veg crops) and I thought if we had a cube they could have a "look out bar" actually in the run as enrichment - is that the sort of thing they'd enjoy? Why didn't I get a cube to start with?! Am I completely mad to already be thinking about upgrading? According to the measurements on the eglu website the cube should olny take up 5cm more width than the classic at its widest point - so we could just about fit it in instead. Would anyone recommend this as a sensible waste of a lot of money?

 

Oh, and Petula still hasn't laid an egg

[Eggshell]

Yes, I've got woodchips on top of turf protecter mesh - but there's a sheet of water-permeable weed control stuff under that. The woodchips do stay free of mud, though I'm not sure if they would without the weed control layer. I have plastic lawn edging round the edge to keep the woodchips in, which works reasonably well. I put it down after seeing the chook's patch turn into a mudbath after a few days' rain. It would be perfect if I could work out how to get all the droppings out of the woodchips - and a roof would make the woodchips last a lot longer. As it is - not perfect, but a lot better than the mud.

[Beantree]

Have you a guttering arrangement to take the water well away from the roof Sarkymite? Otherwise it just drips off and can get blown back in.

 

Wood boarding around the sides helps to keep the chippings in place.

 

You are right to worry about urban foxes. You can't take enough precautions, especially as the neighbour has lost some so the foxes are close and getting hungry over Winter. LeeWeedon lost his hens because the fox tore the chicken wire away from the frame at the base by attacking the tie wraps one at a time. So far more tie wraps or use wire threaded through.

 

Electric netting is good IF you can keep it off the ground to prevent it shorting out. I suggest tripling the number of poles because even doubling them doesn't solve the drooping in my experience. I read in last months Practical Poultry that a chicken was snatched from the garden whilst the owners were in it, so just being there may not be enough I'm sorry to say.

[Chickabee]

I changed from a go to a cube, but I also have a walk in run. I kept the classic for my exbats. I got a really good price for my eglu go on ebay, so sold it. Only to buy another one this summer as my wooden coop had a terrible red mite problem. I love the cube. I got mine at a sale price because it wasn't matching colours. Check out the sale section on the website

[sarkymite]

Have you a guttering arrangement to take the water well away from the roof Sarkymite? Otherwise it just drips off and can get blown back in.

 

Wood boarding around the sides helps to keep the chippings in place.

 

You are right to worry about urban foxes. You can't take enough precautions, especially as the neighbour has lost some so the foxes are close and getting hungry over Winter. LeeWeedon lost his hens because the fox tore the chicken wire away from the frame at the base by attacking the tie wraps one at a time. So far more tie wraps or use wire threaded through.

 

Electric netting is good IF you can keep it off the ground to prevent it shorting out. I suggest tripling the number of poles because even doubling them doesn't solve the drooping in my experience. I read in last months Practical Poultry that a chicken was snatched from the garden whilst the owners were in it, so just being there may not be enough I'm sorry to say.

 

No guttering arrangement - it's an eglu classic extended run with the long cover on it - not sure I could rig up guttering that would stop the rain dripping/blowing back in tbh. Definitely going to order hardwood chips instead of the bark chippings.

 

There isn't a lot of space for a fox to dig around/under the eglu or run due to the layout of the garden but we are thinking of laying a wire mesh sheet under the eglu itself (as there is no skirt there obviously) as I know how fast and efficiently they can dig - I imagine one could dig right under the eglu itself and into the run that way if it wanted to. Also getting out there with cable ties later this afteroon to beef up the run security - I already broke one of the plastic clips that hold the run together completely by accident so I imagine a fox could do a lot of damage just by climbing on it. We had the girls free ranging this morning and basically one of us followed them about wherever they went! Paranoia has well and truly set in despite that I've never even see the fox around here (OH has seen one recently down by the bins at the local supermarket 5 mins walk away but that's the first one he's seen in years too) - the fact that a neighbouring garden has lost hens to the fox is I suppose enough to make anyone paranoid.

 

Longer term I am on the lookout for a Cube (for the extra space, ease of use and the fact that it's skirted all the way around) and longest term I am trying to think of ways to raise a few hundred K to enable me to persuade OH to move to a property with a much bigger garden where we can custom-build a walk in run with sunken concrete and mesh barriers all around!! Seriously I've lost the plot and gone chicken-nuts!!!

[mullethunter]

OH and I are house hunting at the moment. By far and away my main criteria is that the garden is big enough for the girls to have loads of FR space and a nice big WIR. So don't worry - it's not just you

[mullethunter]

Last time I looked there were 2 cubes in the sale section with £100 off.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

If you have or can get hold of any old paving slabs, they're good for putting under the eglu. You can also put them down the sides under the skirts if you have the room.

 

I used Easibed or Hemcore on bare soil in my Classic run, along with corrugated plastic sheets, held on with bungee cords. (I've a photo if you want to see it.) Worked well and didn't get quagmirey at all .

[sarkymite]

If you have or can get hold of any old paving slabs, they're good for putting under the eglu. You can also put them down the sides under the skirts if you have the room.

 

I used Easibed or Hemcore on bare soil in my Classic run, along with corrugated plastic sheets, held on with bungee cords. (I've a photo if you want to see it.) Worked well and didn't get quagmirey at all .

 

OOh yes can I see a photo? Am looking locally for paving slabs as I wanted some for my veg garden anyway so hmm yes I may eventually be able to put slabs under the eglu and around under the skirt

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Here you go . If you do go down this route, pick up some broken slabs too if you can. They're good for weighting down the skirt so the whole run doesn't lift off in high winds!

 

 

 

 

Re your comment about a "look out bar", you'll see an Ikea shoe rack in my run. Cable tie two together and the ends fit through the mesh perfectly!