Elderly cat breathing difficulties when purring

[Guest]

Before heading transatlantic I was building a chicken coop for when the whole family goes on holiday and the girls are unable to freerange all day. They will get 2 hours out every morning and will be shut in with eglu access the rest of the time.

 

I'm afraid I got a bit girly and pathetic and the plans were non-existent and I have a rather rickity structure (will stand up to chickens but probably not me!) with no roof.

 

The plan was to finish it the week I was home, but it's not a week its a few days, I get home tomorrow (yes I'm sitting in a bar, with a pink lady in hand on QM2 and I have nothing better to do that worry about the chickens!) and will be travelling most of the day, Wednesday I HAVE to do marking because I have to return it to the school I@m leaving when I go in THURSDAY for GCSE results. That leaves Friday and Saturday before I go back to Southampton to hop onto the QE2 (I know it would have been much easier to stay on QM2, go to Hamburg and then come back to Southampton on 25th, overnight in the port and then hop on QE2 in the morning but Mum, who is looking after James was having none of that!).

 

To build the roof I need to get the eglu and run out, put 2 posts in the middle, add radiant struts to the edges and just throw up some more weld mesh (although I might go for the lighter option of chicken wire). I have to do this with 20stone of me up a ladder (not something I like) Mum with the gammy leg and hip and a five year old underfoot.

 

The question is does it really need a roof? The weather sounds like something I'm not going to want to be out in. I just want to do some work before heading off on the second holiday. There have never been foxes in our garden, but our neighbor has seen them in his field these are country foxes not urban foxes I guess. The run is sizable Mum absolutely won't let them stay in the Eglu run.

[The Pearsons]

My run doesn't have a roof and the walls are 8ft high around it.

 

The older hens are huge - more chance of me flying over than them!!!!

 

Helen in Hume

[arowland17]

The forecast for friday and saturday is meant to be sunny so it may be perfect roof-building weather.... depends where abouts you are though and whether the forecast has changed back to rain by then which it usually does!

 

I only have an eglu and run, but the breeder we got our chickens from had her whole garden converted for chickens as she kept about 40 for herself, and their run had 6 foot high fencing/chicken wire mesh all around, no roof, and none of her hens had clipped wings and were fine so a roof may not be necessary - depends if yours know they can fly or not, ours don't have clipped wings but the one time one of them tried to fly onto the parasol she had to fly to just stay upright on the edge of it and stop from falling backwards and since that neither of them have even flapped their wings!!

[Cinnamon]

We have a roof, & I would recommend it to anyone.

The run keeps dry all year round (& boy have we needed it this year!), the hens are 100% safe and wild birds can't get in either.

 

It also gives the cat somewhere to bask when it is sunny.

 

Make sure you slope it so all the water runs off

[Guest]

Thanks for all the advice, have convinced Mum they will be OK next week. The roof is only going to be more weld mesh anyway, I was going to chuck an old tarp over one corner to give some extra weather protection. They have 2 solid "walls" in there one from a fence and one from a shed.

 

Will not worry overmuch this week, can't see the time to build it.

[Guest]

If you are worried then you can easily and cheaply cover the top with fruit netting - see mine on my www.