Installing Indoor Cat Tree

[Suzanne]

This will be my first winter with the girls. The lawn is looking very sad and as they have a large area I fear there will be little left after the winter months.

I would therefor like to make a smaller area for them both . They have a lovely gravel patch under the shrubs that they love to explore and can have this entirely to themselves plus a smaller area of the grass. What would be the best way to enclose this?

I have bought some Hemcore to put in the area. Did I get the right stuff?

I am not a handyman, just a little lady of the elderly variety but am going to have a go. It would have to be a simple affair.

I can let them out onto the main lawn daily and have some netting to cordon off an area for that.

Suzannne[/b]

[Cinnamon]

Hi Suzanne,

 

You are right to think that hens will take their toll on a lawn over the winter, & may of us have pens or special areas to keep our hens in all year round.

 

You could enclose this area with the Omlet netting, which can alse be electrified if you have a fox problem where you are.

That would probably be the easiest option, or you could put up a more permenant fence.

The most permenant of all would be a pen, with or without a roof for the hens. The roof obviously will keep the area dry ,which is a blessing in the winter.

Hemcore is perfect for a permenant area, but can get waterlogged if its very wet.

 

There is a sticky on pens & runs, which I am sure will povide plenty of inspiration for you

[Egluntyne]

I'd be inclined to just use netting for their gravelly area too. It is what I do.

 

I use Aubiose (very much the same as Hemcore) in the Eglu run, but not in their playing out area, which had been reduced to mud. I rake that over every so often and put garden lime down to freshen the earth now and then.

[Suzanne]

 

Thankyou for the advice. I love the pen Sarah but I don't think I am up to that! I will stick to the netting with the Hemcore in the run. I suppose I will have to get some boards to stop it escaping everywhere??

 

Suzanne

[Cinnamon]

It would be worth putting some low boards around the area, then fencing around that,which will stop some, but not all,of the hemcore being kicked out

 

Good luck with it

[arowland17]

or that log roll from homebase or similar is what we use - it makes it look nice, well it looks nice for about a week if you're lucky, then they learn how to kick the hemcore out over the top of the log roll and only the grass