The Poultry Keeper

Dopey · Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 2:42 am Post subject: Building my hen house

Hi all, yep im getting some chickens, never had them before so this is all new to me, but i have started on my chicken house already, so far its all been free, i live near Heathrow Airport so i got 2 good pallets for free, and i work at Pinewood Studios and when there pulling the sets down i get free wood, and part of a roof (also free) it has about 4 inch of foam lagging on it, so it should keep warm in winter and cooler in the summer, the chippies have given me a bucket of screws, so i got on with it and did a little work on the house 2day, and as I rummaged around the studios for wood etc yesterday this is some of what I found, and a large sheet of ¾ inch plywood

Some of the bits i got yesterday

What i have achieved 2day so far, hopefully i will be finished 2morrow i had a late start 2day (2o/c) and it started to get dark so i packed the tools, any useful advice would be gratefully received

My big worry is foxes, we have about 10 of them going around, obviously I will lock the chickens up at night, but if anyone has ant tips on making the house fox proof then that’s one of my worries sorted out, I will post more picks 2 morrow as I progress

CP · Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 2:51 am Post subject:

Hi Dopey & welcome.

Whereabouts near Heathrow are you? We're originally from Greenford/Ealing/Hanwell area but know the area around Heathrow fairly well too.

How many chickens are you planning to get & what sort of area will they have to roam in?

Always build as big as you can because, as we all know, chickens are very addictive - you will want more!
Extremely handy accessing all that free wood & other materials - how jammy is that? Laughing

Is the foam lagging that polystyrene stuff? If it is you will have to cover it with something as the chickens will manage to eat it all. Shocked

Dopey · Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 3:05 am Post subject:

Hi CP thanks for the welcome i live in Stanwell so not too far from Hanwell at all, im going to get 3 chickens (for now) and they will be roaming around the garden doing there thing and locked up at night, my worry is cats, will cats kill them? and foxes, but i am sure i have (or am) building it sturdy enough to keep them out, the foam on the roof will be butted up against the sides so they cant peck at it, and the foam is only at the front and back anyway so its too high for them to reach, i wont put a perch near the front, and the back will be covered by the nest box, but i don't know what chickens to get, i know people are going on about buying ex battery hens, but where do you get them where i live, im not driving 200 miles to get them lol i don't mind that, even if it means a little work with them at the start, or a friend says she will hatch me 3 and sex them so i get all girls, but i don't know what kind they are, i didn't think to ask, and even if i did i still would be none the wiser!!

CP · Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 3:26 am Post subject:

Cats usually give chickens a wide berth, especially if they get a few sharp pecks on the nose!

Foxes are a different matter altogether. They will get in any way they can for a free chicken meal. Even if you're at home don't assume that will be enough of a deterrent to keep a fox out of your garden if there is a tempting tasty chicken dinner going begging!

You'd best make preparations for an electric fence of some sort if your girls will be in the garden all day. Wink

Dopey · Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 3:30 am Post subject:

Is a home made fence possible? any hits or tips? as to what the watts and voltage is?

Bhindi · Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 10:44 am Post subject:

CP, I'm from Ealing too Laughing

From the age of 7-18 I was there. A stones throw away from Lammas Park Very Happy

CP · Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 11:09 am Post subject:

You're joking! Really? Very Happy

Know Lammas Park very well. I initially lived in West Ealing near Deans Gardens, then Hanwell near Elthorne Park. (was born in Hanwell)

Small world! Wink

Bhindi · Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 1:23 pm Post subject:

Sorry Dopey, for the off topic!

I went to Elthorne High School, and Fielding Middle which was just of Northcroft Road, that leads up to the middle of West Ealing. (I seem to frequently almost weekly).. place one of my dreams on that road, don't know why, but that's dreams for you !

Deans Garden just a week or so ago, had a fatal stabbing. Crying or Very sad

The pic is just by the main gates at Lammas ; it was a welcoming vision, after a walk through the parks from Ealing Broadway... I knew I was almost home.

(I've just added about 7 more pics in the gallery, of scenes you might recognise)

Its nice to go down memory lane.. Very Happy

Dopey · Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 7:12 pm Post subject:

That’s ok to go off topic, that’s what a forum is all about, chatting about this that and the other, and a little chicken talk in between too

Well day 2 of my chicken house, again i started late and had to finished early, i did some bit in the 2 1/2 hours i was on the job though, went in to B&Q and had a look around in the skip (i did ask the manager first though!!) i found 3 pots of paint (tins were damaged) 3 different colours, but all nice and light bright ones. and a bit of luck was a tin on wood preserver (clear) so i took that too, im just so determined that this is going to cost me £0 but im going to find it hard to get hinges, and locks for free

So again I went to it, I had to turn the roof the other way up, otherwise it will be far too fiddly to cut board to fit the roof, and its flat on the other side, and it seems to fit ok whatever way I turn it, so I built more of the frame, put the floor in, and built the nesting box, I had to take it apart 4 times and put it together again until I was satisfied with the design and layout of it all, that took me most of my time because it was so fiddly to do, and I sprayed it with the wood preserver then painted some of it, the roof isn’t fixed on yet so I can still pay around if I make more mistakes, im not very good at carpentry, but im good at bodging stuff, stuck some mastic all around, makes it easy to clean the corners up then

this is the nest box. im putting a perspex strip along it for light, is that enough light for them? they will go out everyday and get locked up at nigh

Welsh Duck · Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 7:54 pm Post subject:

You are doing really well Very Happy

Dopey · Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 7:59 pm Post subject:

Thanks, anyone know if i still need a perch ON the nesting box itself? its not very high, i was thinking not? but you guys know better than me

Woodburner · Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 8:05 pm Post subject:

Wherever they sleep there will be a lot of poo unless they are broody. Perches keep them above the poo. The area underneath the perch(es) needs to be easy to clean. Some people put a removable board there, I'm going for an off cut of lino over the whole floor.
Hope that helps Smile

Looking again at the pic, there isn't enough headroom for a perch there. I'd put a couple at the other side, with the pophole in the middle of one of the rectangular sides. I'd choose the larger side so there's room to lift the pophole door right up, also there's no problem with run off from the roof getting in through the pophole. You can make the perches easily removable for cleaning by fixing U shapes of wood on the sides for the ends of the perch to sit in.

Tarka · Joined: 21 Dec 2007 Posts: 323

That looks great Cool

What type of breed are you keeping and how many birds will sleep in their as according to the breed type and size , it may just be better to have two nesting boxes instead of three due to the size of the hens ?

Dusty · Joined: 07 Jan 2008 Posts: 770 Location: St. Asaph

Hi Dopey

Welcome to the forum, i'm a newbie too and have just had my first 3 girls. Very Happy

I've found that the easier it is to get 'into' the coop to clean the better. My girls fortunately are well housetrained and tend only to mess just under their perch, the nest boxes stay clean, but as my coop has doors on the back which open fully allowing full access it's not a chore just to pick up the mess every day or so. Razz

the coop is raised up so I don't have to bend in half to clean the floor.

Bhindi, love the new photo's. We stay in Ealing Common when we go to London for weekends. We enjoy walking into Ealing Broadway in the evenings to a pub or restaurant. Laughing

Dopey · Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 10:35 pm Post subject: