13. All Things Chooky (or How to Build a Chicken Run)

In conjunction with organic growing and the fact that we love our eggs, it was decided to solve two little dilemmas with the creation of a chook house/chook run in the only available free space we have in the backyard - the north west corner. In fact the compost bin was banished behind the greenhouse where it cannot be seen or smelt. Probably not a bad thing anyway. No, you will not find it on the original design. It was one of the places we had not designated a permanent use.

Make sure you prepare the following before you buy your chooks; never after. Their home should be setup and ready for occupation before they arrive. If you prepare a home around them they will stress out to the max.

The first step was to clear the entire area and level it completely. This had originally been a dumping ground for all things, including rocks, bricks, unused garden pots and the compost bin. Good excercise! Once cleared I borrowed the services of "landsupremo", who assisted in the preparation of the 27mm vertical steel pipes that I am using as my outer framework. These have all been concreted in to a depth of around 300mm and are rock solid. Don't worry about the height at this stage. You can correct that after the concrete has set.

After filling in the holes and levelling the next step is to level the frame height. This was done by selecting the height required using one pipe and then running a string around the others using a spirit level to ensure the string is at the same height as the others. Mark each of the pipes at the string height and cut off the excess. The roof frame had 90 degree PVC fittings added and then slid into the vertical pipes, hence giving the appearance of squared-off hoops. To ensure the strength and stability of the "hoops", spacers have been clamped between each of them. Using steel pipes does reduce the number of alternatives you can use as clamps, but the final result is very secure.

If you do have a restricted area to work in this is an excellent time to move the chicken coop inside the run. If you don't do it now once you have completed the chicken wire wall you will never get it inside. I have placed ours on large concrete steps that we had spare which will keep the chickens out of the mud during any rain and enable their coop to stay dry. It will also make it a lot easier to clean out the floor of the coop every week.

Two days of steady rainfall (60mm in all), has convinced us that a roof is necessary if we wish to keep the ladies dry. Hens don't do well in perpetual wet and boggy ground. Fortunately I had some polycarboate roofing over after the completion of our pergola and extension of the back verandah. I realise this is overkill but it beats spending more money. Our local hardware store does well enough out of us as it is. The timber used is also left over merbau decking, but any timber would be fine since it will be protected by the roof itself. Trying to drill through the timber and also centre on the steel piping was no fun at all. Use a G-clamp to hold the timber in place. If you don't your drill simply goes on a slide.

Since I am building "The Hennery" in a corner, drainage will become an issue. To ensure that water runoff does not end up in a neighbour's backyard or simply backs up in the run itself I have affixed an extra piece of timber on one side to direct the water in the other direction. There will be a simple gutter at the end of the roof from which I hope to collect any water by directing it to a special tank. Some of us are still water saving nuts in this part of the world.

Then it is a simple matter of cutting the polycarbonate to fit correctly and using the special roofing/cladding screws (with seals). Since I am building in a corner I need to test my neighbour's generosity to allow me to use their backyard to affix the corners, which I cannot reach from my side. I have lovely neighbours; but they have lousy backyards. I know they are reading this and will get their own back in months to come.

The hardest part of this challenge is puting up chicken wire. It is not easy to work with if you do it on your own. I highly recommend having an assistant, even if they simply play out the wire as you work it around the frame. For most of the time I did this on my own and neighbours have informed me that my language was colourful and sprinkled with unmentionable adjectives. I worked with wire that was 50 metres long by 1.2 metres wide, which would mean that I would need two layers overlapping. To secure it at the top on those sides without a steel pipe I screwed hooks into the timber roof bearers and reversed them to face internally. Those sides with steel pipe would be secured by turning the wire over the pipe itself and then fastened back using netting clips. Make sure you purchase the special pliers used to secure them. They don't work well with anything else.

If you have to overlap secure the top wiring first; it makes it so much easier to get out if you have to leave the job incomplete. If you do the bottom layer you are likely to shut yourself in. Secondly, if the front gate does not go to the top of the structure run your wire completely across the front of the door and then clip back. Makes it much more secure. Bind the corners and spacer pipes with extra wire. I used the wire that bound the huge roll that I purchased.

Then affix the lower wire, securing the bottom first. I used good old fashioned tent pegs at ground level. Then secure the top to the higher wire you have already completed. If you keep the wire firm and straight you should have a reasonably tight fit that nothing should be able to escape from. Again one person should be holding and lifting the wire while the other secures with netting clips. It is not an easy job to do on your own. Our front gate is actually an LPG gas cylinder security cabinet with a steel door. Again a little over the top but it is heavy, very secure, but unfortunately only about 5.2' tall, which means we have to bend down to enter. I am currently carrying at least four trophies on my forehead, acquired after forgetting to duck at the appropriate moment.

As our chicken coop has an external egg laying roost it was decided to clip back the chicken wire and push this roost through, returning the wire edges against the coop itself. This means that on a daily basis we do not need to enter the coop (thereby saving my forehead from another blow) to collect the eggs. Simply lift the lid, remove the eggs and replace the lid, and the girls are not interrupted.

Now we don't have a major fox problem in the outer north eastern suburbs of Melbourne, but we do live close to a protected natural bushland owned by the Defence Department and we do encounter the odd fox or two. Simply securing chicken wire all around will not keep them out. We have firstly hammered tent pegs around the base of the wire to ensure that it stays flat on the soil. Secondly I have laid out in front of the pen a single length of chicken wire, making sure the length included the front gate, clipped it to the base of the vertical chicken wire along its length and it will be buried under Lilydale Toppings (which will also incorporate the other raised beds in the vicinity). In that way if a fox trys to dig under the chicken wire all it will encounter is more chicken wire for a considerable distance. Having a particularly territorial dog doesn't hurt either.

Now that the outside of the pen has been completed, it is time to consider the inside. I have built a single length roosting post for the girls to sit on. There will be only one roosting pole, it is at a single height which means there will be no squabbling for the highest position. It also runs the full length of one side of the pen. The pole is as smooth as I can make it (don't use a pole with bark on it as bark tends to hide little critters that can cause a few health problems). The wooden brackets are home made.

I will incorporate an automatic feeder and am tempted to suspend it from the roof of the pen to stop any mice from accessing a free feed. There will be a water dish inside the coop and one outside and a dish of grit provided as well. There will also be a few greens suspended as well (the girls need their greens and I am hoping they like theirs better than ours). They will be allowed out on a regular basis to wander through our garden to "mow the insects". We have enough snails and slugs to keep them busy for years. Plus their manure is paradise for the soil. The coop will be laid with chopped up straw and their laying roost with softer hay. One must be comfortable while laying the daily "bum nut".

So at this current stage the chicken pen looks like this;

And yes, we have nicknamed it "The Hennery". As it is a little small in size we will only be purchasing three hens, although they will spend as much time outside "free ranging". If they lay their full compliment of eggs per week we will end up with 21 eggs, which is far greater than our need. The neighbours are looking forward to the excess.

And the girls arrive on Saturday 24th March, 2012. Their new home awaits;

THE GIRLS HAVE ARRIVED!

At 11:30am Saturday morning we went down to a local chicken breeding farm in Research (near Eltham) and selected three prelaying pullets. Apparently they are only a week away from commencing to lay. They only have one breed; a New Hampshire Red/Welsummer cross, which did not mean a great deal to us at the time of purchase. Later research has established that they lay upwards of 140 eggs per year, good with children, very docile, don't mind confinement and are an excellent combination for chicken-keeping novices. That's us!

As per all the good books we introduced them to their coop and pen immediately and allowed them to settle in. They have plenty of food, water, grit, and Ana has suspended some greens from the roof of the pen. While everyone wants to pet them, hold them, feed them and completely annoy them, it is better that they acclimatise to their new home first. The pecking order hasn't quite been organised yet. They will achieve this once they have settled down. The laying roost has been closed to them just in case they consider it to be sleeping quarters at the outset. Instead the three of them roosted on top of the coop for the entire night, which was the best safety measure they could have chosen. If they repeat this tonght I will open the laying roost tomorrow morning for them to explore. The fun has been watching Snoopy react with them. Initially he was scared stiff of them. Now he is totally intrigued and sits outside their pen for hours.

"The girls" have now been with us for three weeks and they have settled into their new abode very well. They have commenced laying and we average 2 eggs per day, strangely one in the morning and another in the afternoon. Even though there are two laying nests they each like their moment of peace and wont lay together. We don't care. It's their nest. They are now foraging in the backyard and every insect now lives in perpetual fear of being swallowed. Even the number of harlequin bugs has greatly diminished, which is unfortunate because they eat other more destructive bugs. Now the girls eat the lot, plus a little grass, the ocassional lettuce leaf (the price you pay for keeping chooks), and destroyed Ana's garlic chive bed. Expect to invest 5 to 10 minutes each day in a little light maintainence and "the girls" will reward you.

There are a few things we have learnt very quickly about keeping chooks that anyone who reads this must consider before investing in them. They dirty their water very quickly and their toilet training is non existent. Their water containers must be emptied, cleaned and refilled every day without fail. They do drink a great deal of water and they must have access to a clean supply each day. They do poo in the laying nests and I was not aware of this. These must also be cleaned each day and the hay replaced. If you don't they will find somewhere else to lay that is likely to have the other hens walking on the eggs. They are persistent diggers and they are prepared to dig deep. If you want to retain your trees or shrubs pound stakes into the soil around them and roll hessian or calico around the stakes to protect them. If you don't there will be no bugs around your trees but an exposed root system will eventually kill the plant.

Laying hens require laying pellets as a major food source and they can be purchased from any feed or produce supplier for around $16.00 a large bag, that should last a couple of months. I invested in an automatic feeder which is highly recommended and an automatic water container. Add a teaspoon of unfiltered apple cider vinegar to their water supply from time to time. It is equivalent to a "chook tonic". This can also be purchased from the same place laying pellets are found. They eat a few greens but don't overdo it. We find it is just as easy to let them free range and they will find their own greens. I assume that as our various brassicas develop they will look forward to sharing the odd leaf. But their biggest treat is corn, fresh and sliced away from the cob. They are not that excited about the dry stuff. I use corn to entice them back into their "Hennery" at the end of the day. Just use a separate container; half a cob sliced, the kernels removed and placed inside the container is sufficient, with a little apple and lettuce and they will follow you back to their home.

Ok, they cost a little, they dig up your garden and their toilet manners are atrocious, but they give you a little in return. Our girls are now laying an average of two eggs per day, which is far more than we can consume and fresh, free range eggs are just out of this world. And we thought the best eggs came out of a supermarket!

But the major benefit is the poo and chook poo is the ultimate fertiliser. As it dries it is very easy to collect and that is the purpose of the blue bin with the lid (see the recent completed photo now at the top of this page). All poo is collected in this bin and allowed to dry before it is mixed with soil and spread around the vegetable garden. Leave it for around a fortnight to dry first. I use the brush on top of the laying nests to clean the top of their coop, inside the coop and the roosting pole. By scrubbing with a little water I end up creating a weekly supply of "chook poo soup" which can be spread around vegetables immediately. We no longer need to buy any more fertiliser. We have a regular supply on hand. Cluck, cluck!