The Ideal Chicken House

[GaryD]

Hi,

During our recent heavy rain, our chicken housing has become a stinking mess.....so we're going to revisit the whole design.

Some of the things that I think are important include:

• The ability to service the housing (feed, water, egg collection, manure removal) without having to enter the house.
• Roosts
• Ongoing access to clean, cool water.
• Protection from predators.

What, in your view, are the features of the ideal chicken house?

Gary

[alfio]

http://www.margaretrivereggs.com.au/freerange.htm
you could try there
Kim started small, won a Churchill fellowsip award and went on to do BIG things.
Interesting Bloke, right into his hens.

What, in your view, are the features of the ideal chicken house?

Air flow, trees accessable, easy access to eggs,
and able to drop-litter out of bottom of nests...
into bins for composting or for making sludge for topdressing.
Net over top. to keep crows OUT!(they steal eggs)
I have the water container plumbed into My automattic irrigation system here,
(sorry about your flooding) so dont have to watch too closely the water supply.

Another idea is a conc floor falling to a drain for washdown
and run the piped effluent into the Fruit tree zone.

And a Light, so at Night you can see what you're upto
in the moonlessness.
lol

[alfio]

lol
2007....

jesus wept!

[GaryD]

Hi Alfio,

Thanks......good suggestions.

lol
2007....

jesus wept!

???

Gary

[GaryD]

HI,

I'm fond of chicken tractors, too......but our block slopes steeply which sort of rules out the style of tractor that allows direct access to the ground.

Gary

[kenc45]

A timely discussion, as I am considering building my first Chicken house (I used a carport last time I had chickens) shortly - have you made any progress, Gary?

I have thought that the requirements would be:

• Easy access to the eggs - so placed not too far from the house with external collection of eggs
• A raised, wire floor under the roost area, with external access for easy manure collection
• Good security from foxes and other predators at night
• Easy to maintain water and rations (for the portion of their rations that aren't free range)
• Good ventilation
• Multiple, separate runs - so that I can let the chickens run on an area, then change their run, dig up the other and grow quick-grow veges and herbs, then swap again. Maybe three runs would be good.
• Have shaded areas for the hot days and wind breaks from our terrible winds.
• And last, but an important one to save the marriage - be able to contain the rooster, and muffle his calls until a decent hour (our last rooster used to crow at 4am outside our bedroom).

I haven't started on a design yet...

Ken

[GaryD]

Hi Ken,

We've listed our design criteria and I'm just waiting for our surplus layers to find another home.

We only want to keep 6 or so (we've currently got around 25).

I've decided to convert our Quail Hilton to a night quarters. Interestingly, that's what the frame was originally designed for. When we cranked up our quail operation about three years ago, we retrofitted the frame for use as a quail house. Now, we've gone full circle.....and the frame will be made into a chicken house.

I'll post the full design feature list as soon as I can lay my hands on it again.

Gary

[kenc45]

We've listed our design criteria and I'm just waiting for our surplus layers to find another home.

I thought a slow simmering pot was a good new home for old layers!

I've decided to convert our Quail Hilton to a night quarters.

Didn't you just get more quail?

I'll look forward to seeing your plans, and progress.

Ken

[GaryD]

Hi,

These aren't old layers.....they've just begun their first season......but Jan and I can only eat so many eggs.

We have just got more quail but building a new home for them is part of the plan. I'm still looking for the list.

Gary

[GaryD]

Hi,

I finally found the list of design criteria for our next Chicken pen. They include:

• Adequate air flow
• Protected from extremes of heat, cold and wind.
• External access to laying boxes.
• Automatic waterers and waste-proof feeders - serviced from outside of the pen.
• Pests and predators (including crows) excluded.
• Mesh floors – to enable quick and easy recovery of manure – from outside of the pen.
• Concrete/paver base and mesh barrier - to prevent chooks from spreading the manure and for easy harvesting of manure.
• Night light
• Roosts

I don't need yards and runs because our chickens roam at large in our half acre back paddock.

Gary