Anybody know of any sites or books I could check out regarding poultry house designs? I would like to keep both chooks and ducks and have a resonable amount of room on which to build. We only really want about 4 chooks and 2 ducks. No rooster due to council regs and wanting to stay on good terms with the neighbours It gets quite hot in the summer, 40C + on some days at the seasons peak, and high 30's are quite common, as well as resonably cool in winter, with the odd morning kicking off at bellow 5C for a few weeks. The site in my yard where I was thinking of building gets good morning and afternoon sun all year, but I would be screening afternoon sun in the summer - its just to bloody hot. Building is not a big issue for me, as I used to be a fencer and farm builder/fabricator not so long ago. I have ready access to about 20 - 25 meters of 1800 high chain mesh and a small quantity of tin (all second hand) - the rest I would have to buy. I intend to build to last Any good Ideas for me?
Not sure on books but remember if practicle that is,to allow for those hot days,windy times,especially winter winds. A good tree can be used for future shade or shelter,also keeps chooks cooler in sun. Tezza
No plans just some photos of my setup, might give you a few ideas Main advice is the dig the wire into the ground to keep foxes out.
Hi kja I'm building one too, it's exciting isn't it! although i don't have as much room as i'd like yet well, at first I found a book by alanna moore to be a great help aswell as many others available at your local library here.. https://203.103.50.238/cgi-bin/spydus.ex ... BS=poultry then of course you have a few thousand homepages ect to browse through on the web, which will be your main source of info in the end i'm still trying to work out how to put a roof on, when i do it should be up and running but it sounds like you have the right idea with the shading ect, i'm growing a grape on my west wall, so in theory, if it grows, it should cover the wall in summer and be a stick in winter and let the sun in i'm sure there's many duck heads on here that can help you with the duck side too, not sure if they mix too well in a pen together? but there so cute! Good luck and keep us posted on your progress kja Bazman, great pics, nice chookies and i really like your run, nice and roomy
Thanks for the pics. Is that a converted garden shed? What are the rough dimensions? I was thinking of actually running concrete footings with 150-200mm above the ground to help prevent the netting from rusting off due to the manure ect.
Kja, We built a shed, with high ceilings, wired it with chook wire, then roofed it. We have two rooms, so the broody hens and babies get their own space.... and multiple pens around the house, which we use on a rotational basis. I just wanted top thank Ben for his wonderful inclusion of his animals and humour. Thanks! C
Chook pen design KJA, Good luck, this is a link to an article I was asked to submit to an international site some years ago. https://www.ibiblio.org/permaculture-online/artfloot.html You sound like you are building the proverbial 'brick shithouse', which is good as you can always add to it. I have always preferred to have a chook-proof vegie garden as part of it. Cheers Mike
attention baz Baz, That is not a chook pen, admit it, its a bloody resort!!! [Note to self - Next time dont design one yourself -get an architect] Honestly, though Baz, chooks have always been part of my life and your creation has got all the attributes of a great chookpen including a hanging, swingable outdoor perch, semi-shade, good cover, hard surface under gate etc. etc. Do you ever garden in any part of it? Also, how many have you built before? Lastly, a personal question, did you get an architect or did you sit out there with a beer and consult the chooks? Cheers Mike
Yeah Rebecca calls it the chooky hilton, the funny bit as I don't have much work at the moment the girls spend most of the time out of it in the dog yard then i'm home. The shed is 2x3m The garden shed was already in place when we moved here I just converted it. Most of the wood including the lattice was on site so I just sat down and sketched it up, I'm a 3D designer which helps when drawing these things up, i'm going to build a wild bird aviary next which will be used for rainbow lorikeet runners (sick birds) With the shed I have one beam that is too low and when I built it I thought I will hit my head on that, which I have now done many times. I have been thinking of sectioning off parts of the chook run and planting it out (when I have some spare time) I have also been thinking of a chooky tractor design too, will be made from old shed corrugated iron, but that's down on my list, and it's a long list. If a get something drawn up I will post it.
I don't know if it's what you're looking for, but here is a site that shows 100 chicken tractors. No plans, just photos. https://www.angelfire.com/falcon/thecity ... ctors.html Sue
KJA I am rebuilding my pen at the moment - as the foxes got in and killed all the chooks. For a bit I considerred doing concret footings extending about 30 cm deep and another 10 cm high (to help keep a mow line). When I worked out how much concret would be needed etc - I went back to the dig wire in idea. Am using 1200mm high heavy duty galvanised chain wire (50mm diamond) that will be dug in 30-40 cm. I will then connect normal chicken wire to the chain wire top to reach the full height of my pen. The top is also enclosed, some parts by corrugated iron and the rest by chicken wire. Doors are an important thing to think about. My pen was here when I bought and the design is not so good as is, because the roosting area is in the lowest part of the pen and is also where the door is. Canno get a wheelbarrow through the door as it is too narrow. I will leave the laying boxes and roost in the low part (although not ideal) because this is the area that gets shade from a good sized deciduous tree. However I will be building a new and bigger door in a more appropriate location. I will also install a couple of other doors, so I can let chooks out into different parts of my yard when free ranging.
Excellent Pictures of Chook houses very impressive by you all.. My only thing is........If you intend to hatch babies in the raised boxes,when hatched they will need a way to get to ground level,and also to get back into nests.Mum cant carry them .. Just an observation.My mate who i adjisted my choks at has the same problems.if they jump thell probly damage their feet,OR get left behind on the fllor and die of cold......... Tezza
300 mm deep is probably not needed. I was thinking 100 mm (4 inches to the older amongst us) above and below for a total of 200 mm. I was then thinking of laying foot netting horizontally at the same depth to deter diggers. Eg: ............I ______I Where the dots are ground level, the underscores are the foot neeting and the "I"s are the concrete. Clear as mud , yeah? Mmmm never thought of that....Thanks. If you are using chicken or rabbit netting just build a frame to support it. No matter what you do the Chicken/rabbit netting will eventually sag under its own weight in my personal experience. To everyone else, thanks for the links and tips. Kim
I just followed this one up. OMGWT*BBQ . I didn't know that this was *exactly* what I was looking for until I had seen it. Bugger building a big old steel stone and tin monolith,Im building one of these babies. I might even build two! The "Kentucky Fried" one and the "John Deere" one cracked me up. Thanks Sue, I love these moment of inspiration. Kim
withdrawals Good luck kja. I am writing to sate my chook withdrawals. I have none at present I used 25l plastic drums [you can get from a cleaner or even the pub] on a simple frame. I had thought about it and the drums locked in. All I had to do was pull the drum out and relocate it when the first of the chickens had hatched. I would then relocate all to one of the larger airconditioner frames, the type they hang out the side wall of houses. I live in the tropics so they are easy to get. These are open one end and on the bottom but have rear and side grates. I just attached a piece of wire over the front... for access I just lifted it up a bit and slid the food/water under there.. The open bottom means the chicks/chook have access to dirt & grass. We kept this close by the house, on the lawn or garden, for protection [besides chickens are cute]. I leave them all in here for about a month, then the chook is returned to civilisation and the chickens put in a half tank with no bottom and shadecloth/mesh over the top. This contraption was used as a 'tractor' and moved occassionally. We bred a lot of chickens and were one of the only families left with chooks after the floods in Katherine of 1998 so we gave away around 100 chooks/chickens that year to help folk re-establish. My home was not flooded. I like plastic and steel in my chookhouse because I am very wary of parasites. I have never had a problem with them but I believe ''an ounce of prevention... etc'' Cheers MJ
BRB I AM GOING TO RE-REGISTER AS 'Floot needs L Plates' NESTBOXES, NESTBOXES, NESTBOXES. That is what you do with 20/25l plastic drums. and now i am going back to the ''shallow thread'' where you dont have to make sense. mj
Ummm, Yeah that's pretty much it. I got all excited and forgot where I was. Just a bit of nonsense that's all. Gotta remind myself not everyone speaks geek, you should see the looks I get when I say it out loud in normal conversation. Kim
Yeah , I figured that out ... after a bit Never thought of using drums as such, but I probably will now that you have mentioned it - beats trying to build them. Thanks Kim