Next questions - I've emptied and swept and hosed down the donkey shed. What I thought was an earth floor was just a lot of old donkey bedding on top of fairly rotten chipboard.
Is it best to replace it with solid marine ply or will those decking squares be OK? Wondering about the wee gaps between the strips.
The shed is made of paneled sheets of horizontal planks with gaps (like larch lap fence panels but more solid) which means there's too much ventilation. Is it enough to close the gaps on the 2 windward sides or do I need to insulate as well? Don't want them shivering all night in winter.
The door is on the eastward facing side and there are now two water butts on the west side.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
Our hens had either solid concrete floors (when in sheds) or when in chicken arks/huts on wheels the floors were slats with half inch rabbit fence type wirenetting tacked over ... both with a good layer of wheat straw which was added to as the surface got messy, building up to a nice thick ‘mattress’ for the winter ... then in spring everything would be cleaned out, scrubbed and treated with creosote to guard against mites which infest every nook and cranny.
Obviously there’s no creosote now for amateurs (although I believe commercial poultry keepers may still be able to use it as it’s so effective as a treatment against mites).
In in winter the only ‘cleaning out’ needed was to scrape the ‘droppings board’ - a loose sheet of ply/old door of whatever on the floor beneath the perches - as this is where most of the droppings will be deposited.
Chickens like to be cosy but they do need fresh air too ... I think that closing the gaps should be fine ... I’d be worried that insulating would provide lovely homes for red mites (I hate the bu$$ers) https://keeping-chickens.me.uk/chickens-health/red-mite/
Hope that’s helpful ... I love poultry 💖
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Thanks Dove. Great help. There is already a low shelf of broken chipboard where I assume they put the donkey's hay and I'll replace that with ply then cover with straw and put a perch over it. Should be easy to clean out that way.
Good tip about mites too. Lots to learn.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
Quite a mix there Marran. I'm planning to fence off an area round the shed so they can roam and peck at will by day and while they get used to their new home but just to my chest height. Wasn't planning a high, covered pen. Is that OK or asking for trouble? They will be shut in at night in case of foxes and other predators.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
They roam the garden when I’m outside. Surrounded by fields (except now one is a building site ☹️) we had trouble with foxes. They’re 100% safe in there.
We have a beef cattle farm behind us and also at the end of our own plot and across the lane. Next door is a garden made over mostly to horse paddock along our joint boundary.
Will have a rethink about high fencing then for when we're out for the day.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
Thanks Islander. The veggie plot is already fenced but needs a gate and I have some 1.2m high mesh fencing to put out around their intended home so my veg will safe form the hens and they'll be safe from our two dogs altho, when I took Rasta to training the first couple of years we had her, the lady running the courses did include how to handle hens in her classes. The dogs had to learn not to run up and not to sniff the pecking end. Very funny. She had goats and a huge rabbit and a dominant cat that I saw make a bad-mannered Rhodesian ridge back sit back on its heels.
I may re-think that plan tho and go straight for a tall fence they can never hope to fly over and the cats won't jump over and, if I put a mesh lid on the area, any foxes won't get in either. No mink that I know of round here.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
@Obelixx we got some old chain link fencing that had been around tennis courts that were being refurbished ... at around 9ft tall there was enough to bury a good foot or more in the ground and still have the fence tall enough to thwart the most ambitious of our chooks. It also proved too much of a mouthful for the fox who had a good gnaw at it a few times and then gave up. 👍 There was also enough to make a generous sized chicken run.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
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Next questions - I've emptied and swept and hosed down the donkey shed. What I thought was an earth floor was just a lot of old donkey bedding on top of fairly rotten chipboard.
Is it best to replace it with solid marine ply or will those decking squares be OK? Wondering about the wee gaps between the strips.
The shed is made of paneled sheets of horizontal planks with gaps (like larch lap fence panels but more solid) which means there's too much ventilation. Is it enough to close the gaps on the 2 windward sides or do I need to insulate as well? Don't want them shivering all night in winter.
The door is on the eastward facing side and there are now two water butts on the west side.
Obviously there’s no creosote now for amateurs (although I believe commercial poultry keepers may still be able to use it as it’s so effective as a treatment against mites).
In in winter the only ‘cleaning out’ needed was to scrape the ‘droppings board’ - a loose sheet of ply/old door of whatever on the floor beneath the perches - as this is where most of the droppings will be deposited.
Chickens like to be cosy but they do need fresh air too ... I think that closing the gaps should be fine ... I’d be worried that insulating would provide lovely homes for red mites (I hate the bu$$ers) https://keeping-chickens.me.uk/chickens-health/red-mite/
Hope that’s helpful ... I love poultry 💖
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Good tip about mites too. Lots to learn.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Will have a rethink about high fencing then for when we're out for the day.
I may re-think that plan tho and go straight for a tall fence they can never hope to fly over and the cats won't jump over and, if I put a mesh lid on the area, any foxes won't get in either. No mink that I know of round here.
It also proved too much of a mouthful for the fox who had a good gnaw at it a few times and then gave up. 👍
There was also enough to make a generous sized chicken run.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.