Sheds - a good alternative to coops!
We can also offer a range of garden sheds, which can make a good alternate living arrangement for your hens. A basic shed can be kitted out - especially a good one for the DIYer in the family. Sheds tend to be a good height - plenty of flapping space for your hens, and you can add in perches and nest boxes yourself, creating a unique living experience for your birds.
See our gallery for some ideas!
The best way to decide which shed is best suited to your needs, you need to decide on the following factors
1. What is it for? - bird types and numbers
2. How much space do you have available?
3. How much do you want to spend? - I wont advise you based on which shed makes me more money, I will advise you based on your needs!
Automatic Door Openers
Automatic door openers can be set on a timer or light sensitive to ensure your choocks are safely tucked away at night, and allowed back out at dawn, with the danger of most predators gone.
Sizes and fittings vary, please contact me for more details
POA
Nest Boxes and "Roll Away" Nest Boxes
Nesting is one of natures most important activities. All females do it in some sense, and your hens are no different. They want somewhere clean, comfortable and private to lay their eggs.
We can supply "commercially made" roll away nest boxes in metal or wood. We can also supply the more traditional wooden nest box, professionally made at our farm. These can be built to your specifications - you get exactly what you want!
Standard Fencing (50 meter) £79.99
Standard chicken mesh available in 10, 25 and 50 meter rolls. Ideal for keeping your chicken enclosure safe from predators and protecting your flowers from your pecking chicks!
Mesh Sizes - quarter inch, 1 inch and 2 inch.
Unless you're keeping chicks, the 1 or 2 inch gauge will be just fine. Babies can escape through the 2 inch - I found some of mine playing in the field on the other side of the fence. Thankfully I anticipated this, and the field is mine, so I created a meter wide buffer - edged with the electric mesh to deter them from further wanderings!
Electric Poultry Fencing (50 meter) £93.99
Electric Fencing available in 50 meter rolls. Minimum 12V. Ideal for night times to keep the foxes at bay while your chickens sleep!
There are some concerns about using the electric fencing for your poultry - what if your bird gets it's head stuck? I recommend turning the electricity on only at night when the birds are sleeping soundly and locked away in their coup. If you don't always lock the birds away - I sometimes let mine roam at night, then it's worth digging in a good foot or so of wire mesh under the fence. Tent pegging around 6 inches apart will be good too - it helps prevent the predators from digging through.
We have our " new arrivals " pen on concrete - it was the old garage foundations. We turfed a large area by smashing the concrete and simply turfing over - now there is a patch of vegetation for the birds and the foxes cannot dig through concrete!