Poultry Housing from
Starting with Chickens - by Katie Thear
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This article
is taken from Starting with Chickens by Katie Thear, the UK's
best selling book on keeping chickens.
Where to keep them, what to buy and where to buy chickens from
to what to do with the surplus eggs. The perfect introduction and probably
the only book on keeping chickens you actually need to buy.
Poultry Housing (Chicken Coops) - Where to Buy
The best time to buy a house is before
the chickens arrive, but you would be surprised how many people
buy on impulse, at a show for example, and then bring them home
where there is no house awaiting them.
There are several options when it comes to housing.
There may be a manufacturer locally who has a ready made range or
will make a house to order Perhaps a nearby garden or pet centre
sells them.
It is also worth checking with pet and livestock feed
suppliers for they often act as local agents for national suppliers.
We are are fortunate in the UK in having several manufacturers who
will supply by mail order.
The houses may come as flat packs for self-assembly,
or the manufacturer may erect the housing himself. Another option
is to make a house and run yourself. There are plans
available from a number of sources.
The ideal position is a sunny, well-drained area where
there is also shade and wind protection. Hens do not like wide open
spaces, for they have an instinctive fear of large birds of prey.
When one remembers that they are descended from the
wild Red Jungle Fowl, this is not surprising. A plane overhead is
a bird of prey to a chicken. Trees, shrubs, fences or walls provide
a sense of security as well as weather protection, and the average
garden usually provides these.
Place the house so that the pop-hole (the hens' door)
is on the side protected from the prevailing wind. If there is still
a whistling wind funnelling into your garden, consider putting a
'porch' around the pop-hole, or place some sort of screen, such
as garden mesh, straw bales or wattle hurdles to deflect the wind.
Houses are available in different sizes, so it is
important to get one that is appropriate for the number of birds
likely to be kept. Ideally, this is a maximum of 10 birds per sq.
metre or 15kg live-weight of birds per 1 sq. m of floor space.
Remember that if you have large breeds
such as Brahmas, the normal nest boxes and pop-holes may be too
small for them. It is something to mention before ordering, for
some manufacturers will adapt their designs and build to order
Starting with Chickens - Housing for Chickens (Chicken
Coops)
© 2004. Katie Thear.
From Starting with Chickens,
published by Broad Leys Publishing Ltd
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