AUSTRALIAN POULTRY FORUM™

I bought one of those cheap coops off eBay - seems to be the same as from a previous thread.

I was all excited that I’d be good to go after assembly, but after buying the CSIRO poultry book and NSW DPI Chicken coop book and reading this site, I wasn't happy with either the size of the hen house or the run, so I decided to extend.

I enlisted the help of the OH; we extended both the hen house and then run of the coop, doubling the size. We turned the roof around – so far the hen house is covered and we’re debating whether laser-lite roofing (which I’ll have to buy) or corro roofing sheets (that we have 3 of up the end of the yard not being used at the moment) will be best? Being in Canberra, the temps can get extreme – down to -8 and up to 40 degrees C.

This coop will go in a fenced area – chicken wire to 1800mm - as we have foxes around the neighbourhood and our backyard is ‘open’ at the moment. The breeder I’m getting my PoL Austrawhite pullets from in May has recommended laying some chicken wire along the ground under the fencing and clipping it together to prevent foxes / stray dogs digging under the fence rather than digging the wire down into the ground – what are your thoughts?

Anyway, back to the extension….

After some swearing and bloodshed (no tears, but came close), we’re at the stage of roofing the run.





I am very interested to hear how anyone else who bought this coop has found it, especially the hen house entry hole size.

I would really like 4 layers (/pets). If the coop is in a bigger fenced off area, (a good 12-15m2 area of the yard) for free ranging, will 4 Austra White hens be happy – and will I have to lock them in the small coop every night?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Well, since I didn't get any advice on the corro being a poor option for the roof, we went with it.



I'm pretty pleased with the extension, have to do some digging to get the coop level; once that's done I'll attach the ramp from the run to the house... then we move on to the general yard clean up, fencing and netting the run... Lots more work to do.

As someone who's never kept chooks before, all feedback is welcome. I get the chookies in May, so plenty of time yet.

Sorry there has been no feedback.

You will need to keep the flooring litter dry as possible if you are getting your chookies in May, I imagine that it is cold and wet in Canberra. I personally would get POL's in Spring time, winter is so wet and dreary and depressing with less sun and daylight for chookies to be happy and lay. Hay tends to go mouldy when damp and wet and mouldy hay with mould spores are bad for chookie's respiratory health, especially in the wetter, colder months.

There are a number of topic posts related to the deep litter system and other flooring materials such as sand, straw, non toxic wood shavings, organic sugar cane mulch etc. You just need to take the time to research.

If attaching the rodent proof gauge wire to the bottom of the structure to keep out beasties such as mice, rats, digging foxes and dogs feral and non feral and perhaps the odd snake in summer, then you would have to have deep litter on top of the wire floor to prevent foot problems with your chookies such as sores and calluses; especially if they don't get out for a supervised (foxes are very cunning and prey upon unattended unsuspecting innocent chookies) free range on a regular basis.

An extended shade cloth attached like a sail cloth in summer will help keep out the excess sun. Cup screws screwed onto the ceiling beam and chain with D rings to hang feeders and waterers off the ground is good, as chookies like to scratch around and make their water rather dirty and also like to tip over their feeders...

Cool, thanks for that

The Austra-white breeder within 150kms didn't have any spring pullets, mine will come from the first batch bred this year, so unfortunately not much can be done.

Since the drought broke (la nina) it has been very rainy here - no summer to speak of - in the middle of a thunder storm as I type this.
I'm going to fence the entire enclose and line the fence with wire to discourage tunnelling foxes / stray dogs.

Thank you for taking the time to respond - I will look at good bedding / litter systems. I have friends with horses using deep litter systems in the stable, so should be able to tack onto their orders.

I'm in the process of looking at the Royal Rooster & beaktime feeder and water sets.

Do I need a heat pad for them if the temp's going to be sub zero?

I wanted to buy one of those but none were big enough now thanks to you I know how to make it the right size you did such a nice job

Hey thanks Charger - when I saw your handle I thought I was in for questions about the Valiant RT Charger restoration going on in the shed!!

It was a little bit fiddly in 'deconstruction' but honestly you can't make one here for the price of a Chinese one. We had the roofing corro from a carport we knocked down stashed up the back of the yard, and the plywood from a wooden deliver box and it still cost about $100 for screws, wire, a bigger piece of steel for the house tray and framing wood (all from Bunnings).

I reckon I'm up for another $200 - door, framing timber, quickset concrete for posts, chicken wire, clips for the ground wire and a bird net - before I even get the birds, which will be $160 for four PoL ladies.

Anyway, if you'd like more pics or info on how we did it, happy to help

Cheers,

Jo

Sometimes it's hard for people to imagine how things looks, even with the best of descriptions, photos always help people visualise, and give them a better idea on how to go about things and make them!

with the rest of your project and your chookies!

You could also extend the coop with a run off the end opposite the box and you could make it any length and that part would not need a solid roof just wire.

P.s I like your 2 story extension Jo

Thanks guys I've been caught up with ponies and in the few breaks between storms haven't been inclined to pick up the shovel

I really need to get stuck into the yard clean-up! Will post some more when the tidy-up is done...

OK, now that I have some chookies, you can see how small the original coop is with standard (still growing) girls in there...









So without extending or free-ranging, probably should only have a couple of bantams!

Mine will have a nice big enclosure to run around in as of tomorrow. More pics soon.