First Coast Pet

Posts Tagged ‘chicken arks’

Chicken coops runs must be made with the help of a proper planning. The runs are one of the most important areas in the coop. This is where the chickens usually move about. You must ensure free movement for the chickens in the run. So first of all you need to choose a perfect plan for building the run.

The run is the area where the birds can come out and get some fresh air and light. But as the chickens come out you have the fear of the predators. It is therefore vital to make sure your chickens are safe in the run. When you build the run make sure it is not near the place which has some dense growth, heavy bushes, woods and long grasses.

These places are ideal for the predators to hide. As soon the chicken will go out in the run they will jump over them and eat them up. So you need to build the run in an open space which is far from the dense growth. You should avoid letting your chickens fall prey to predators such as dogs and foxes.

Chicken runs can either be a free space or it can also be fenced. It depends on the area where you live. If you have too many predators around then you will surely need a fenced chicken coops runs. On the other hand if the predators come out only at night then you need to lock the chickens up before it gets dark.

Just in case your poultry pen runs can have a free range. It is often a good idea to place fences around your chicken ark but please ensure that these are installed correctly. Strong wire is a must to prevent predators from breaking into your coop. This will help you to keep the chickens safe and healthy.

Chicken wires are usually used for fencing. The wire should be buried under the ground. If you do this the predators will not be able to dig under the area of the run. Other than this, you can also make the floors of the chicken run concrete. This will stop foxes attacking your chicken coop from the inside.

You must also make sure that the chicken coops runs are kept free from any kind of dangerous objects that can cause harm to the chickens. If you find any protruding nails from the fence then you must remove it. Make sure that the electric wiring you use do not cause harm to the chickens.

If you’re just starting to keep chickens, a great way to save money is to build a simple chicken ark. There are good ready made chicken arks available but they can be very expensive; a good set of chicken ark plans will give you excellent results.

Chicken arks are the simple triangular shaped chicken coops that have an integral run. For the simplest type to build, go for the one storey version with a rosting space and nesting box and a run attached. it’s a simple project to build a chicken ark, which should take you around a day – so you’d also have time to get your chickens and introduce them to their new home within one weekend.

They are ideal for a first flock of three chickens and if you are just starting out it’s best to buy brooders – hens that are getting ready to lay – so they will start producing eggs for you soon after you get them.

Get your children involved from the beginning by sharing the project of building the chicken ark, and then they should also get interested in the ongoing care of the chickens. Depending on the ages of your children, they will be able to help building the chicken ark by doing something: fetching and organising the materials, telling you what to do next, assembling some of the pieces or even building the entire chicken ark by themselves.

The chicken ark is portable, so yu move it to new ground each day and the chicken scratch about in new ground. You can also leave it in one place and allow your chickens to free range. They will clear rough ground for you; scratch up bugs and insects, and clear beds in the autumn.

f you do move the ark every day, you will get fertilised ground, but they won’t clear it completely. If you want to preserve your lawn but keep your chicken ark on it, this can be a a good solution.

If you are debating whether to keep chickens, don’t worry – it is very easy and they are rewarding animals. First find some good chicken ark plans so the building is easy and quick, then make sure that you have all the information you need to keep your chickens safe and healthy – look for good plans that come with a complete kit of chicken keeping information,
You will be rewarded by lovely fresh eggs for several years.

Like many other animals, chickens are social animals and naturally live in flocks. Scratching around freely is normal too. Pet chickens in a small enclosure may be bored and unhappy. A chicken ark will let your pet chickens range on new ground, so is a good first hen house solution.
Chicken arks are designed to be moved around, so the hens have access to new grazing, where they can scratch grubs and bugs, eat grass and weeds. So the chickens have room to move around, and you can separate children and chickens when you want to.
Your children will quickly learn how to handle the hens, but their friends may need some introduction – and some may be wary or frightened at least at first. Children can look at the chickens and observe them closely, when the hens are in the chicken ark.
As children understand more about chickens’ routines, they will learn how to care for them. Children will learn from responsibilities such as feeding and cleaning and they will enjoy collecting the eggs from the chicken ark nest area.
If handled gently, most chicken breeds are perfectly safe to handle. If yu get laying chikcnes, they can be let out of the chicken ark each day so the children can get closer and learn how to pick them up.
When you raise chickens from chicks, children will learn from handling them and watching them grow.
If you want just a few pet chickens, chicken arks work well as they are small and easy to manage. They will learn that each chicken has a different personality and habits.

Layers when they first begin laying may start to eat the eggs. You may be able to retrain them, but some chickens can be hard to cure.

An accident such as an egg being dropped or stepped on will often trigger chickens eating eggs. They are curious foragers so can’t resist this new treat. They may eat the shell, or not. But once they’ve tasted an egg, it can be hard habit to break.

Preventative measures.

Make sure your nest boxes in your chicken ark or hen house have a lip on the bottom of the front so it’s hard to kick eggs out accidentally. Chickens need sufficient space to move around in their nestboxes without damaging the eggs.

A good depth of bedding in the nestboxes will protect them.

Finally, eggs get broken more often when the shells are thinner. Adequate oyster shell will help develop harder and thicker shells.

If the chickens can roam free so they have more interest, or you have a chicken ark you can move around, they will have more interest and are less likely to get bored.

Things you can do with chickens who have started to eat eggs

Collect often. If the egg is left, the more likely it is to get eaten.
Your hens may all lay at the same time, so collect the eggs as soon as they’ve finished. Keep checking during the day if your chickens lay over the course of the day.

This can stop the habit, and it’s worth trying keeping them apart in a chicken ark.

Other things you can try

You could try putting golf balls in the nesting boxes. The theory is that a few pecks on a hard ball will discourage them, so they’ll lose interest and leave the eggs alone.

Wooden eggs look more like the real think, so make work too.

Another thing to try is to remove an egg and heavily coat it with petroleum jelly and then replace it. When the hen pecks at it, she gets a beak full of goop.

Sometimes chickens will start pecking at the eggs out of boredom in the same way they start pecking at each other. Letting them free range or putting them in a chicken ark can work

If you can work out if it’s one chicken who’s causing the problem before she teaches this bad habit to the others, separate her from the rest of the flock and their eggs.

This is where a chicken ark can be useful, so you can house her separately for a while. She will have interest from being moved around regularly, and if you collect the eggs frequently as well, you may break her of the habit.

In districts where there are chicken predators such as foxes, owls, raccoons,or skunks, a chicken ark can be an ideal solution allowing them to graze and peck on new ground, and keeping them safe.

The chicken ark is designed to be moved around, giving chickens new ground to forage and browse on, but as the run is enclosed, it keeps them safe. There is a place for roosting and nesting in the ark so they are rotected at night. Even if predators can dig under the run, they can’t reach the chickens.

When you are around to keep an eye on your chickens, you can let them out, and then put them back in the chicken ark run when you go out.

The two-tier chicken arks have roosting areas at the top wth the run in the wider base below. This provides an enclosed run that is also shaded from the sun and provides some shelter in wet weather.

The simple chicken ark has encloded roosting at nesting at one end, then a triangular section run at the other end. This chicken ark design means the run is open to the elements – so the chickens get sun wind and rain, just like the free range outdoors. Your eggs will be as nutritious as free range, but your chickens will be kept safe.

It is important to move the arks regularly though – every day if necessary.

Position the ark anywhere on your plot where the chickens can peck and graze fro grubs or grass and weeds.their diet will consist of a wide varity of foods, so the eggs will have more flavor.

Chicken can be used to hlep clear rougher areas, they will happily remove dead and flopping growth in the fall and can of course, be used to give your lawn some extra fertilizer. The droppings provide instant fertilizer, but won’t build up as you’ll be moving the ark regularly.

The ‘run at the side’ type of chicken ark tends to be lighter and so easier to move, with the roosting part at ground level. For a starter hen house, this is a great design and easy to build.

Building your own chicken ark should result in an attractive, well-designed hen house, which will last for years, give you and your hens a lot of pleasure – and save you a considerable amount.