Our chickens

The 'chickmobile' is a custom built, luxury trailer.  Inside there are two roosts, three nest boxes that can be accessed from outside.  As you'd expect, it's slightly over-engineered with retractable legs, options for mesh or solid flooring, an automatic 'ChickenGuard' locking door opener, and wifi cameras ('egg cam' and 'coop cam').

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We use woodchip on the floor and hay in the nest boxes.  Diatomaceous Earth (natural crushed fossil made in to a very fine powder) is sprinkled in the coop to keep down any crawling insects.  The coop door closes automatically at dusk and opens at 8 am in the morning (so we avoid 4 am crowing...).

 

The enclosure is a 11m x 9m area, fenced-off to protect against foxes. This works out at around 10 square metres per hen - well in excess of the 4 required by EU organic standards.  This includes summer vegetation for shade, cover to protect from rain, and plenty of dust bathing areas.  This is since been netted off from wild birds - so it's where they stay when Defra imposes chicken lockdowns.

 

Outside this we have an open, grassed 100 square metre chicken run protected by an electric fence.  The electric fence is our first line of defence against foxes.  The chickens are let out into the run most days where they can graze on the grass, and go bug hunting.  They're secured back in the enclosure at night - just in case!

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