Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption
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VM
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Chicken run questionBeen poking round new garden in the rain and found that the corner where we want to put the chicken run is covered in concrete (had soil and paving stones concealing it). We could get it broken up along with another patch which is going so we can put up polytunnel - but I seem to remember someone somewhere (maybe here) saying they kept chickens in run with concrete base and deep litter on top.
Does anyone do this? What do you think about it? It would mean hens having walk-in height run of approx 90 ft sq/8.5m sq on concrete base with hen house inside - then there would be an adjoining similar size run on earth to let them into at times.
The most obvious attraction is that a fox couldn't dig its way in. But it ends up being a slightly smaller space than I had planned for the main run, so not sure. How many hens would be alright in that space?
At our Manchester allotment we had between 6 and 9 hens in a run twice that size - with a few perches so they had vertical space as well as horizontal. This time I want to have two separate but adjoining spaces - for things like introducing new birds, separating birds if necesssary etc etc. We used to put them out into the fruit cage sometimes, but was a bit of a pfaff as it meant carrying them individually to another part of the plot!
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Mithril
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I think that's how hens are sometimes required to be kept in Austrailia - on hard standing, with deep litter on top. So, it is done / can be done. Hopefully someone actually doing it can advise 
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VM
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Glad I'm not the only one sometimes online in early hours of the morning!
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Mithril
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Glad I'm not the only one sometimes online in early hours of the morning!
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Yes, couldn't get to sleep last night. I think it was gone 4am before I dropped off 
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