AUSTRALIAN POULTRY FORUM™

Hi everyone

Well, aside from my introduction post, this is my first "proper" post so apologies if I sound like a complete nuffy - I've never owned chooks before and know very little about them.

We're currently in the process of renovating an old aviary in our backyard (we've only lived here for 2 months so not sure how long it's been sitting unused - it was being used to house a water tank for several years at least).

It's about 1.8m high, 1.2m wide and 2m deep and we are only planning on having 2 chooks (who will be able to roam around our reasonably large, fully secure backyard). I don't have concerns about the size of it but have a couple of questions about the renos we're doing.

1) It's wooden, has a concrete floor, a solid back and half of one side, chicken wire on the remaining walls and hinged door. The back part of the roof is corrugated iron with chicken wire over the top, and the front part is just chicken wire. We bought new chicken wire to replace some of the parts that look ratty. We also bought shade cloth as an extra barrier against predators - do we need that? It's north facing in a fairly sheltered area (behind a double garage and under a tree, the east wall is all chicken wire, the west wall next to the garage is half wood, half chicken wire).

2) There's a nesting box already in it - do chickens care about other birds having been in the nesting box? We've cleaned it out but will they only use a new one that doesn't have the scent of the previous bird?

3) We've built a shelf and a ramp - the shelf is about 1m off the ground and the ramp is on a bit less than a 45 degree angle. I read somewhere that roosting poles shouldn't be more than 60cm from the ground. We were planning on putting the roosting pole just above the shelf, so about 1.2m from the ground. Is that a problem? There is plenty of room under the shelf if we should put it there.

I'm sure I'll have heaps more questions over the coming weeks but given how long this post is, I think I should leave it there!

Thanks in advance for any advice

You should put a good depth of sand over the concrete so they dont get problems with their feet

Izzybella,

Could you possible post some photos of your aviary to coop make over? I think that it helps people what you are explaining, and that way people can offer you their best advice. It also gives people ideas on they can do too!

If you are looking for commercial hybrids, Wagner's in Coldstream is a one stop poultry stop with chooks, feed, feeders and chook giftware. Their chooks are vaccinated against mareks and infectious bronchitis.

If you want a particular pure breed or rare breed then best to research the local breeders in the Yarra Ranges.

http://www.wagnerspoultry.com.au/

Hi Izzybella

The only question I can find in 1), is about the shade cloth,so I would have to say yes, keep the hade cloth as it will help with sheltering the girls when it rain (especially if the rain comes in from that direction).

For 2) I have not found my girls being fussy about other hens laying their eggs/scent in there but I am not hugely experienced about chicken behavior, but as long as it is clean & soft I think they will both go in the one box.

If you want some ideas of what others have done with their chook homes have a sqiz at this great site called Back Yard Chickens. I have been gleaning heaps of ideas off it for my new home that is going to be built; once this rain goes away!

Hope this has helped you in some way.

Cheers
Chicka-Dee