9×21′ Chicken Coop and Run for Dean Farm Trust
Dean Farm Trust is an animal rescue based just outside Chepstow in the bottom of a wooded valley alongside a small brook.
We’d previously supplied Mary from the trust with a smaller chicken run some 5 years ago but now with a new location and more space a new chicken coop was required. As the area has a number of birds of prey it was essential to have a covered chicken run to provide them with protection from attack.
We also fitted anti dig mesh around the perimeter to deter foxes and badgers from digging at the side of the run. Although there is no 100% safe way to keep predators away we’ve found that simply protecting the area immediately adjacent to the run is sufficient to keep the diggers at bay.
As the land had a gentle slope the customer had the area excavated to give us a flat base for the chicken house. Our chicken coops will happily site on a slope that runs from end to end but if the slope is running across the house it will need to be flattened.
Inside the house we fit diagonal timbers to strengthen the run. There is a ramp up to the house. Once there is a layer of litter in the bottom of the run the angle of the ramp is much shallower. The doors to the house can be positioned with the pophole on either side. We normally configure it so the one pophole is as far from the nest boxes as possible to keep them dark.
Inside the coop there are 2 perches and access to the 2 communal nest boxes fitted to the rear of the house. These 2 nest boxes can be positioned in any of the 5 panels forming the house so they can be on the side or on the rear.
There are 2 wide doors allowing access to the house for cleaning. Should you wish the floor panels can be removed for further cleaning. The corrugated roofing leaves very few placed for the dreaded red mite to hide.
