Freezing cold today, so of course we decided to spend time outside moving the Cube around to establish its final position. This would then help DH finish his design for the walk-in run.
It's enormous. Even though I knew the size, it's still big in reality. I had to cut down a Tayberry plant so we could manoevere it around the garden. We tried it here, we tried it there. There's really only one place it's going to fit, which is behind a large shrub. The good thing is that when the Tayberry grows back, it'll be inside the run, so the chooks will have something to jump up at and nibble!
At first I wasn't happy about the likely location because I can't see the Cube itself from the kitchen. However, I've realised that I will be able to see the whole run, and right up to the edge of the Cube entrance. The other bonus is that the Cube is in what would have been the chickens' free ranging area anyway, so that's less of the garden we've had to give up for chickens.
The back of the Cube is also now convenient for the compost bins, so emptying the poop trays each day will be a little bit easier.
I'm attaching a photo. The space is where the walk in run (WIR) will be. Iif you look closely you can just about see the Cube's ladder, which is at a right angle to the walk in run, IYSWIM. The WIR will be 2m by 4m, although we'll adjust this to make best use of the WeldMesh.
Now my DH can calculate how much WeldMesh we need, and I'm hoping we can get on and order it soon. We've had to choose a really strong weldmesh: it's not for keeping chickens in, it's for keeping foxes out. And to make it Biosecure, it needs to have fairly small mesh, to keep wild birds out. It'll also have a removable polycarobonate roof, this is for weather proofing and bio security.
Oh, and because it was so cold - clearly we couldn't have done this earlier in the week when it was warm outside! - we also measured up for new gates. Our 3 foot high gates need to be replaced by 6 foot high ones. I'll be ordering those next week.
It's enormous. Even though I knew the size, it's still big in reality. I had to cut down a Tayberry plant so we could manoevere it around the garden. We tried it here, we tried it there. There's really only one place it's going to fit, which is behind a large shrub. The good thing is that when the Tayberry grows back, it'll be inside the run, so the chooks will have something to jump up at and nibble!
At first I wasn't happy about the likely location because I can't see the Cube itself from the kitchen. However, I've realised that I will be able to see the whole run, and right up to the edge of the Cube entrance. The other bonus is that the Cube is in what would have been the chickens' free ranging area anyway, so that's less of the garden we've had to give up for chickens.
The back of the Cube is also now convenient for the compost bins, so emptying the poop trays each day will be a little bit easier.
I'm attaching a photo. The space is where the walk in run (WIR) will be. Iif you look closely you can just about see the Cube's ladder, which is at a right angle to the walk in run, IYSWIM. The WIR will be 2m by 4m, although we'll adjust this to make best use of the WeldMesh.
Now my DH can calculate how much WeldMesh we need, and I'm hoping we can get on and order it soon. We've had to choose a really strong weldmesh: it's not for keeping chickens in, it's for keeping foxes out. And to make it Biosecure, it needs to have fairly small mesh, to keep wild birds out. It'll also have a removable polycarobonate roof, this is for weather proofing and bio security.
Oh, and because it was so cold - clearly we couldn't have done this earlier in the week when it was warm outside! - we also measured up for new gates. Our 3 foot high gates need to be replaced by 6 foot high ones. I'll be ordering those next week.
