We have just been given permission for chickens on our allotment. There are another group that have had chickens for about a year but have recently had a problem with rats. To reduce the chance of problems with rats and from what I have read awhile ago it was suggested raising the chicken house off the ground.
We are going to use a 6x4 shed. Does anyone have ideas how we can support the shed so it is off the ground by about 1ft. Have thought about using pallets but rats could climb up the inside of the pallets and chew there way in.
I thought there may have a picture on this forum of someone who had raised there shed or may be mistaken and could be another forum - I have read so much about chickens recently am becoming confused.
Hi,
I have seen sheds raised on breeze blocks, Would that be an option? As for the rat problem just make sure that your feeders are removed during the night and keep the area as clean as possible they are only attracted by the chance of a feed. However saying that we do just that and are still affected by rats not sure what else you can do.
Lucy x
Raising the shed up is not to stop them climbing in but to prevent them having a nice, private hidey hole under the shed floor where they can set up home.
The first shed I bought for the garden, 24 years ago is still resting on the two 7 foot lengths of timber I set it down on, just to raise it a little off the ground. I am amazed that some people just place the shed on the ground....and then the floor rots through.
I have just bought a chicken house and it weighs in at about 100 kils. It is intended to be rested permanently on the ground. I found the base structure was 3 timbers going from side to side. So i bought two 5 foot lengths of stout timber and screwed them across from front to back. I have then mounted 4 wheels under this timber. There is now a gap of about 6 inches under the house, so not very welcoming for Mr Ratty and I can just about push the house around.
I went to rescue a bumble bee nest from under a shed that was being demolished last summer. They had set up home in an old rat's nest that was under the half rotten floor. The householders were a bit shocked cause it was 4 feet from the kitchen door that they usually left open during the daytime.
We have the hen house/shed on the ground and have a loose removable board in the floor through which we drop rat packs to keep mice and rats under control.
Best bet is to feed twice a day and take up what is noy eaten by the hens. Dont feed on the floor but by hung hoppers is another tip.
The old granary buildings put them on stilts cosisting of a mushroom shaped stone, the name of which I cant remember, the idea being vermin could not climb around the mushroom head. This would be difficult to do with a a shed and keep it in place.
Rats will climb a vertical wall ::)
Hi, I have mine raised up about 18" and it is brilliant - as it is easy to clean out and gives the chickens a dry space underneath where I feed them and they have shelter when it rains etc.
I built a ramp for them to walk up to the pop hole!
I used 4 square posts driven into the ground and then put a very heavy duty pallet (It was larger than the usual pallets) on to the posts and then the chicken house onto the platform. Yours may be a bit larger than mine so you may need an extra couple of posts in the middle!
Good luck with yours
Old Bird
Thank you gor your ideas. The breeze block sounds an easy option, but will also consider the posts, but would need ore than the 4 as we will walk into the hen house to clean it.
We have started to prepare the allotment as it is a 1/2 allotment which is new to us. We have had to clear it of some debris. There are 2 sheds on it at present one we will use for storage but the other is being moved to another allotment. We are leveling the land and will roughly turf an area where the chickens can be let out into when we are down the allotment. The open area they will have access to at all times will have wood chips. we can only use just over 1 rod for the hen house and both runs of the 5 rod of allotment due to "The rules". The rest will be used to grow some food for the chickens.