Chicken Pens and Coops Melbourne

Chook keeping dates back over 5000 years and has provided pleasure to millions of people around the world throughout the ages. In addition to providing great companionship in keeping them as pets, they provide you with deliciously yummy eggs that are laid fresh daily.

Chooks are very easy to cater for however have some basic requirements.

They require a chicken pen, coop or house that is :

• Fox and dog proof
  
• Preferably an area where they can move from inside to an outside area or fenced in run.
  
• A nesting box
  
• A perch approximately 300mm or more off the ground
  
• A dry area that is ventilated however it must also provide shelter from cold drafts and very hot winds
  
• Protection against inclement weather and direct sunlight

What's the Difference Between a Chicken Coop and a Chicken House?

• Chook Pens /Houses – A chook house, chook pen, hen house, or chicken house are larger buildings where chooks can be kept. It is a  permanent structure and provides sturdy protection and a large area for the chooks to live permanently, however access to a run or an area of your garden is preferable.

• Chicken Coop /Tractor – It is generally accepted that coops are smaller than a house, and not as permanent in their location and to our way of thinking, a cage of some sort. A chicken coop becomes a chicken tractor when wheels are added which enable it to be moved around the yard or vegie beds.

If you are going to keep chooks on an ongoing basis we prefer to build a chook house in preference to a coop. This will ensure that the chooks have plenty of room, a dry shaded area with a deep litter floor and an outside area or run.

We like the house itself to have a solid floor such as concrete, bricks or paving with deep litter which in addition to providing a dry area reduces the chance of rodents being a problem. 

Chook houses should face north to take advantage of the winter sun and you should allow a minimum of 0.40 square metre per bird as the very minimum. To reduce the risk of fox attack chooks need to be locked up each night.

 

Looking after your chooks is very simple. They require permanent fresh water, grains or chook pellets, some shell grit for calcium and will eat most kitchen scraps and love greens which provide vitamins and contribute carotenoid pigments for yolk colour. You can purchase grain mixes and there are several different brands of layer pellets available which provide all the vitamins and minerals your hens require.

Chooks are sociable animals and you should never have only one (two or three are the preferred minimum). 

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