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DIY (Runs, houses, aviaries etc that we have built) - click on each heading for further details Aviaries: Since we had aviary birds generally before chickens we tended to use these for chickens also. A lot of bantams can fly quite well, particularly Dutch and Sumatra, so this seemed a sensible course of action to avoid losing chickens. Arks: We tried purchasing a number of different makes of ark - generally the more expensive ones last longer, and it seems that you get what you pay for! The ones that are more pretty and interesting tend to be the least practical, but then it depends on what you want. We recently started building our own based on a more substantial and practical design. The materials to build them cost about £50-£60 with about 2 days work to build, and another to paint. This will house at least 5 or 6 bantams comfortably. Brooder Ring: This was built with an off-cut of Hardboard (1 foot by 6 feet) plus a few screws and 2 bits of wood. It is cheap and cheerful and once used a few times should be thrown away, since it will get damp and dirty. Ponds: We built a small pond for some of our ornamental ducks inside an aviary. Although it looked nice to start with, once the birds were in it it became disgusting very quickly. Having learnt our lesson, it now has a few plants and goldfish in it. The most practical pond is a 'shell sandpit' bought from Argos (about £15 for a top & bottom- i.e. 2 ponds), that is deep enough for the ducks to swim in and can be emptied regularly. Also we have dug out a duck pond in the field. In wet weather this will fill up and give the ducks a nice pond to swim in - it fills up from guttering on our chicken sheds - but in dry weather it totally dries out. This works quite well, since it saves emptying it when it gets dirty! |
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