Before arranging the adoption date, I made sure to have everything necessary to properly care for hens and this of course had to include suitable housing for them, writes Allie Short.
Based on the guidance available online, I ordered an affordable wooden coop with a built in run which was apparently suitable for up to five large birds. Perfect I thought, as my plan was to adopt four hens so this coop would give them ample room, but I now know that the legal standards of space required don’t exactly tally with the best interests of the birds.
I wasn’t happy to keep my hens confined in such a small space so decided they needed to be allowed free access to the garden immediately while I searched for a more suitable coop.
Eventually I found a company that makes coops using recycled plastic and ordered a large coop from them, legally big enough for up to twelve birds so definitely plenty of room for my four, complete with an automatic door opener / closer which is really to make my life easier as the hens wake up before me and go to bed after me and I was starting to suffer.
Now we all know moving house can be stressful for people with everything that’s involved, but hens don’t have furniture to move or legal issues to wade through it should be a straight-forward thing for them, just sleeping and laying eggs in a different room that just happens to be a lot bigger. Wrong!
Moving to the side by about 5 feet was a massive issue which was extremely stressful and took about a week to complete.
The first night I caught each hen and put them to bed. Once I placed them into the new coop, they happily stayed in there and settled down for the night and I hoped that would be it.
The next morning they woke up and got themselves out of bed so I hoped they would know where to go at bed time. No.
Each bedtime for the next few days, I had to catch them and put them to bed, and each morning they’d happily get themselves out of bed again they just didn’t seem to be figuring out the bed time routine.
Eventually Waffle, the head hen, realised how to take herself to bed and gradually the others copied her and we are now finally happily settled into the new coop (and I’m not quite as sleep deprived).
If you’re planning to adopt some hens, when it comes to housing them, remember to think long-term and don’t rely on the legal standards as guidelines as if I had kept my girls in the first coop and run they would be over-crowded and unhappy; that’s not something I would accept for them.
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