FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

About the area: Don't forget to provide water and electricity to the pen, if possible. There are possibilities to ensure the supply via solar energy and rainwater, but using your standard water and electricity network is by far the easiest and cheapest.

Chickens like bushes, trees and mess. Anything you can play with or scratch on or under, chill on and sand/earth bathe. Shade is essential for the summer months and evergreen bushes are useful to provide shelter even in winter. Trees offer not only shade but also protection against attack from the air (even though we are not aware of any birds of prey in Italy). We are happy to make suggestions in collaboration with your landscape gardener.

The outdoor enclosure should be earthy, sandy and scrapeable. Protection from top and underground at the fence against boars and foxes should be provided. Some green vegetation/grass in the outdoor enclosure makes chickens happy.

The outdoor enclosure should be protected from the wind as much as possible. This can be achieved with bushes, hedges and clever garden planning. At least one (small) corner of the outdoor enclosure should offer proper wind protection (shed, wooden wall angle, etc)! A small roofed area to protect against rain is also recommended, usually in combination with the structural windbreak. Letting the stable be overgrown with jasmine or ivy additionally offers shade and protection and even looks rather pretty.

Even though official laws concerning organic chicken only demands at least 4 m² run per chicken, we find a minimum of 20m² is required! 4 m² would mean complete clearing of herbs, grass, flowers and other vegetation. So, give your chickens maximum freedom! They will be much more content. Your chickens will be healthier and get up to 80% of their feed themselves (which greatly reduces/eases the need for supplementary feeding), and.... your chickens are actually more relaxed. They are busy scratching, searching and exploring and there is less fighting. You can support this with discreet, preferably distributed feeding in the main part of the run. Sure, your garden might suffer a little damage here and there, but that's nature.

Even though no outdoor enclosure can provide complete protection against predators, with a little training, your chickens go into the coop on their own at sundown (in the beginning you have to fetch them from trees from time to time or show them the way to the coop). To protect the coop against predators at night, there are light-controlled, automatic chicken door hatches. These also open the door again in the morning to let the chickens into the outdoor enclosure.

The base for the coop must provide 100% predator protection. It’s best to lay a 10-15cm wide strip foundation of around 10cm above ground and 50cm deep (frost depth and digging protection - We don't know of any predators digging that deep). Above ground, tuff or other dimensionally stable (natural) stones are ideals. Their top side should be even to avoid any loopholes between the stone and the floor frame for rodents or predators.  

Alternative 1: Dig a pit approx. 20 cm deep, starting the strip foundation. Then lay wire mesh in the fresh concrete (as perimeter and adhesion base) in the entire area. Then lay concrete or brick for the strip foundation around it. Finally, fill in the pit with soil/charge base. Please note the frost depth at the site/region for this alternative.  

Alternative 2: Lay one row of stones/strip foundation in the ground for securing stability (this is only a matter of the stable not being permanently in damp/soil contact). It is very important to then add wire mesh about 5-10cm INTO THE GROUND, as not to be visible, approximately 50cm from the stable outwards. The wire mesh must be firmly connected to the stone row/strip foundation. Predators always dig directly at the coop, not 50 cm away. This is a simple solution from a structural point of view. Please consider the frost depth at the site/region when using this alternative.    

We discourage from building a floor slab. Even though it is the easiest to build, it prevents chickens from scratch and scrabble, in times they do live inside for a longer period of time.

Chicks need the appropriate feed and water equipment, which is different from what they will need later. We’re happy to organise this for you. For the adult chickens there is good and cheap, partially automated feed/water equipment on the market. We can also build fully automated equipment that caters to your needs and are happy to discuss this with you.

In general, you should consider whether you want to hatch the eggs yourself with an incubator or buy chicks. Buying chicks requires physical transport, which might not be your choice. Cross-country restrictions may apply.

At the beginning of your chicken adventure, we recommend purchasing a hatching incubator and hatching eggs delivered from an international breeder. As soon as there is a hen around to do the hatching, this of course is the more natural approach. You have to be aware that in the absence of a hen, you have to play mummy. This also requires appropriate equipment (which we can organise for you).

Both hatching and buying chicks only makes sense in spring!

Recommended chicken breeds for "beginners" (this is not a finite list and the order has nothing to do with our personal preferences):

Araucana, Plymouth Rocks, Sundheimer, Barnevelder, Bielefeld Kennhuhn, Orpington, New Hampshire, Sussex, Cochin, Amrocks, Marans, Silkie.

Each chicken breed has certain character traits, peculiarities, laying performance, search for human proximity, breeding readiness, size, etc ... look at a few sites on the Internet to find the perfect breed for you. You will find some "winter layers", who won’t stop laying eggs in wintwer, even without artificially adding light.

A most crucial question is that of the rooster. If you do not wish to breed, a rooster may not really be necessary! However, it is recommended as of a certain number of females. If you keep different breeds together, it has proven useful to have ONE cock of the favoured breed for "mixed breeding", as roosters are not picky in choosing their partners. The advantage of a single cock is also that it does not get on the nerves of the many! The advantage of a single rooster is that it does not bother the many hens all too much and the your nerves are spared as well from too much crowing.

Be aware that chickens may die from time to time, are sick or have to be slaughtered. Deworming or a visit to the vet in general may also be necessary. There are vaccinations that are compulsory. Our coops are extremely species-appropriate and chicken-friendly (design protection EU-wide and recognition by STS - Swiss animal welfare organisation) and you will enjoy healthy chickens, but nevertheless the above will not be avoidable. Having a standard chicken pharmacy on site is advisable and can be found on the internet.

Our coops are designed to operate with the so-called Deep Litter method. The litter in the floor pan of the barn under the sleeping bars is initially filled with 15cm of wood litter and/or other carbonaceous material (not charcoal!). After that, you only have to add a top layer of litter from time to time and encourage the chickens to dig the first 10 cm by hiding grains and feed in the litter. If the chickens don't feel like it, you can to do it yourself with a small rake. Every approximately 6 months, you should replace half of the litter and can use it as fertiliser for your vegetable garden.

Microorganisms in the deep litter ensure a healthy soil climate and healthy chickens. More information here -> What is the deep litter method?

The use of diatomaceous earth is recommended for the nests and in the corners of the coop to prevent mites and parasites in general. Make sure however, that as little diatomaceous earth as possible gets into the floor litter.

The question about temperature regulating devices in the coop is easily answered in Central Europe.

Chickens are quite resistant to cold (down to minus 15 degrees should not be a problem). If the coop is suitable for the stock, the body heat of the chickens (~44 degrees) ensures a coop temperature that is usually 4-5 degrees above the outside temperature.

Insulated coops do not necessarily make sense in Central Europe, as parasites like to stay and multiply more easily with insulation.

As chickens however do not like the heat very much, the coop should be aired by opening the stable windows in summer. The choice of the location of the stable, e.g. under shady trees, does help this further or may even render additional airing unnecessary.

How much space your chickens need depends on their size, temperament, breed and individuality. Are your chickens of a leisurely nature or rather agile? Temperamental chickens need more space in the coop, calm breeds rather less. With dwarf breeds it looks quite different altogether. Once you have found the right chickens for you, you can start to think about their needs. The required size of your coop is defined by the number of females you have, in addition to the variables afore mentioned. Too small is not good, too big is not necessarily better. We have tried to list a few rough basic rules for de-angling here.

According to the statutes, a fully-grown organic chicken lives on 1/6 m2. This means that 6 females share one square metre. If you have two square metres of coop available, a maximum of 12 chickens should live there. That is more than enough to supply a small extended family with eggs. Less space leads to scrambling and probably unhealthy, unhappy chickens. This basic calculation applies to chickens that are regularly allowed outdoors. Less space would be an "imposition" on the beloved animal. If you want to stock your coop even tighter, there should be an adequately sized, covered, secure outdoor enclosure .... with continuous access to it!

But too large a coop is not really good either! A group enclosure offers many advantages. E.g. also keeping the henhouse warm in winter. A solidly built, wind- and draught-proof, properly sized coop with the right stocking will not get colder than 0 degrees even in sub-zero temperatures. If too few chickens occupy the coop over winter, the body heat is not sufficient to heat up the coop and freezing condensation forms on the ceiling which drips down during thaw and soaks not only the mother hens but also the litter. Then no one would feel really comfortable anymore.

As a rule, an organic chicken gets just 18 cm of space for itself. Thanks to the neighbour(s), this is quite a cosy affair. We therefore recommend 26-30 cm. This way, everyone has a chance when storming the "bed" and they don't have to squeeze in between two top hens as a lower-ranking animal. This way you avoid nasty glances, shoving and pecking.