Heather - Thats great, I think a thorough job will serve you best and a loong time. Are you talking about Abundant layers? They can provide you with a box but if you have a cat cage or can borrow one I strongly recommend that. We nearly had bords loose inthe car because the bottom of the box they provided had fallen through.
See about getting them young too. My Pullets were about 8-10 weeks old when I got them and seriously its taken a fair bit of my hanging around to get them semi ok with me. I would check out Backyard Poultry and get into their forum (Info Centre) as there are quite a few breeders on there. I really liked Bianca and Brendan though I had hoped for birds that were handled quite alot. Never mind ... I may or may not buy from them again when "Cluckingham Palace" is built. I htink I will check out the local poulty club as they have auctions so might be able to get some of the rarer breeds cheaper or something. I have been given a name of a man to seek out at the Warragul one to ask him to show me "good" birds because I am inexperienced.

Kimmi - for their housing I believe the general rule of thumb is 4 square feet per standard bird (bantams are smaller so might be different) and approx 12inches of perch and allow a meter square per bird for a small enclosure. If the birds will get run of the garden through the day then size doesn't matter so much but if they are enclosed then the bigger the better really. If its too squishy the birds can resort to cannibalism which you don't want. This is just the info I am aware of, someone else who is a lot more experienced may be able to offer more

~*Mizqtie*~ might want to get either "Raising Chickens for Dummies" and/or "Build a Chicken coop for Dummies" ebay has a "Dummies" sale on at the moment as there are plenty of designs in there. Build it yourself, DO NOT BUY A PREMADE ONE you can do it MUCH cheaper making it yourself AND at least it will not be made with flimsy materials, I could have got ALL my run materials (it will be 42.1' x 18') for the cost of what I spent on that cheap, china made crappola!

Jennifer13 - thanks for that, I never give chocolate away so no issues there

Well today I went and got a few prices for some materials for one side of the run. It was not as bad as I thought it would be but still its going to take me ages to build due to finances. I have found two good local recycled places and I am just waiting on my open air book to come so I can finally decide on a design once and for all.

I am still barking like a dog thanks to this rotten cold thing, so may skip playgroup tomorrow (again) so I am not coughing over other peoples kids. IF I do this I should be able to dig my trench along the post line so I can bury the wire.

I plan on attaching the wire to the outside of the run rather than run it on the inside like Granny did.

I also plan on attaching a gate/door thing to the run on the garden side so that we can let the girls out. I have found a cute arch shaped one for $55 its wide enough for a wheelbarrow too

Anyways,

I should hit the sack I have a big day tomorrow. Being sick and still working on things takes so much energy but every time I look into their clucky faces I just can't help myself LOL

Nae x