Ruffles Hen Hotels
Ruffles Hen Hotel offers a home-from-home eggs-perience for your feathered friends on the edge of the small village of Kingsdon, Somerset and can offer your hens, along with their chap if they have one, the ultimate Bed and Breakfast egg-scape to the country.
Whether you are going on your holidays or moving house we have the space to enable your flock to be pampered in your absence.
Holidays
If you have a holiday booked, but are still unsure of the best option for ensuring continuity of care for your chickens we offer your hens their own dedicated Eglu coop with a securely fenced run at our home.
You might ask a neighbour or friend and they may find they’re unavailable at the last minute.
Ruffles is a reliable worry-free option where your hens will be checked multiple times every day during their stay.
Moving House
We all know that moving house can be one of the most stressful times in life. Moving with animals adds an extra dimension and additional stresses. Unless your new home is already set up with a suitable hen run you may find you need a few weeks just to get that aspect set up and ready for your precious chooks.
Booking a flexi-stay with Ruffles could be the answer, you may not know how long you will need and in this situation can be billed on a weekly basis until you’re ready to welcome your hens to their new home.
A Ruffles Hotel Includes
- An Eglu Hen House/Coop for your flock only
- Rory’s Retreat – Our Mk1 Eglu Cube – will accommodate up to 12 bantam sized hens or 10 larger hens
- Rosie’s Roost – Our Eglu Go will accommodate up to 6 bantam sized hens or 4 larger hens
- A light and airy 2.5mtr x 3mtr weldmesh enclosed, roofed run. This provides protection from the elements as well as shade on those bright sunny days.
- Each run has the lower half covered with clear or opaque tarpaulins to prevent too much rain ingress – primarily set up for winter use during flockdowns*
- The top half of each run is left open to enable free flow of fresh air.
- Our runs are sited on old railway platform slabs to provide protection from Roland and his cronies. This may not be as much fun as having them on grass, but this enables us to provide a clean area for our visitors which is fully disinfected before new visitors arrive.
- Each run is equipped with:
- A climbing frame for the hens who like to roost up high
- Hanging feed holders for enrichment
- Hanging water drinkers
- A dust bath
- Aubiose is the only bedding material used, both in the run and in the Eglu hen houses. It is used minimally in the runs unless your hens are staying for a longer period and generously within the Eglu nesting areas.
- Ground sanitiser is also used.
- Feed in the form of Soya-free Layers Pellets and Mixed corn is offered as standard alongside a constant supply of grit.
- We also pick greenery depending on the season to add interest for your hens. Summer seasonal favourites are often goose-grass/sticky weed/cleavers (depending on where you come from you may know it as something else!)
- If your hens have any specific dietary requirements beyond our standard offerings we ask that you bring these with you to ensure that continuity of their usual routines
Personal Service
- Your hens personal “chambermaid” will ensure that their sleeping and nesting accommodation is kept in tip-top sparkly clean condition during their stay.
- In addition to topping up bedding a ground sanitiser is used to keep everything fresh.
- The Silver Service waitressing ensures that your hens will never want for food or water. As standard all our guests are offered mixed corn and Smallholders soya-free layers pellets. If your hens have different or additional tastes please ensure you provide us with their personal delicacies so that they get that “home-from-home” eggs-perience.
- With security being of utmost importance, all hens are shut into their hotels at night to further reduce any chances of any losses.
- When it comes to your hens health, if your hens have specific health needs please ensure we are aware of these and any treatment regimes you need us to maintain during their stay.
Flockdown Notes
- If there is a flockdown in place we may be unable to have your hens to stay depending on the stipulations by APHA at the time of the flockdown, but would still be able to offer a visiting service with all biosecurity measures observed.
- Our runs are flockdown-ready so should one be announced while your hens are staying they will be cared for properly and according to Defra/APHA guidelines.
- If movement of hens during a flockdown is restricted we would need to be guided by the rules in place at the time to assess whether to continue with said booking, or you being able to collect your flock at the end of their stay.
FAQ
Where will my Hens Stay?
They will stay in their own dedicated hen house with a secure run, they are always kept in their own flock, never mixed with any others that may be staying or living here.
Do I need to provide food?
Included in your hens package is their basic feed requirements of layers pellets, mixed corn and of course grit. If your hens have differing dietary requirements, or you’d like to supplement their feed with treats please do bring these with you when dropping them off.
What time can I drop my hens off?
Ordinarily the easiest time to catch hens is when they’re roosting, so often this ends up being on the edge of dark. Most of our visitors are delivered shortly after they’ve gone to bed so that they’re easy to pop into carriers and they are then placed directly into their hotel hen house on arrival.
How do I transport my hens?
Cat carriers make very good chicken carriers. If this is something you lack we do have some hen crates which we would be happy to loan if required.
What about disease control?
This is a brilliant question.
- We only use plastic hen houses which are thoroughly cleaned between visitors.
- Our hen runs are sited on railway slabs to enable them to be jet washed between visitors
- Our cleaning regime follows this process:
- Removal of litter
- Jet washing/hosing/Scrubbing
- Washing down with Defra approved disinfectant
- Air-drying
- New litter in the run and hen house topped with a dusting of ground sanitiser powder.
Will I get updates?
I aim to take photos of your hens in their hotel and will send this, normally via WhatsApp, to keep you informed of their wellbeing.
What if there's a problem?
Before you leave your hens I ask you to ensure I have the details of your vet should that be necessary. I would keep you informed should there ever be any kind of problem and ensure you’re involved in any decision-making that might be required.
How often are my hens checked?
Your hens are visually checked at least 3 times each day, we tend to take a hands-off approach unless your hens are particularly keen to be handled. If a hen looks like she requires further checking we of course do this.
What happens to the eggs?
If you would like your eggs kept for your return we’re more than happy to do this, if however you’re happy for us to make use of them we will gratefully accept them – often turning them into something yummy that may well be given to you on your return to take back with you!
What is flockdown?
This is the name given to the restrictions imposed by the government when the threat of illness from Avian Influenza is at its highest – this is normally over the winter and can last as long as 6 months and measures can include making sure hens are kept in an enclosed run that is under cover so no droppings from wild birds can end up in the run. For more information about Avian Flu please check here
Book here:
Booking Form:
When you’re ready to book your hens into Ruffles Hen Hotel, please complete the form below. Apologies that it’s a long one — it’s designed that way so I have all the information I might need, especially in the event of an emergency.
Before filling it in, please get in touch to check your dates are available. The best way to do this is via WhatsApp
Please note that I only accept BACs transfers for booking confirmation. Card payments come with high fees, and I’d rather not increase daily prices just to cover those extra costs.
Each hotel has a minimum booking length of 5 days. This is simply to ensure the setup costs for each new flock are covered — fresh full bale of Aubiose, disinfectant, water for pressure washing, electricity, insurance and so on. If you need a shorter stay, that’s absolutely fine, but the minimum 5‑day charge will still apply.
Stays are priced per day rather than per night. This is because I don’t have fixed arrival or departure times, and I don’t offer same‑day turnarounds. Each hotel needs a few days between flocks for a full clean and disinfect, so your hens always arrive to a fresh, safe space.
- Rory’s Retreat: Comprises an Eglu Mk1 Cube, suitable for up to 10 regular size hens or 12 bantams; £15 per day
- Rosie’s Roost: Comprises an Eglu Classic, suitable for up to 4 regular size hens or 6 bantams; £10 per day
- Both options are attached to a fully roofed, 2.5mtr x 3mtr run set on a concrete base and clad in weldmesh.
(New photos will be added in the coming weeks when we’ve finished some revamping/adding a new suite to the hotel)
Questions?
If you have any questions please feel free to contact us using any of the following methods.