[Dopey113]

Blummy there £324.95 for a chicken coop!!!  im shocked.... really, not slagging anyone each to there own pocket.... but wow!!

[Hen 1-0 Fox]

Got mine for £260 in an eBay auction... The doodle coops are always on eBay, still pricey but more akin to what you can pay for some wooden versions.

[Hen 1-0 Fox]

Here's my reply from the company so far...

Hi Andrew

I very much appreciate the feedback and thank you for your kind comments.

Have a close look at the max as it has wider perches which can be placed higher or lower or not at all.  You are right and I will modify the Mimi. The Pugly is really a sick bay or broody house but I will look at the placement of the perches carefully. It's all very easy to get wrapped up in dealing with customers and production especially as we are a very small outfit.

I am the same as you and the coop is designed for the well being of the hens who, after all, are the ones who have to make it home!  The aesthetics are purely because it was designed by an artist (myself) and I couldn't just make a square box!

I will reply more fully tomorrow and send you photos of the max perches in detail. Just a small note, the plastic perches aren't nearly as strong as ply ones so I am more than happy to send you some for added strength. Another thing you could try is to get some chunky pipe lagging which is totally inert and will fit over the perches for a more comfortable support.

I hope you have enjoyed your Easter and thanks again for your feedback - it is much appreciated as we can always improve on a good design to make it better.

Kindest regards

Celesta

[ANHBUC]

I don't think Celesta saying "Just a small note, the plastic perches aren't nearly as strong as ply ones" is not acceptable as she is in fact stating that the perches are not 'fit for purpose'.  You can have strong plastic and you can also have plastic with a metal core so you should not need to use another material.  Design is all well and good but the finished product must be usable. 

Hopefully Celesta will resolve the design fault and send you some after market perches. 

[joyfull]

Blummy there £324.95 for a chicken coop!!!  im shocked.... really, not slagging anyone each to there own pocket.... but wow!!

to recycle plastic is a costly process, however as plastic doesn't breakdown very easily it is well worth it for the sake of the environment.
What you spend on buying a plastic coop you save on not having to buy lots of red-mite products and disinfectant. A simple wash out with washing up liquid does the job, dry off and put back together in minutes. No waiting around for wood to dry off and then crossing your fingers hoping the mites are all dead. Plastic coops also need less maintenance (so again no spending on wood preservative) and they last many, many years. I have had both wooden and plastic - currently have 2 Omlet eglus and 2 of the big Solway arks and plastic wins hands down in my opinion.

[SMS6]

Hope people don't mind if I ressurect this thread.   I've just set up a Doodlehouse Max and one thing I'm worried about is that my chickens don't seem to be using the perches yet.

3 of them have always perched at night, the 4th doesn't always but now they are all just standing around in the house - they have only been in there since Sunday so maybe they're just being a bit slow

We have perches like Nicki85 described - 3 pieces of plastic slot in to holes to create a sort of triangle shape - it looks wider than their normal perch.  We have one perch high and one low

I'm going to try and cover the triangle with perhaps some split tubing to see if maybe that will make them smoother to hold on to.

I just wondered if there were any other doodlehouse users who had any ideas. 

[Hen 1-0 Fox]

Ironically I have introduced some wood into the house ha ha...

I recently cut down a tree in the garden and have made a natural wooden branch arrangement inside, can post pic if required.

Nothing is nailed or attached, all just slots into place so easy to maintain/clean if required.

[nerdle]

How do your hens like the real wood perch?  My eglu grid lasted one night as I found I'd rather poo pick out of wood shavings than wipe poo off plastic thank you very much!
I need a perch now so my cleaning routine isn't daily but weekly....

Did you use the eucalyptus?

[Hen 1-0 Fox]

The ladies love the perches, Poo generally drops off into the wood shavings below. I did a bit of research on the eucalyptus and found some poultry keepers in Australia have been using it successfully for years now, there was no odour, apparently it has some mild medicinal benefits and mites don't like it?!

[SMS6]

Ironically I have introduced some wood into the house ha ha...

I recently cut down a tree in the garden and have made a natural wooden branch arrangement inside, can post pic if required.

Nothing is nailed or attached, all just slots into place so easy to maintain/clean if required.

I was thinking that we'd need to look at wood - so would love to see your picture.  I'm not sure where I could source Eucalyptus though

How you've made it slot in would be useful though

[Hen 1-0 Fox]

I probably won't be able to describe this very well but here goes, its a very simple structure. Two pieces of wood line opposing edges of the coop, they each have three squares cut out of them and i just lay the wooden branches in the spaces i had cut out. I found branches that were reasonably straight and approx 2 inches across, I cut them to the width of the coop, then dropped them in place. The weight of branches keeps them in place, i have not seen any movement or rotation when the hens have stood on them. Because the branches are just placed into position they can just be lifted out for inspection and cleaning is simple. Mine are only about two inches off the floor of the coop which is filled with wood shavings, i poo pick most days.

[nerdle]

Excellent picture thank you!



Time to start your eucalyptus perch business - Dragon's Den?

[SMS6]

thanks for that  Hen1.  My partner rigged something up for me last night because I was worried about them not perching.  It allowed us to use the perch from their old henhouse

He made two sort of legs that go over the plastic Doodlehouse perch with slots similar to yours and we just rested the perch in there, 3 of them were perched nicely on there last night and it stayed in position.   The 4th hen only perches very occassionally anyway.

Picture's not very clear because it's captured from our camera inside the house