[Hen 1-0 Fox]

Hey everyone, hope you are all well, chicken arrival date is coming and I'm currently looking at two plastic models.

www.arkus.co.uk

www.solwayrecyling.co.uk

Does anyone own either the medium arkus model or the solway henhouse?  I'm hoping to provide homes for four birds and torn between these two, both have Pros and cons so all feedback from fellow fanciers and current owners welcome!

Thanks for the feedback, Andy.

[Pudding cloth]

I have the solway eco hen house. Love it! After the mite riddled wooden coop I had before this is wonderful.
The company is very helpful and can deliver it either assembled or flat packed. You can also have another nest box if required.
I have 4 birds and it is more than adequate.
Hope this helps.

[Hen 1-0 Fox]

Thanks pudding! Do you have four full size hybrids?

[hen-night]

Hi, I dont own a plastic coop but what I like about the Solway Company is, they are very informative about their products.
They do have a excellent data sheet on their website that gives you great info.
Product--up to how many birds--floor dimensions--floor space--perch space--no. of perchs- nest boxes and extension run available.
I personally think this information should be given on every website relating to buying a chicken coop,but it isn't. Well done Solway..

[Pudding cloth]

I have a cuckoo maran, a light sussex, a daisy belle and a warren. They have all done very well in the Solway eco house this winter and we've had an average of 3 eggs all through the winter.

[Pudding cloth]

That should read '3 eggs every day'.....sorry

[joyfull]

 
glad you clarified that as I was about to post that even with my old girls I got more than that  .
I have the bigger solway ark (2 off) for 10+ hens in each and I love them. The big arks though do fit better in a rural setting 

[Hen 1-0 Fox]

... So can't decide on flooring... At first I thought mesh... Then can just move it about and clear the ground where it's been sat, but then thought can't really raise the house off the ground if it had a mesh floor. then thought the solid floor but not sure how easy the solid floor in the Eco house is to clean?

[mr.mellow]

Solway are a great company to buy from, the Standard Eco hen house that I have is a very good product. I ordered mine on the 29/12/11 not thinking that in Scotland they have a longer new year holiday than England. When I received their email saying that most of their staff would not be returning to work until the week I was supposed to be collecting my new chickens, I phoned them and explained the problem I had, they said that they would cut out and construct the hen house the next day. What a great surprise I had on Friday 6/1/12 my hen house was delivered fully assembled, all I had to do was unpack it and place it where I needed it. I collected the chickens the next day and moved them in. The service that I received from Solway was first class, they made a promise and kept to it.      
  

[mr.mellow]

A soft headed long handled broom works OK I've just done mine.

[Hen 1-0 Fox]

Thanks Mellow.... Lots of good feedback for Solway... Might have made my mind up, thanks everyone

[Ben_H]

I have a Greenfrog Designs coop which is similar to the arkus though mine has legs. I posted some feedback on mine here: http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=86253.msg959821#msg959821

Not all points will be relevant to you as they are different designs but there will be some similar issues. The thing I would point out is if you get the arkus then keep an eye on the the ring pins and slots as I found initially they gave redmite an unexpected hiding place. I haven't had this problem since the first time I spotted it however.

[Hen 1-0 Fox]

Thanks Ben, enjoyed reading your link... Guess there are upsides ad downsides to whatever we choose, as long as we can manage our setup without it becoming too much of a 'chore' and the birds are happy then we are winning.

Thanks for the advice