[stamford]

Hi all, Newbie here !! Need to decide what size Coop to buy, looked at Ebay and ideas-4-pets.com and seen this ( 360057799879 ) which i thought would of been fine and in budget but then got the tape measure out and its only 3ft high - Looks huge !!  I have quite a bit of room in the garden and I'm a big guy at 6'1 so i dont really want to be kneeling down cleaning them out. A guy I know has one which houses 6 birds and its about 8 ft long - 34ft wide and atleast5ft plus high which would be ideal for me...Is there any good stores or sites where a sizeable one like this could be found ?? Or is the one on ebay a good enough size ? I'm only looking at 3 birds max at the moment but maybe a couple more in the future... Thanks in advance

[mumsy]

but maybe a couple more in the future... Thanks in advance

Hi & welcome, unfortunatley chicken keeping is so addictive it is almost impossible not to expand    
I think the coops you are looking at are good for the money, give them a call they may be able to tailor make one for you
Good luck

[stamford]

Thanks mumsy, but really on a tight budget already so I dont think a taylormade would be as good a price as the one i'm looking at now. This is the one we're hoping to get, would it be suitable ?

http://www.ideas-4-pets.com/pages-productinfo/category-247_197/product-2472/products-for-chickens-chicken-coops-and-chicken-runs-rabbitshack-small-chickenshack-chicken-house-rs709s-r-s.html

Hope the link works !!  :?

[poultrygeist]

That seems to be excellent value. It doesn't say how big the run is but you could estimate from the house sizes.
I woulld say, as is, about OK for 3 hens but you may need a bigger run for any more. Would be easy enough to add to.

Always impossible to tell build quality, etc without seeing one in the flesh.

But you'd struglle to make one similar for much less.

Rob  

[stamford]

Cheers Rob, Yes, as it stands I'm looking to stick to 3 birds, its an interest for the children and fresh eggs for the family, its not like we'll be putting any signs up in future advertising etc. As you say, you'd struggle to build something similar for the money and I'd tend to agree, as I'm not great with that type of thing anyway it would probabley cost me double if I attempted to build myself  :oops:

Thats the size and design I'm after but a slightley bigger run would be great... Any other ideas out there   :?:

[Bodger]

I'd be tempted to go for an ordinary 6ft by 4ft garden shed and convert it.
By this , I mean put a pop hole in it, a couple of perches and a couple of nest boxes. This will give you easy access and plenty of headroom for you and the chickens.
 An added bonus, will be that you will also be able to avoid the silly prices that many manufacturers put onto the price of chicken housing to catch  newcomers to poultry keeping.

[Porffor]

I converted an old hutch with a view to seeing what we wanted. We are a family of 4, so not looking for too many eggs per day, so are thinking 4 chooks but have 2 at the moment.

The shed idea is cost effective and great if weather is bad and chooks need to stay in, but where we have ours it'd block light from our house (as we're on a hill). So today we bought a dog kennel! it's really thick wood and great construction  1200mmx760x820 (L/W/H) and we're planning on using the door (which is hinged and bolted) for access to nesting area, the entire roof lifts off for cleaning and we'll put perches into the other end, and a sliding door with a ramp down into our run. The dog kennel was £90 and we've bought wood to put it 'up' at a higher height and the wood for the perch. it'll lead down into our run which we built recently. I reckon we could have 4 chooks happily. possibly even 6 but we'd have too many eggs then!  :?

BUT.. for the money your option is great, and would save all the DIY!

[poultrygeist]

Just a couple of pointers about rat and fox proofing.

As far as rats are concerned, I read that they will get through anything bigger than 1/2" so I went for 13mm x 25mm welded mesh on the run, and made sure that there are no gaps under doors, etc that I can get my finger through. So far it seems to be working and with no availability to food, there's nothing for them to stick around for.
Foxes can apparently bite through mesh less than 19g (1mm) which is the most common thickness. Rats and foxes can both dig so I made a 'skirt' round the base of the run about 6-9" wide of the mesh and palced slabs round the edge. This should make digging under the fence pretty near impossible, or at least slow them down !
Rats and foxes can climb so you need protection up to about 5 or 6 feet with either the top 'splayed' outwards or a permanent cover over teh run, which will also stop wild birds from pinching the food and help to prevent any diseases or parasites passing to your chickens.
It is almost impossible to keep out mice but we haven't found these to be a nuisance even thought they are about, because the cat occasionaly brings us one  :?
If you do all of this and follow the other advice already given, you shouldn't have any rodent problems and hopefully you'll be protected against fox attack while they're in the run.
Good luck with it all and once you're set up, it's really quite easy.

Rob  

[Porffor]

sadly my budget didn't allow for that, so i have chicken wire then netting over the top. And am now having to buy rat poison/bait.

So.. Stamford, i'd recommend listening to the advice here!

[chickchick]

stamford, we are looking to do the same as you, the quality of shop/ebay bought houses vary alot, as we have been hunting around too. some seem very flimsey, and not long lasting so hubby is currently making ours!
may take a little longer but so far cheaper than buying one and you get exactly what you want and good quality.
good luck

[Foxy]

B&Q have whats called a "lads shed" on sale at £125. We have two now they  are brilliant use them for our growers, 3X4 and about 4ft high. Built in ventilation and perspex window. Easy to clean and simple to construct a weld mesh run onto it.

[Vember]

B&Q have whats called a "lads shed" on sale at £125. We have two now they  are brilliant use them for our growers, 3X4 and about 4ft high. Built in ventilation and perspex window. Easy to clean and simple to construct a weld mesh run onto it.

I was looking at one of those today

They're a good buy then Foxy?

[stamford]

Just seen this one by chance  :?  Any views on this please

http://www.happyhutch.co.uk/poultry-chicken-housing.php?start=6

Its the one labelled Chicken Hotel  

[chickchick]

whoops, didnt mean to press button twice sorry!! :oops:  

[stamford]

Blimey  :shock:  Small world... By the sound of it you need to make an appointment to go down there, I presume so they dont get inundated with hoards of families looking for a cheap afternoon out i guess.. We're deffo going on Sunday and cant wait