[sirius951]

Crikey £630 I only want 4 chucks. This must be the Ritz of chicken housing -am off for a look at the website.

[ehs284]

Minor points, but might be useful. If you raise off ground then give sufficient space underneath for then to run around heads held high. If worried about vermin getting in underneath just nail mesh to the underside. Put a piece of damp proof course or thick plastic sheet under each support to stop rising damp. Check where rainwater goes from the roof - you might want eavesgutters to move it away from the coop, so can you fit them to the design you're looking at.

[sirius951]

Getting majorly confused now so I thought I would list essential requirements to clarify for my own benefit as much as anything!
1)I definitely want one where the whole of one side comes out for easy access when doing a major spring clean.
2)Don't want an ark as the triangular shape takes away from the headroom available. 3)Don't want one with a built in run as we would rather build our own to give more space for the birds to scratch.
4) Must have room for 4 large birds to have plenty of elbow room.

Whatever sort we get we will raise it off the ground and place it within a covered run for added weather protection.
Phew
I know I'm going on and on a bit but I want to get it right so please bear with me.

[Carshay]

Hi I am fairly new to this chicken keeping too - i got 5 girls in September. I bought the leghorn house from P&T Poultry (£159) who were extremely helpful. The house is very sturdy and the wood is thick' The nest box doesn't come off but is easy to clean and the perches are removable. The girls all snuggle up for the night squashed up in the nest box and don't seem to use the perches but at least they're keeping warm! I don't know where you live but I have all different colours of hybrids from Cambridge Poultry and they are still laying well even though the days are not so long. They started laying at 22-23wks old and I'm getting about 20 eggs a week!

[sirius951]

Thank you for your reply  - I will definitely check this one out immediately as it is within my price range. Yay! I am in Powys - Mid Wales. Did you have this head ache when you tried to choose your coop. I'm not normally this indecisive but being a newbie everything seems such a big deal. I thought it would be relatively simple as my dad used to keep about 200 pigeons and I used to help him out but chucks seem to be a lot more demanding when it comes to accomodation!

[joyfull]

well done on thinking about things before you get your coop and chickens.
Forsham may be expensive but they are quality and with a little bit of maitenance will last years. Their wood will be properly treated and seasoned.
I would go for the very best you can afford even if it means waiting until spring next year (a lot of people find they cannot cope in the winter and give up so you find a good second hand coop  ).

[sirius951]

I am waiting til spring before i get the actual birds anyway so I can afford to wait a while. I just wanted to get the coop first so we can see how it will fit into the garden and we can plan around it and remodel the garden in spring for the maximum run size. Carshay - I checked out that one you suggested and it looks good to me. Very similar to the one I was looking at originally - a bit smaller but built with thicker timber and it looks like the nest boxes tilt out enough to make cleaning fairly easy. I keep going on about it must be easy to clean but I figure the less of a chore this is the more likely we are to do it regularly and  I do want to keep it properly clean cos of the dreaded red mite. I remember these little beasties from my dad's pigeons.

[Carshay]

I had a lot of trouble deciding which coop and in fact everything else! its certainly not easy! Evn my cousin's husband was impressed with the quality of the coop and he's a very fussy boat builder! P & T are in Wales somewhere so you may be near enough to go and have a look

[evie2]

Just wanted to add my Hello and welcome to the family

[sirius951]

Thinking definitely the leghorn from p&t poultry or the brahma from the same place. I like the fact that they are made from 20 mm timber. They seem to be the most solid and practical I've seen while still being good value for money.  P&T basically seem to be not far from the next town up from us just outside Llandrindod Wells so that's great. I might wait until after Christmas and go and take a trip up to look around if they'll let me. After Christmas just in case I impulse buy and everyone has to make do with an apple an orange and a nut in an old sock for Christmas! I'm getting quite excited now as I'm starting to feel like I'm getting somewhere with the planning. Now I've only got to sort out feeders,water dispensers,the run etc etc....
Thank you all for being so friendly. I look forward to being part of this forum. Any suggestions/criticisms are more than welcome.  I shall probably be checking in every day to see if anyone has any more advice or suggestions so please add whenever something occurs to you. The more info and options the better! Thanks. thanks and more thanks!!