[nickiit2003]

what are your views on this company and the XL coop with 2 additional runs for 6 chooks. chooks will be out in garden while i'm home - only going in the run while i'm at work (part-time) or when i go out (rarely).

FIL purchasing a coop n run for our Christmas so I need to decide what to get fairly soon.

thanks.

[joyfull]

err which copany?

[nickiit2003]

oopsy 

http://www.henhouseworld.co.uk/ch104.htm

thanks

[eggbertina]

Looks like the house roof, nest box lid and ladder use the 'felt' material that harbours red mite, which may cause you problems in the future and is best avoided.  Shame, because other design features seem quite well thought through to help with ease of cleaning.

[nickiit2003]

 Ok, just found out that someone can build a run for us (which is preferable) so can anybody recommend a really good coop that will take 6 medium/large chooks.

thanks

[richyrich7]

Ok, just found out that someone can build a run for us (which is preferable) so can anybody recommend a really good coop that will take 6 medium/large chooks.

thanks

A shed  makes a nice house, easy to put nest boxes etc in easy to walk in to clean out. And if totally enclosed in the run you can just shut the door at night, if you put a 6"-8" strip of timber in the doorway then you can chuck a load of straw in there and they love to dig around for hours looking for stuff especially if it's raining

[hillfooter]

what are your views on this company and the XL coop with 2 additional runs for 6 chooks. chooks will be out in garden while i'm home - only going in the run while i'm at work (part-time) or when i go out (rarely).

FIL purchasing a coop n run for our Christmas so I need to decide what to get fairly soon.

thanks.

My thoughts are that this house has not been designed by someone who knows about chicken keeping.

I often think it's useful to know the taboos about chicken housing and if it features these it's a no no.  My list is

1   Uses roofing felt - anyone who isn't a complete chicken keeping numbskull should know this is red mite heaven and something which must be avoided at all costs

2   Has a slide out metal dropping tray.  These are super heat conductors (or more importantly coolers in winter) and great at encouraging condensation.  Slide out dropping trays sound a great idea but inevitably they either don't hold sufficient litter and droppings or they scrape the contents off when you withdraw them depositing the droppings in the house.  Dropping trays are also great for covering you with chx poo if you withdraw them in a wind.  A simple perfectly flat floor which can be easily swept out with no dirt traps is by far the best.

3  Single or double pole roosts. - Chx need a grid of roosting bars so they can easily huddle together in cold weather

4  Dropping areas like floors which the chx can't pick around in.  It's far preferable that the floor is slatted so droppings fall through to the floor and chx can't walk or pick in.

5  Windows -  Chx don't want a scaled down version of a human house they want somewhere they can feel secure and are sheltered from the weather and most importantly protected from damp and drafts.  Chx don't want to stare outside and certainly don't want preditors to see in.

6  Interior nest boxes -  These should be accessible from outside to make egg collection easy and should include shutters to keep chx from roosting in them.

7   Materials should be FULLY specified including most importantly wood gauge.  cheap poor quality houses use thin wood boarding which warps and splits quickly.  Wood of less than 10mm is useless and ideally should be 12 -15mm, structural framework should be at least 30mm sq and roofing should be lapped tongue and groove of 15 - 20mm or corrugated fibre board like onduline.   Hinges & fixing should be fully rust proof and if screws should ideally be stainless, bright nickle plated (BNZ) screws are useless in an outdoors situation and will quickly rust.  There's no problem with zinc plated nails which are preferable to screws unless stainless steel or otherwise rust proof.

8  Popholes should not be side sliding which jam with litter whereas traditional drop down ones don't and are far superior to operate externally and automate with auto door openers.  It's next to impossible to automate sliding or side gate hinged ones.  Hinges should generally be  avoided where possible as they inevitably distort and doors become badly fitting.

9  Runs are often overlooked but in fact are as important as the house.  If the birds are expected to spend long periods shut in the run it needs to be ideally about 2sq m per bird.

10  Pay attention to roof overhangs an slopes which should be at least 30deg and 45 is better to shed rain AWAY from doorways and popholes.  Hinge joints such as nestbox lids must be rain/drip proof and have some form of lap/ overhang  joint is usually needed otherwise they leak.

11  Oil based paint which can flake and peel should definitely be avoided it needs constant maintenance to stay looking good and flaking paint is a great red mite attractor.  Wood preservative should include a woodworm insecticide.

Maybe not all these can be satisfied but these will give you a useful checklist and you can always customise some of the internals though the basic design should fulfill these requirements.

The other thing you need to think about is what are your requirements?  What will be your method of husbandry?  How many chickens do you want to house?  A large airy space will be cold for a small number of birds.  Think carefully about how you are going to control red mite.  Maybe a plastic house might be a good alternative especially for a smaller number of garden/patio hens.  Is second hand an option?  You can't choose a house and run without thinking about some of these issues.
HF

[nickiit2003]

wow! thanks for that hillfooter, certainly given me some food for thought and it looks like i'm gonnae have to do a whole lot more research into coops. had read a bit about keeping chooks at the start of the year but it's only now that i'm actually getting round to doing it.

definately decided to have a run made (might even have a bash at this myself) to fit the maximum space I can give. chooks will also have some free range time, hope to manage 3-4hrs per day.

I intend to start of with 4 chooks (one for each member of household) but would like a coop that can take 8 as i know that I will want to increase numbers. I have an old rabbit run and hutch that I intend to use if I need to isolate any.

I don't like the plastic coops purely for aesthetic reasons. I don't have a problem with getting a good quality second hand coop, infact I've been searching for one as well as new ones.

Could you please explain what types of husbandry there are for keeping chooks? Sorry but I didn't know there were different methods.

Red mite - I was intending on cleaning coop regularly with something like poultry shield, smearing vaseline into cracks n crevices (sure i read that you can put this on perches also & it's also used for scaly leg mites) and making sure that the birds have access to a dust bath. Is there anything else that I should consider?

thanks for all input, on a steep learning curve and all advice appreciated 

[kegs]

This is Hillfooter's slurry recipe which you can paint into the cracks and the perches to help prevent red mite.

http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=81422.0

Good luck with the coop search.  Personally I don't think that there is a 'perfectly deisgned coop' at a price that most people can afford so you may find that the only option available is to try to adapt a coop or shed using as many of the tips above as possible. 

[helens-hens]

Also do think how easy it will be to clear out. At the moment, unless I can get somebody to give me a hand to move our house/run, I have to poop scoop the run on my hands and knees  . We are getting a walk in run in January and I can't wait!

Another thing is the height of the house - when it comes to cleaning that out you don't want to be bent double if you can help it.

People have mentioned avoiding felt - onduline corrugated roofing is better (if you are making your own I think you can get it in most DIY places).

Also make sure it is fox proof - thick gauge wire mesh is needed and you need to be sure the fox can't tunnel its way in. I have mine on concrete paving slabs, some people make wire skirts to go round the perimeter of the run/house.

If you can make your your own that is probably best (wish I had the skills!). It is very difficult to find the perfect ready made house particularly if you are looking for an integrated run. If they haven't got felt roofing then the wiremesh isn't strong enough or the run is too small. You get the picture!

Best of luck - spend time doing research, it is worth it, and the hens certainly are!

[ANHBUC]

Also do think how easy it will be to clear out. At the moment, unless I can get somebody to give me a hand to move our house/run, I have to poop scoop the run on my hands and knees  . We are getting a walk in run in January and I can't wait!

Another thing is the height of the house - when it comes to cleaning that out you don't want to be bent double if you can help it.

People have mentioned avoiding felt - onduline corrugated roofing is better (if you are making your own I think you can get it in most DIY places).

Also make sure it is fox proof - thick gauge wire mesh is needed and you need to be sure the fox can't tunnel its way in. I have mine on concrete paving slabs, some people make wire skirts to go round the perimeter of the run/house.

If you can make your your own that is probably best (wish I had the skills!). It is very difficult to find the perfect ready made house particularly if you are looking for an integrated run. If they haven't got felt roofing then the wiremesh isn't strong enough or the run is too small. You get the picture!

Best of luck - spend time doing research, it is worth it, and the hens certainly are!

Don't forget the pictures of your new WIR when you get it.   

[Lewjam]

Hey,

I bought that coop, well the slightly smaller version for 4 hens.

I had an awful red mite problem because it is full of nice hiding places for them.

After 3 months of battle without success i sold it and bought an eglu.

Havnt had issues since - Good times!

Lewis

[grinling]

Chickens eat allsorts in the garden, not just the grass. Buy the chooks from a breeder.

[hillfooter]

...I don't like the plastic coops purely for aesthetic reasons. I don't have a problem with getting a good quality second hand coop, infact I've been searching for one as well as new ones.

Could you please explain what types of husbandry there are for keeping chooks? Sorry but I didn't know there were different methods.

Red mite - I was intending on cleaning coop regularly with something like poultry shield, smearing vaseline into cracks n crevices (sure i read that you can put this on perches also & it's also used for scaly leg mites) and making sure that the birds have access to a dust bath. Is there anything else that I should consider?

thanks for all input, on a steep learning curve and all advice appreciated 

Red Mite are a real issue in wood houses as you know and while cleaning and treating with Diatomaceous Earth (DE) slurry will help deter them I personally think you will need some form of residual insecticide control otherwise you will have to invest lots of effort in cleaning.  Using a suitable insecticide which has a residual effect will keep the RM away from year to year with just a single treatment - cheap and less time consuming than cleaning.  One of the reasons I mentioned wood worm treatment on a new house in the preservative is that this will have a long tern residual protection which can last a couple of years if you don't leach it out with lots of detergent cleaning.  Poultry Shield is a mixed blessing in a wood house as it's relatively expensive and it also washes out the preservative and any residual insecticide treatment so I never use PS.  Cheap washing up detergent with added Vanadine V18 (iodine based disinfectant once (or twice) a year in spring (& autumn) is all I do and the rest of the time I sweep out and scrape perches which have been painted with the DE slurry.  See Kegs post for the recipe.  Plastic houses are easy to clean and as they aren't usually humid RM won't infest them unless they become ingrained with dirt in the seams. 

I can't think of anything worse than smearing the interior of the house with Vaseline.  This is a really old fashioned remedy for scaly leg mite these days superseded by far more effective treatments.

When i mentioned methods of husbandry there's several things to think about.
What sort of area will the chx have, backyard/ garden/ field/ enclosed aviary run etc.
Will the house be in a fixed location or do you have sufficient ground that you can use a movable house and rotate or cycle several run areas.  For example I have semi movable houses I move to alternative runs on a 3 month cycle so they get time to recover.
Will the run be an attached one or will the house be within an outer run or totally enclosed cage.  How will you protect from predators.
What litter system will you use in the house.  I use a softwood shavings semi deep litter and don't clean out or poo pick for example but replace the litter every 2 months or so (depending on season).  Most people use a light litter on the floor and poo pick daily and clean out weekly for example.  The type of house you get will need to suit the system you intent to use.  The system you use will need to suit the time you can devote etc.
When I selected my houses I first decided on my husbandry system.  As I have lots of land available I made use of this and adopted a system to take advantage of the land available. It sounds obvious but it's surprising how few people approach the plan in this way.  For example I have a friend who lives not far away who has similar land available and decided to keep chx however he just asked the local handy man to knock him up a chx house which he did from scrap pallets.  The house was totally inappropriate for the area he had available and whereas he could have allowed his hens to range over an area of an acre the house was an arc type with a fixed run and it was so heavy it was virtually immovable, the access was impossible, a nightmare to clean out and a RM heaven.  After a year or so they'd trashed the run and he'd given up keeping hens.

I also decided I didn't want to spend my life cleaning etc so chose a low maintenance system.  Since I wanted to have several houses and breed my own birds low maintenance was essential so all my houses have auto pop hole openers (I designed and built myself at a fraction of the cost the commercial ones are sold for) and are protected by electric nets.  Feed dispensers and drinkers will last 4 days on one filling so my daily routine is mostly just checking everything is in order and replenishing water and feed as needed.  I can go away for an extended weekend and as long as I arrange for the eggs to be collected there's no work needed.  These are the sort of considerations which determined the system I use.  I didn't go out and buy a nice looking house and then figure out how I was going to use it.

Kegs is right in that you probably won't find a "perfect" house and if you were to use the list I generated you would probably pay nearer £500 than £200.  If you do consider building your own "Diggit" on this site did a good deal of research on the requirements he had and documented his design and build in series of posts.  The house he made was very good as I recall and anyone thinking of designing and building their own should first read his post thread.

 http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=69975.msg799456#msg799456.

Best of luck
HF

[Ben_H]

I'm looking at the possibility of retro fitting some sort of grid into the bottom of the coop so that the chooks do not step in poo the whole time. I'd thought about building a wooden frame out of thin pieces of wooden batten or dowel that can be removed easily to get at the poo beneath. Any thoughts on minimum width for chooks to stand on comfortably but allow poo to fall through? I guess this would need painting with slurry to keep the red mite at bay? I'm also assuming that rounded bars would be more comfortable for the chooks to walk across than square edged ones?

I'd be very interested in how you built your auto door openers Hillfooter if you don't mind sharing?