[oborne27]

Sorry but my typing in the last post was rubbish - sorry

[Big Bird]

We bought one of 'those' coops off ebay and with a few minor modifications it is OK for our four girsl. I made a new perch that runs across the coop making it long enough for the four of them, put some ventilaton holes in it, made a metal grid floor to allow the poo to drop onto the tray and made a much bigger run. But, and this is the improtant bit, they are free range all day so only use it as a bedroom.  The larger run is for when we have to shut them in before bedtime and gives them much more space than the standard coop.

Would I buy one of these again, probably not.

BB

[Aidy]

I am in a similar position as I am about to start with chooks. I have scored the net and most look naff, I scoured forums and pretty much everyone agrees to avoid them so for me its DIY time, I have sourced all my materials and it is not that much more than some of these imported coops, will be better made and to a dimension that is suitable for the number of birds I intend to put in. The biggest problem I had was not seeing it before you buy, any picture can be made to make it look better than it is. These guys seem to have a good following and a lot of people seem to reccomend them on various forums, may be worth a look ( http://www.pads4pets.co.uk/epages/es112520.sf )

[too many girls]

http://www.hodgsontimberbuildings.co.uk/poultry-houses.asp

i have 4 houses on order from here, the largest one i'm getting holds 96 (jubilee)
and has free delivery and erection, the are delivering the 3 smaller ones (2 with runs, holds 16) an erecting them for the pricely sum of £50 providing i ordered them at the same time, just got to wait for the snow to go......................

oh forgot to mention, the ones that hold 16 birds are £231 or £331 with the run and are pick up only, although delivery and erection can be arranges at an extra cost (in my case 3 for £50)
the one that holds 96 birds is £1159 but free delivery and erection.

[Ice]

I had a look at the pads4pets website and liked the look of one of the coops.  Unfortunately, I couldn't see any other way of cleaning them except through the pop hole.

http://www.pads4pets.co.uk/epages/es112520.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/es112520_shop/Products/%22Cambrian%20stand%22

[compostqueen]

The Forsham ones are good quality from what I've seen having looked at them and they are available all over the country with many local suppliers

[Beano]

www.gcraft.co.uk/list/poultry

We have the laying ark and it is a very good quality. We have made our own, much larger run and lifted the coop off the ground to afford the chickens shelter underneath. Well worth a look if you live close.

[Debsie]

thank you all for advice you have given. Hopefully I now have a solution, my daughters boyfriend is a joiner and is hopefully going to build the coop and run for us, it hadn't occured to me to ask him before!!! Now feel I am better equipped to know what we need in terms of space, materials etc.