The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: sellickbhoy on March 27, 2009, 01:21:46 pm
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Hi
i was planning on building my own chicken coop - probably converting a garden shed, however, whilst looking at Coops on the market, i found this one on Ebay.
It looks like it would do the job - and it has the removable floor to make cleaning it out a lot easier.
so, from a practical day to day point of view - what would be wrong with this type of coop?
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CHICKEN-COOP-HEN-HOUSE-POULTRY-ARK-HOME-NEST-BOX-COUP-0_W0QQitemZ160322440253QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Pet_Supplies_Poultry?hash=item160322440253&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1686%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1307
or does it look like it's perfectly adequate for purpose?
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It looks perfectly adequate to me, good price too, the feedback seems to be good on the chicken coop. I have read a few posts on various sites that have said about the quality of some of the coops being sold on ebay, but this one looks ok.
We tend to recycle what we have and what other people don't want to build coops - garden sheds, recycled wood, have some pretty good ones and have not paid very much at all.
Never had one with a metal floor so can't comment on that, although it looks like a good idea, she says going on the hunt for metal for her next project ;D
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Looks good to me too. I am always a bit wary of pay now buy later as I have been stung but his feedback looks good and the coup looks great for the price.
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i have heard bad things about various sellers on ebay doing cheap chicken coups. seem allright but don't last first year. i think they import these, and thus are lightweight in build quality. I would look at something a bit more substantial, although the design looks ok. I think a few people are looking to make a quick fortune on the back of the new chickens in the back garden craze.
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looks okay to me, possible person has a busy sedule producing items.
Have a chat with person before buying if you have questions
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Thing is, i'm reasonably handy with a saw and a hammer
wouldn't be too much work to simply reinforce it, ensure teh wood was properly protected etc.
but what i was really looking for was some feedback on the features of the model - says it's suitable for up to 10 birds, is that realistic? it looks like it's 1.9m square - so 5.2 birds to the sq M - which looks alright even for a larger sized bird.
is 3 nesting boxes enough for 10 birds?
is there likely to be a need for me to get proper access inside the thing? Doesn't look like the roof flips open. Think i'd need to lift it off the ground a bit as well - wouldn't want it sitting on wet ground
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size and features seem good to me. 3 nesting boxes should be ok for 10 birds, but you will no doubt find they all want to cram into 1. I was just a bit sceptical about wether an ebay coop at that price would be built to withstand transport, building and the rigours of our climate.you can always modify wooden structures to suit, ie add hinges, latches, handles and wheels etc. put a brick under each corner to keep vermine from nesting and stop damp creeping up. creosote the interior to deter mite, and give the outside a good lick of waterproof shed colour to suit. like chicken breeds there are endless types of coops which all do a good job. you pays your money and takes your chance. :chook: :hshoe:
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size and features seem good to me. 3 nesting boxes should be ok for 10 birds, but you will no doubt find they all want to cram into 1. I was just a bit sceptical about wether an ebay coop at that price would be built to withstand transport, building and the rigours of our climate.you can always modify wooden structures to suit, ie add hinges, latches, handles and wheels etc. put a brick under each corner to keep vermine from nesting and stop damp creeping up. creosote the interior to deter mite, and give the outside a good lick of waterproof shed colour to suit. like chicken breeds there are endless types of coops which all do a good job. you pays your money and takes your chance. :chook: :hshoe:
think you've summed up my feelings carl - instead of building one from scratch, this will save me a good few hours and all i have to do is ensure it's treated and assembled and protected properly and it'll be fine!!
it's also cheaper than a shed!! LOL
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Wish I'd seen that last year before I bought my shed from Focus - works out same price, but has extra features. Looks good to me.
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Mne is similar and VERY hard to clean. I wish I had bought Anne's shed from Focus....and I am not under the influence of anything YET
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My shed is good inasmuch as it is full height so you can stand upright, but the nesting box is an old drawer on the floor Whit straw in it. The perches are round poles from my whelping box (roll bars) wedged into the corners, and an old wooden shelf unit. There is vinyl on the floor that overlaps the sides so it contains everything and can be pulled out for cleaning - but, it gets very heavy with all the chicken s"*t so doesn't get done as often as it should. The duck shed is more or less the same but without perches and it isn't high enough to stand up in, so I get a crick in my back. It has a lot more straw on the floor as they don't perch up high. I have a lot to do tomorrow but I think cleaning the birds out will have to be a priority .................. so long as it doesn't snow ;)
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We went out tonight and there was a bitter wind, you may be rigt....snow on the way.I cleaned out my chickens and they made very little mess just a line of chicken poo, I have now started unsrewing the roof!!!
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It looks lovely. I'd be wary because you don't know the build quality. A carpenter has just made our hen house, a friend of my son he did it 'for fun' because it was so different to his normal line of work and wouldn't take payment for his time. We just bought the wood, timber treatment, screws and such and it still cost us well over £100. If you have to reinforce it, re-treat it and generally mess around then you might be as well making your own from the start, especially if you're handy like that. Ours began life as a vague biro'd scribble on the back of an envelope, then we bought a book of poultry house plans so that we didn't make too many mistakes. The final house is a combination of my own ideas and the tried and trusted plans in the book and is exactly what we wanted. Now I just have to persuade my OH that it would look good painted lilac. :o
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Some one after my own heart, I would have love little houses in my garden, painted pretty colours, I could pain mine now but was looking out for childrens play houses to adapt :D
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i now have visions of little minature village in your back garden sandy
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That is what I would really like and I am serious, would love a little train going around as well, the chickens could jump aboard.....When I had a big garden we did have a tree house but I wanted a fort building, wish I was a skilled joiner, I would be always building....Oh, I have some rotting veg in a bag in a bucket again, will have a lot more by Monday if you want to collect for your compost, ment to ask, what about tea bags and coffee grounds? I get lot's of them?
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i now have visions of little minature village in your back garden sandy
You could always try freecycle ;) ;D ;D ;D
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I could, I could see me in a few years time with a home like a scrap yard. My dad looked after me as a small child due to my mum being a nurse and working shifts, he was Always in the scrap yard, so, you see, it is etched into my subconscious ;D ;D
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Hi,
I recently purchased a smaller version of this coop from the same company, and would make the following comments:
1. Decent quality build.
3. Probably not suitable for quite the number of hens stated (depending on size of hens obviously).
4. Perches at same level as nest box, so I had to re position them higher. I also made them into a T shape rather than parrallel, as this gave the hens a bit more space when inside.
5. Mine came with a nest box divided into three sections, but they were individually quite small, so I made them into two larger ones.
6. Instead of one large entrance to the nest box from the inside, I blocked of part of both sides, in order to make it a bit darker for them.
7. Probably the biggest problem was the small door to the rear, which makes cleaning very difficult. I got over this by not screwing the roof down, so it can be easily removed for a thorough clean. If you do this, I would recommend strengthening the roof with a few brackets, as it is quite heavy and tends to pull at the fixings.
8. The ramp lasted about 5 minutes before it split, but the doorway is at a low enough height for the ramp to be not needed.
Hope this helps
Kev
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cheers Kev
what about point 2??? ;D
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DOH !! Monday morning and all that ! ::)
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Mine is very similar only smaller, mine was for 3-5 birds, I have 3 and it is just enough for them. I too find it much easier to unscrew the roof, I initially used a children's spade to clear it out but then decided on the roof idea. Mine do not use the nesting boxes, they were three but the tiny bit of wood on the base, the stripholding the hardboard divide, soon split off so I too have 2 boxes which they do not use, instead, I made a good sized oblong run behind my coop and put stout chicken wire around leaving access from the back of the coop, put perspex roof on the top as it was both light and cheap and could be lifted off for cleaning, I filled the area with straw as in that part of my garden it is very dry, when I was building it, it was pouring with rain and I never got wet at all, the hens have made a nest in the straw and it is great, the front door of the coup comes out into a garden where they roam around making holes, although it is layed to gravel I have deep soil boarders and loads of trees and bushes as well as a small pond, I am pleased but not too pleased with the price and the quality of the coupe but it serves the purpose and they certainly roost in it.
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this thing has a pull out floor - even with being able to whip that out, it is still gonna be necessary to get right into it to clean out?
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Hi again,
I haven't bothered with using the pull out floor, as the tray is not that deep and I think that once you have a layer of paper down (easier to remove wood shavings and poo in one go) and the wood shavings on top, when you pull the draw out it will end up pushing wood shavings and poo out onto the ground under the coop, which would then require moving the coop to get rid of the overspill (if that all makes sense). Also, I think you would still need access via the roof to do a good job.
Kev
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ah, so the pull out floor is a bit of a nonsense then, although i guess a possible plan B would be to put the coup up on some bricks raising it off the floor and simply having a larger tray underneath to catch any overspill coming out when you remove the floor.
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That sounds like a plan, but if you intend to move the coop about, it might end up being a bit of a pain to keep re-positioning the bricks ?
Also, if you do raise the coop any higher and you are having the coop butted up to a run, you might need to secure a piece of wood across the front legs to block the entrance for Mr Fox.
Kev
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i'm not planning to move the coop around :-)
the coop is going to be in a secure run, but when i'm home - most days - they'll be let out to free range in the garden
if i'm not going to be about, they'll be left out in the secure run until i'm home.
so i think i'm sorted!!! :-)
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I don't have a removable floor in my chicken shed but the big sheet of vinyl which is slightly bigger all round than the floor of the shed was a really good idea. I sort of fold it in a bit at the sides and drag it out onto the ground then pull it out of the run to clean it, then sweep the shed of any bits left behind (not many usually) I also put a small sheet of cardboard under the perches to catch the droppings, then it's even easier to clean out. As for the cobwebs though, I'll need top get the hoover onto that!
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I lined the floor of mine with newspaper - with the intention of wrapping it all up. Laid it all neat with masking tape. Lasted about 24 hours then the hens had it ripped up. As it turned out the Hemcore is easy to get out anyway.
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I have one of these coops.... bought about three months back. Arrived slightly damages but easy fixed. You get what you pay for.
As someone else said...perches are too low! Slide out tray isn't deep enough, but okay to a point. Light enough to move around with 2 people easily. I've turned the three nest boxes into two.
Other than that i'd say it's well built and looks very smart.
Maximum five hens i'd say!
John ;)