The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: Cjnewton82 on March 30, 2015, 07:12:16 pm
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I'm thinking of buying a new chicken house. I'm thinking of buying this one http://www.aardvarkjoineryshop.com/gold-36-bird-chicken-coop-303-p.asp (http://www.aardvarkjoineryshop.com/gold-36-bird-chicken-coop-303-p.asp)
Any comments pro or negative much appreciated
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Design looks OK. I'd want to see internal shots too. Also the weatherproofing is only from the surface coating and I've always bought houses made from pressure treated timber because I believe they last longer (and require less maintenance although I have painted all of mine too). My only other little niggles would be felt over the nestboxes and the height. I had a red mite infestation in my layers house and tracked it down to the felt over the next box so I've stripped it off and replaced it with onduline. Thumbs up for the onduline roof! Re. height, I'm 5ft11in so a max height of 5ft 8in would annoy me - just not quite high enough stand up in. But most of my housing is lower than that so it is a niggle - mostly you're cleaning them out so being low is not a problem because you're on your hands and knees anyway. Just I quite like cleaning out my big 'normal' sheds that are the same floor area as this but with 7ft height.
H
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Like HesterF I would be worried about potential for redmite. I had a shed similar build that we are just about to burn because it had such bad redmite and the nest boxes were particularly bad. It's a big shed to get redmite under control once it's present so bare that in mind.
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As mentioned I would also want to see inside. My main criteria is easy cleaning so I don't like the external nest boxes but that is personal preference. It looks a decent size so it depends what works for you.
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we bought a 'recycled plastic' coop from Arkus a few years back. Hard-wearing and easy to clean - highly recommend it.... (also use their pig ark)
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i really like the easy clean thing about plastic.... look at Keter sheds and see if you can adapt one.... not bad prices on those either.