[ceitidh]

 Can anyone recommend a company that sells reasonable priced chicken coops  , i'm looking for something to house up to 6 medium size hens, thanks 

[doganjo]

Buy  a shed from a diy store - put in perches, a vinyl cover on the floor a a shelf along one side for nesting boxes.  about half the cost of any coop and you can stand up in it and clean it easier.

[chrismahon]

Hi Ceitidh. Bottom line is I think Doganjo is right. There is no such thing as a reasonable priced coop- cheap is cheap and you get what you pay for. I did see a company at the Fed called Everything Poultry. They were selling what I would describe as Utility coops. Fully functional and built to last from treated wood but definitely not pretty.

[Barrett]

Ditto guys, as so many people now want chickens of there own the price of the coops as gone up and up, a good old garden shed will do and would probably last you longer.

[hughesy]

Even though I work at a farm supply place and can get discounted prices I wouldn't buy any of the off the peg chicken housing. Apart from being expensive many of them are poorly designed and don't look like they will last very long. My advice is either convert a shed as said by others or build your own. Wood from pallets which is generally available for free comes in ideal sizes for coops and it's not exactly a major project to knock together a wooden box.

[Stonehead]

I've recently written several guides to various aspects of chicken keeping and posted them on my blog. You might find the Housing one useful when deciding what to do—bear in mind that I'm writing mainly from our experience in north-east Scotland plus a few insights from when I lived in Australia. If anyone is interested in the other guides, there's a Chickens page that serves as an index.

Also, if converting a shed, bear in mind that in colder areas too much space can be a problem as can too much headroom above the chickens.

When outside temperatures remain below freezing for days at a time, the chickens need to huddle together for warmth. They also need to perch in the warmth at the top of the hut. If there's too much space, chickens roosting on their on can suffer frostbite or freeze to death. If there's too much space above the chickens, they won't be perched in the warmest air.

[thestephens]

i agree with dogano too, we bought one off the internet but it was too small, we had an unused shed too and a couple of hours DIY we had a fab chicken shed, enough to get more hens!!!!

[hughesy]

We kept a  flock of 8 ex batts in a converted 6'x 4' garden shed through the last two very cold winters. They were located in a spot which didn't get any sun so was frozen solid for days on end. They coped without any problems. None froze to death.

[doganjo]

Also, if converting a shed, bear in mind that in colder areas too much space can be a problem as can too much headroom above the chickens.
When outside temperatures remain below freezing for days at a time, the chickens need to huddle together for warmth. They also need to perch in the warmth at the top of the hut. If there's too much space, chickens roosting on their on can suffer frostbite or freeze to death. If there's too much space above the chickens, they won't be perched in the warmest air.

A solution is to line the shed with ply, fixing to the joists, and insert panels of polystyrene between the ply and the wall of the shed.  You can also put in a removable shelf over one half of the shed, half way up and again with vinyl covering, for them to sit on.   We did that for a dog kennel with a lot of success - just outside Old Rayne when we had a temperature of minus 18 at times.  At that time the hens and ducks were in a huge barn with a high corrugated iron roof and a concrete floor.  All we had were wooden sheds inside that with loads of straw inside.  They all survived.

[Gorse-Lea]

I built my own from scratch. Think the total cost of materials was about £55, but I had a couple of sheets of tin for the roof already lying around.

It's perfect for my birds and come spring I'll be building another one to increase the numbers.

I wouldn't buy one from our agri supplier though. Same size would have been £250+

If you cant make one, I'd do as the others suggest and convert a wooden shed.

[StephB]

We have spent a fortune on chicken coops over the years and have found the easiest and cheapest (apart from building your own) is to buy a childrens wooden playhouse.  They are usually at least 4' x 4' square, all you need to do is net the windows and a a perch and like some of the previous posters mentioned, they are sooo much easier to clean out.

I have a nightmare with some of the cheaper chicken coups, as all you get is a small pop hole to try and get your spade in the clean out.  Really badly designed.

I vote either make your own or adapt a childrens playhouse

  Steph

[doganjo]

We have spent a fortune on chicken coops over the years and have found the easiest and cheapest (apart from building your own) is to buy a childrens wooden playhouse.  They are usually at least 4' x 4' square, all you need to do is net the windows and a a perch and like some of the previous posters mentioned, they are sooo much easier to clean out.

I have a nightmare with some of the cheaper chicken coups, as all you get is a small pop hole to try and get your spade in the clean out.  Really badly designed.

I vote either make your own or adapt a childrens playhouse

  Steph

Fine if you are a midget I guess   I prefer the height (6ft) of a garden shed.  Grand-kids playhouse has me bent double to get in  and the door is so narrow I have to breathe in 

[StephB]

We have spent a fortune on chicken coops over the years and have found the easiest and cheapest (apart from building your own) is to buy a childrens wooden playhouse.  They are usually at least 4' x 4' square, all you need to do is net the windows and a a perch and like some of the previous posters mentioned, they are sooo much easier to clean out.

I have a nightmare with some of the cheaper chicken coups, as all you get is a small pop hole to try and get your spade in the clean out.  Really badly designed.

I vote either make your own or adapt a childrens playhouse

  Steph

Fine if you are a midget I guess   I prefer the height (6ft) of a garden shed.  Grand-kids playhouse has me bent double to get in  and the door is so narrow I have to breathe in 

Hehe yes I guess I do have to bend over a little, but do find them cheaper than sheds.  Thankfully I don't have to breathe in when going through the door, but after all the christmas goodies, it might be different next time I clean out 

xx

[doganjo]

Hmm - cheapest kids playhouse I have found is B & Q - £350!!!!!  My shed cost £100 plus £20 delivery, son and I put it up in two hours and he added shelf and we used dowelling fro perches wedged across the corners.  No extra cost as they were lying around anyway.

[Castle Farm]

forestgarden.co.uk/shopexd.asp?id=210

I can get these for less than £100 but not painted and collected.