Warm boot recommendations please

[Dharma chick]

Hi everyone.

 

We have a cube that desopite the nice Omlet man coing and changing lots of things is still wet in the morning - not sure if this may be sweat? So we have decided to go with a wooden hen house for the new babies. Does anyone have any pointers for us with regards to good makes of hen houses?

 

Greatful for any thoughts.

 

Dharma Chic

 

[Redwing]

Forsham chicken houses are supposed to be very good, also Flyte so Fancy do chicken houses and their chicken runs have got good comments so I guess the houses must be quite good too.

[westleigh]

What a shame you cant get the cube sorted,is it very wet and is it in the main body or the nesting part?

[Dharma chick]

In the nesting part. It gets very saturated and one of the girls always has a red, sore chest (she lays OK eggs just in case you were wondering about soft shells which we occasionally have) Wetness is everyday.

[Guest]

HI I have just ordered a cube so i really hope u can get this sorted

 

I had a Forsham Duck house and it was in a very damp part of my garden by a pond for about 9 years...(so it had a hard life)

 

The floor I put lino on but it completely rotted away..the ducks were very heavy on users but a lot of that was to do with Rats knawing at the wood(I did raise it on bricks)

 

Got to say they are excellently built, not hard to clean but I can see why chickens etc may be more prone to mites etc as to clean it out with the hose did soak up all the water & made the house wet. I could only clean it out on really dry days . It also despite preservative it got very bad woodworm. I burnt it recently

 

I am getting a cube for the cleaning lower mites etc but I really hope u get the wetness sorted out?? we have had very damp weather though??

 

let us know how u get on

 

indie

ps Forsham are very very heavy to move but they are solid built. I would recommend them.

[OwenLdn]

Hey there,

 

I bought my hen house recently from Ebay- if you are going to buy a wooden hen house as I did these are the points I asked myself:

 

Is the hen house raised up off the floor?

Does it have a slide out tray to aid cleaning?

Does it have removable perches to help cleaning?

How large are the openings to the run and house to aid access and cleaning?

How well is it made?

What guage wire does the run have- ie is it fox proof?

Some models have a metal arm which enables you to open/close the hen house door without going into the run- this is very handy.

 

Photos of my house are here- sorry its easier to do this than upload a photo to flickr.

http://nelsonroad.blogspot.com/2009/03/i-blame-jamie-oliver.html

 

Good luck! And let us know what you decide upon!

[MariaB]

Yes we have a Forsham. The Lenham range. I think it is great. It is really well made and not too difficult to clean as it all comes apart easily. They are quite expensive but I guess you get what you pay for. If you call them they are also really helpful with requirements you may have. I think they look nice too if you want a more traditional look to your garden. The girls seem really happy in it too so its a hit all round.

[..lay a little egg for me]

We have a hen house from the Domestic Fowl Trust in Evesham. I think it is very well thought out indeed. It ticks all the boxes that OwenL.dn raised and also is on wheels so it can be moved around the garden. It is basically like a cube but made of wood.

Here are their chicken houses:

http://www.domesticfowltrust.co.uk/products/CHICKEN_HOUSE.html

We have the halfway house one, which is for 4 chooks (or 6 if they free-range):

http://www.domesticfowltrust.co.uk/products/info_halfph.html

but I think the penthouse is the one that will take as many chooks as the cube.

 

I would add to OwenL.dn's list that the roof should be onduline or similar as felt roofs can harbour the dreaded red mites.

[Guest]

Owen

sorry change the subject the bantums look really nice and I think when my cube arrives with its 2 gingernuts i am going to see some bantums..like your blog re reading

indie

[ted]

We are still using a borrowed cube and am still weighing up the wood/cube thing. We found these wooden ones and think they are lovely:

 

http://www.framebow.co.uk/bow_chicken_coop.html

 

Does anyone have any views or experience. Maybe they just look nice!!!

[buffie]

Just to add to this, there is new barn timber.

 

Hope you find what you are looking for.

 

Buffie x

[..lay a little egg for me]

We are still using a borrowed cube and am still weighing up the wood/cube thing. We found these wooden ones and think they are lovely:

 

http://www.framebow.co.uk/bow_chicken_coop.html

 

Does anyone have any views or experience. Maybe they just look nice!!!

 

I think that the roof will harbour red mite unfortunately. I'm also not too sure about the nesting box area. Perhaps you could remove the roof and swap it for onduline or similar. See the roof on our hen house for what I mean: http://www.domesticfowltrust.co.uk/products/CHICKEN_HOUSE.html

 

Apart from that they look nice. I was not sure of the dimensions (didn't look too closely) but was not sure if it was really big enough for the 6 hens they say.

[OwenLdn]

Ted that looks a very pretty house and seems to be quite well thought out- I still quite like the octagonal ones on the link about though!

 

I must admit- after everything id read- I have completely forgotten that my hen house has a felt roof!

 

It is wooden underneath the felt (obviously) would it be better to remove the felt and replace with some planks of wood to make a wooden tiles roof do you think? Or leave it and be vigialant over using mite powder?

[Baggins]

Dharma chick,

 

I have a cube and have wet bedding in the nesting box area every morning (only the newspaper underneath the shredded paper and straw though) .... but it can't be rain getting in because the cube is within a walk-in run with roof!

 

I wonder what is can be? Chicken urine? Condensation?

 

Anyone any ideas?

[Minnie the Moocher]

Worldwide Poultry have some nice ones, they are in Beaulieu.

 

They have a website...

 

...hang on...

[Minnie the Moocher]

http://www.worldwidepoultry.co.uk/

 

My birds came from there and Ron Grover is VERY knowledgeable.

[..lay a little egg for me]

Ted that looks a very pretty house and seems to be quite well thought out- I still quite like the octagonal ones on the link about though!

 

I must admit- after everything id read- I have completely forgotten that my hen house has a felt roof!

 

It is wooden underneath the felt (obviously) would it be better to remove the felt and replace with some planks of wood to make a wooden tiles roof do you think? Or leave it and be vigialant over using mite powder?

 

If I were you, I would remove the wood and felt and replace with onduline (the corrugated composite material stuff like on the ones from the DFT in my post above). A wooden roof just gives so many places for the mites to hide and is hard to get the diatom and/or poultry shield into the cracks. Wooden sides and floor are easier to penetrate with the mite killer. We have had one attack of mites so far (nearly one year in) and it was cleared easily with poultry shield and diatom. However, I was very relieved that we did not have a wood & felt roof. The onduline also means there is plenty of ventilation, which is also very important for their health while they are "cooped up" overnight.

[Redwing]

Please correct me if I am wrong, roofs covered with felt are a no no but a proper wood slatted roof is perfectly fine, there is no need to replace a wooden roof unless it is felted.

[Guest]

Onduline is brill my horse stable roof was made with this I think it is repellent against some mites etc(not sure but i read it is made of tar ?? or old roads something like that its really lite/flexible and durable., it smells of road tar). I am going to make a roof area with some onduline panels when i get my

big plans good luck indie

[OwenLdn]

Would you be worried about the gaps at the top being large enough for vermin to get into the house at night?

[eggregiousness]

I have ordered the very pretty bow coop from Framebow and am waiting impatiently for it to arrive next week! I was very concerned about the roof in case it is lined with roofing felt and asked Stephanie to confirm that there is none anywhere in the construction and she confirmed that there is not She also said that the roof space can be stuffed with insulation in the winter if necessary. I'm having plastic wheels put on the house because I need to be able to move it by myself. I do hope my new chooks are pleased with it! I must say Framebow have been very pleasant to deal with. I've been changing my mind left, right and centre and they have been very patient. I hope the product lives up to my expectations!

Edited July 21, 2009 by Guest

[beulah59]

I like the look of the Worldwide coops - but they have a felt roof!

[-sarahjayne]

Obviously not so close to you, but we bought ours from 'the chicken house company'

http://thechickenhousecompany.co.uk/index.php Based in Newbury but they deliver all mainland uk and can ship to other places, prior to arragement.

 

My hen house is really nice, 2 pieces of ''Scandinavian 5th grade Redwood'' thick. (Im not sure what that means either..) it's really good quality actually. Delivery was not too bad either, and the price was very reasonable.

The girls love it

 

edit: bought from ebay, but through this company. Also went to view houses before seeing as they are just down the road

[*mummy_hen*]

What a shame about your cube!! Have you contacted Omlet - is there nothing they can do?

 

We built our WIR and wooden house but based it roughly on the Flyte So Fancy range. One thing to bear in mind is the higher risk of mites, etc. in a wooden coop so would definitely recomment regular poultry shield use!

[eggregiousness]

All set with ammo - have Poultry Shield and Diatom! Even cubes can harbour mites..... I will find out for myself whether good husbandry and a well designed wooden coop will minimise the problem. I really hope so! If not I've only myself to blame