Pro - Does anyone else's nest boxes get soaked in rain?

[Guest]

Okay so we've got the eggs in the incubator, I've ordered air/water tight drums for the feed, I know what feeders and drinkers I want to use as well as what feed I will be buying for them.

 

I just thought I'd get some experienced keepers opinions on housing. I would love a couple of eglu cubes but at the moment really can't afford them, maybe once I'm well established at keeping them I will save up for some.

 

Anyway I have found a style that I really like on Ebay

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260673962738&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

 

My chickens will also have free run of my large garden during the day too. I am also intending to put a dust bath inside the run under the coop at the back to prevent the neighbours cats doing their business in it during the night and also to help keep it dry. This also leaves space at the front of the run under the coop to hang food and water again keeping it dry. I am aware that the top of this run is only wire however, I have a plan for that too. A couple of flexible tent poles and a sheet of tarp will give it a roof/shade that can be removed as and when required.

 

So what do you think?

[sparkysmum]

Hello Lorna,

 

I can't really comment on the house but the run seems a bit small for more than a couple of hens. The dimensions of the run are 1.87 metres x 1.4 metres which if my maths is right gives a run of 2.61 sq metres. Even allowing for free ranging I wouldn't have any more than 2 hens in a run that size. Sorry Alli xx

[sparkysmum]

H ello again,

 

Just noticed you are from Cumbernauld - lovely to have another Scot on the forum. Welcome

[Jools]

Sparkysmum is right. I've been in touch with sellers if this kind of product before about the extremely misleading dimensions on their housing - the 187cm (6ft) length includes the nest box for example! I also think you'd be very disappointed in the quality - the wood, the fixings, the practicality of the design etc.

 

In all honesty, I wouldn't touch this kind of coop with a barge pole and I'd definitely recommend going to look at (and touch!) anything before buying. There are some very reputable manufacturers of poultry houses, such as Omlet, Flytes of Fancy, Forsham, Steve Fisher, Littleacre etc etc without resorting to imports. The adage buy cheap, buy twices holds true.

 

Sorry - it's one of my soap box subjects

[Guest]

Sparkysmum is right. I've been in touch with sellers if this kind of product before about the extremely misleading dimensions on their housing - the 187cm (6ft) length includes the nest box for example! I also think you'd be very disappointed in the quality - the wood, the fixings, the practicality of the design etc.

 

In all honesty, I wouldn't touch this kind of coop with a barge pole and I'd definitely recommend going to look at (and touch!) anything before buying. There are some very reputable manufacturers of poultry houses, such as Omlet, Flytes of Fancy, Forsham, Steve Fisher, Littleacre etc etc without resorting to imports. The adage buy cheap, buy twices holds true.

 

Sorry - it's one of my soap box subjects

 

No you are all right, I asked for your opinions and you gave me your honest opinions thank you, this is why I joined the forum.

 

I prefer this style of coop compared to the ones that are almost on the ground. There's a lot of mice around here and I don't want them nesting under the coop or having easy access for a free egg dinner.

 

So what size run would you recommend for 6 Rhode Island Red Hens?

 

Time for me to look at more coops me thinks.

[sparkysmum]

Lorna, the generally accepted absolute minimum that hens need is 1 hen/metre. Therefore 6 x RIR's would require an absolute minimum of 6 sq metres of run ie 3m x 2m. The smaller the run & the more hens you have the more you are likely to experience behavioural issues eg pecking, bullying each other.

 

I've never kept RIR's myself so hopefully someone will come along soon who has experience of this breed. Alli x

[Guest]

I think I've solved it!

 

I was looking at some home built runs and one was really clever it was built into the corner of the garden. What a brilliant idea so I'm still going to get this style of coop I just need to find one locally that I can go and see built up and depending on which is the cheapest option I'll either buy an additional 2 run extensions or build my own using the garage wall at the back of my garden as the rear of the run and bolt the coop and run onto the wall to prevent any movement. I'd like to see Mr Fox or Miss Pussycat get in that way.

 

I meant to add I will be getting a second nest box for it too, this is what happens when you try to type with 3 kids talking at you at the same time!

[Guest]

After going through the WIR thread what I am looking to do is build something similar to what Kalico has. Woohoo my plans are now all back on track again and I can't wait.

[Jools]

Great stuff

 

Don't dismiss second hand housing on ebay, there are some bargains to be had if you stick with the better brand names. Or check at your agricultural merchants as they often have notice boards with details of local trades people.

 

I have a couple of Rhodes and they're good layers but are quite bossy! I'd say the more room you can give them, the better they'll be - so now all you have to do is get building while those eggs cook.

[Guest]

I was out in the garden this morning having a cigarette (I dont' smoke in the house) and looking around the garden I noticed that I need to put some sort of fence up along the edge of the grass and across the top of the stairs to stop the kids falling down them. In the process I thought I could section off and raise an area for growing some veggies. This started me thinking about my chooks. Walk In Run? I have 6ft fencing on both sides of my garden and the garage wall at the bottom of my garden is the same height. There are no gaps in the corners or at the bottom of the fence. What's to stop me using my entire garden as a run?

 

What do you think?

[sparkysmum]

Hi Lorna,

 

I have 6ft fencing on both sides of my garden and the garage wall at the bottom of my garden is the same height. There are no gaps in the corners or at the bottom of the fence. What's to stop me using my entire garden as a run?

 

What do you think?

 

Sounds cool except that it's often a good idea to have a run/fenced off bit of garden to keep them in even temporarily. This has a couple of benefits. Firstly if the run is secure it keeps them safe from Mr Fox and since you have children keeps the grass free from poo Don't underestimate the amount of poo half a dozen hens produce. It also keeps them off flower beds & veg patches. My banties have the run of the whole garden but in the growing season my bigger hens are kept in a fenced in area. The garden would be reduced to bare earth otherwise.

 

You are welcome to come & see our set up if it helps. Alli xx

[Guest]

Hi Lorna,

 

I have 6ft fencing on both sides of my garden and the garage wall at the bottom of my garden is the same height. There are no gaps in the corners or at the bottom of the fence. What's to stop me using my entire garden as a run?

 

What do you think?

 

Sounds cool except that it's often a good idea to have a run/fenced off bit of garden to keep them in even temporarily. This has a couple of benefits. Firstly if the run is secure it keeps them safe from Mr Fox and since you have children keeps the grass free from poo Don't underestimate the amount of poo half a dozen hens produce. It also keeps them off flower beds & veg patches. My banties have the run of the whole garden but in the growing season my bigger hens are kept in a fenced in area. The garden would be reduced to bare earth otherwise.

 

You are welcome to come & see our set up if it helps. Alli xx

 

Thank you Alli that is such a lovely offer, at the moment my car is needing repairs. I don't honestly know why I own the thing I rarely drive it. My father in law does occasionally give us his car at the weekends to use so I may just take you up on that offer.

 

As I mentioned in one of my previous posts I have mental health problems. I very rarely leave the house and the thought of meeting strangers can and does cause panic attacks.

 

However, if I did pop over I could bring the sketch of what I was planning rather than trying to explain it.

[Old Speckled Hen]

I had first an Eglu Classic then a Flyte so Fancy coop and run. I lusted after a Cube which I eventually got. I'm not so sure now. I love the Cube but I had to replace the slatted floor with perches as the hens hated them and slept in a pile in the nest box, I feel it doesn't breathe like a wooden coop...I don't know...can't put my finger on it.

The wooden coop could be limed inside once a year and that's it. the Cube has to be pressure washed much more often than that.

When we move....soon....I aim to put chooks in a small barn or brick built house...one I can walk in, and one they can breathe and flap about in.

I really think that I would go back to a wooden coop, albeit bigger, if I had to stay where I live now.

The classic is good for intros, a side effect of morehensdisease.

[Jools]

That's an interesting observation OSH. I've wondered, but not dared to ask, why anyone would need to pressure wash the inside of the Eglu or Cube so often, when the only thing that dirties the walls of my wooden houses is cobwebs and my over-enthusiasm with red mite powder. I can hand on heart say that my cleaning regime rarely involves more than rubber gloves, a bucket, aubiose and barrier powder. What is it in the Cube that means cleaning is needed more often?

 

I'm interested in the idea of liming the inside, presumably against red mite, and may give that a go this year if I can find some. I'd never recommend using anything that sealed the wood like varnish or gloss pain as it needs to breath, but limewash will allow that and make it lighter inside, so less hospitable to the little red blighters.

 

Oviously the downside with a wooden house is having to treat the timber every year, but if I'm honest (and a little sad), I really enjoy doing it. Spending a sunny afternoon in the garden lost in a daydream while doing something constructive is my idea of heaven.

[Egluntyne]

I don't pressure wash any of my Eglus or my Cube. I can't be faffed to get it out of the garage, connect it up and drag it up to the chickens area.

 

Mine get a good scrub, brush and bucket wise, with Poultry Shield.

 

That is more than enough.

[laurmurf]

I'm glad you said that Egluntyne as i was beginning to feel like a bit of a slattern!

I have only pressure washed the whole of a cube once each, then assembled it with red mite powder in the cracks.

 

I'm about to get my first wooden house for the malays and I'm absolutely terrified! Talking to a chap who actually builds wooden houses, he recommended we get TWO so that i could rest one for a year on an annual basis to clear it of red mite "cause you'll never get rid of the beggers!". He went on to tell me he's had to torch a few in his time .

 

I do not want to believe i'm going to spend £200 on something that i'm going to fret over, and may give red mite the chance to chew on my girls

 

I'm speaking as someone who has never owned a wooden house and who would rather not own one now... if only Omlet would make a malay size house!

[doctors girls]

im with you egluntyne nothing beats a good bowl of hot soapy water,scrubbing brush and a bit of elbow grease followed by poultry shield and a puff of diatom the girls are happy

john

[Jools]

I'm about to get my first wooden house for the malays and I'm absolutely terrified! Talking to a chap who actually builds wooden houses, he recommended we get TWO so that i could rest one for a year on an annual basis to clear it of red mite "cause you'll never get rid of the beggers!". He went on to tell me he's had to torch a few in his time .

 

I do not want to believe i'm going to spend £200 on something that i'm going to fret over, and may give red mite the chance to chew on my girls :anxious

 

Well that's one way to sell two houses instead of one!

 

It's easy to keep well designed / well made wooden houses free of red mite, so don't panic and just use the same prevention measures you use in your Omlet housing - I find red mite powder and the occasional poultry shield works well. If you're paranoid, then just find someone who can let you have some proper creosote and treat it with that inside and out once a year. If you're still not convinced, invest in a little steam cleaner (not pressure washer) as I'm told red mite don't take kindly to being boiled alive.

 

I often have one house empty at any time of year and I do leave it open to the elements - daylight and weather. If I didn't have the luxury of a spare house, I certainly wouldn't worry about not being able to "rest" one.

 

Hope this helps

[Guest]

I've done some more looking at coops and runs. I really really don't want to use a run but everyone is right I do need somewhere for them to be safe when I'm not there.

 

I've found another coop that I like, it's not raised off the ground as much as the first one I looked at but it's nice, I like the design and the run that comes with it would be simple for me to extend myself. They estimate that it will hold up to 13 large birds, I have no intention to have this many, at the most probably about 6.

 

I love wood, I love the feeling of it, the look of it and mostly the smell of it. I don't mind spending time in the back garden treating it every year,it's just one more thing to add to the list, it also gives me something I can do whilst the kids are out playing.

 

http://www.henhouseworld.co.uk/ch105.htm

 

Your opinions would be gratefully received.

[Old Speckled Hen]

That's an interesting observation OSH. I've wondered, but not dared to ask, why anyone would need to pressure wash the inside of the Eglu or Cube so often, when the only thing that dirties the walls of my wooden houses is cobwebs and my over-enthusiasm with red mite powder.

 

I think i's just perception really. The plastic looks dirtier whereas wood just seems to absorb any dirty marks.

Yes , I think I will probably end up putting my purple cube in the marketplace.

With lime you want Builders' lime but it's caustic stuff so you have to keep it dry. I 20kg bag will last you forever. I still have one wrapped inside two big garden sacs and dumped in a plastic garden bin and three years after opening it is bone dry.

[sparkysmum]

Hi Lorna

I always seem to be pouring cold water on your ideas & I apologise in advance. My worry with this house & run is the run . The dimensions give a total of 2.34 sq. metres, only enough for a couple of hens.

I would go for "good second hand" with a larger run over seemingly cheaper alternatives.

I know how frustrating it can be spending hours looking for hen housing & I hope that the right one comes along soon. Best wishes, Alli xx

[Guest]

Hi Lorna

I always seem to be pouring cold water on your ideas & I apologise in advance. My worry with this house & run is the run . The dimensions give a total of 2.34 sq. metres, only enough for a couple of hens.

I would go for "good second hand" with a larger run over seemingly cheaper alternatives.

I know how frustrating it can be spending hours looking for hen housing & I hope that the right one comes along soon. Best wishes, Alli xx

 

Hi Alli

 

It's mainly the house I'm after, they have this one in Dobbies for £359 for just the house. As I said the run that comes with it is a very simple design and would be really simple for me to extend myself with just a few bits from B&Q.

[Jools]

Have a look at these people. I haven't got my hands on one of their houses yet so I can't vouch for their quality personally, but they do come recommended by other poultry keepers. And they have a 20% sale at the moment.

 

I wouldn't touch a flat-packed, imported chicken house with a barge pole. They are just not up to the job, particularly not in your (or my) part of the world. A friend bought one a year ago and she's s"Ooops, word censored!"ped it now.

 

HTH

[sparkysmum]

I do like the look of them & very handy too