Ordered my chickens now I need to decide on a coop, any advice??!

[Janus]

I have 5 hens coming in about 4 or 5 weeks but haven't got the coop yet!!
I have my heart set on an eglu cube but really not sure we can afford it.
I've seen a great wooden one on ebay, please look cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120394427256&ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:GB:1123
would also need to add cost of run, wheels, poop tray, etc.
It's gonna end up not a whole lot cheaper really, maybe £100 or £150 if I bargain a bit.
What do you think of the wooden one? Is it worth scraping money together for the eglu? My reasoning behind needing the eglu is the cleaning out which I might be a bit crap at (!) and (although I haven't seen any yet) keeping any foxes out. We do have a dog (although a lab and not at all ferocious so no good at keeping foxes out) and 2 cats, probably won't deter foxes.
Also, will all these animals 'mix', ie if I do let the chickens out of their run will the cats try and eat them?? (they have brought in a whole assortment of mice, birds and even a baby rabbit since we have moved to the country so not sure about this). I also have rabbits and even thought of putting them in with the chickens but maybe this is not a good idea, not sure I've ever heard of it and maybe the chickens would eat the rabbit food??
Sorry, loads of questions in there, and there may be many more to come!!
Many thanks.

[ihatethecold]

get a wooden one, the eglus are over priced. a wooden one will be fox proof, just make sure you take the food away at night so you dont attract rats. the coop in nthe picture is lovely but very expensive. ours live in a shed that we put nest boxes and perches in. cleaning out chickens is easy aslong as you do it once a week so it doesnt get too grim.
where are you based ? my neighbour makes coops to order at at about half the cost of ready made ones..

[redial]

that one no good if you are fitting a run unless you change the wee door so it can be opened with a string. Looks nice apart from that.

[liahgen]

ooh, ihatethecold where are yo based? I want some chooks but have no home for them yet?

[ihatethecold]

i live near cambridge about 8 miles west..

[rek21]

Hello ihatethecold, i've just stumbled on this thread, I'm Cambridge based and looking for a chicken coop, is there some way you could pass your neighbour's details on? Thank you, rek.

[bronze]

Depends how fox proof a run you intend to build. If you plan to make a decent job of it with proper welsmesh etc I dont think you'll save much. I would highly recommend the cube and you could say I'm biased as I have one but I've had wooden housing as well. Not only is the cube soooo much easier to use and clean and prevents red mite etc but it holds its value well too which wood doesnt

[ihatethecold]

hi rek21 give me your email address and i will pass it on to my neighbour.. i live in bourn, are you anywhere close to here?

[rek21]

Hi there, ihatethecold can I send you my email address using this CAT thing? I'm in Longstanton so not far from you. I don't want to hijack this thread any more but if you have any advice for a novice chicken keeper I'd be grateful to hear it. Thanks again.

[ihatethecold]

what do you want to know about chucks then?.for your duckhouse just email me at [email protected] and i will pass it on to my neighbour