New to Chookening, what do you think of this coop?

[sorky]

My parents have bought one of these and are getting their chickens tomorrow.

It's constructed really well, according to my Dad who's a joiner, but I wanted the MN opinion before I go ahead and buy it.

I'm thinking of 3-4 chickens, they'll have free run of the garden, but I may add a run if they are too destructive.

Does anyone else have this coop?

Wow that is a lovely looking coop, and cheap!! I'd say go for it, looks perfect

Have you any idea of the type of chickens you'll get?

No not yet, still researching that

The only other contender is this It is exactly what I would like, but I'm worried about the size of the nesting box. Will it be ok for 3-4 hens?
Also it looks like only one perch, does that make a difference?

Which chickens do you have?

Well it depends on the breed you get as to how many will fit, but if you go for a smaller breed you will easily fit 3-4 chickens in there.

We have 2 rhode island reds, 2 light sussex, 2 gold laced orpington chicks, 1 blue splash orpington chick and 1 australorp. Will put some photos on my profile.

(I had no idea about breeds until I got them either, so don't worry about it! )

Or, if you wanted to rescue some ex-batts, you could always visit here:

www.bhwt.org.uk/

and good advice/help can be found here:

www.henkeepersassociation.co.uk/
club.omlet.co.uk/forum/index.php

You need to think about foxes - the 1st one doesn't have an integral run, which means the chickens would be in the garden the whole time, and almost certainly would be got by a fox. If you are in a city, the urban foxes will come day and night, rural foxes will probably not come in the day.

I would always get one with an integral run, then you know they are safe if you are away or late back etc.

Good call Lily - I hadn't thought of that

I can't view your pics Goodish

Is there somewhere that kind of compares different types of chickens?

I'd like to have 3-4 to fit in the hen house I linked to with the run. So probably on the small-medium side.

I was hoping to get a breed that gives 2-3 eggs a day between them.

We have a cat, but doubt she'd be that bothered and I gather chickens hold their own against cats

I wouldn't worry about the cat - we have one too and she's afraid of the chickens! Won't go anywhere near them, dozy cow

www.omlet.co.uk/breeds/breeds.php?breed_type=Chickens Might give you an idea of the different types. Try googling the different breeds for more information.

We get an egg every day from ours in the summer, 2-3 a day in the winter.

It wouldn't let me upload photos for some reason, silly MN.

Thanks will check that link now

Ah, photos are up

Thanks very much for the link Goodish. I've looked at them all and have shortlisted the following;

australorps
cochin
faverolle
?fresian
hybrid
miss pepperpot
pekin
rhode island red

Now I just need to half the list. 4 maximum.

Good luck choosing! Do a google search for local breeders who supply the ones you're after, that might make your decision for you anyway.

Whereabouts in the UK are you Sorky?

North east

Sorky, the nesting box on the house you linked to looks fine for 3-4. I have a slightly bigger nesting box and 8 chickens and they manage, 2 can get in side by side and the others queue.

I've bought it!!

I'm ridiculously excited

Ah, you won't want to know my East Anglian breeders then

How exciting!!! When is it being delivered??

hopefully by the end of the week!

When you're looking at breeds, have a think about what's most important to you. eg cochins look great, and are gentle but aren't great egg layers (ditto orpies), legbars/araucanas lay blue eggs but are often timid, hybrids are usually brilliant layers but don't live so long. Also look at what vaccinations they've had - you probably want at least salmonella and mareks vaccinations. Try and get similarly aged and sized birds to avoid bullying, so probably avoid pekins if you're getting full sized chickens.

My dream wish list would be;
Brahma (x2)
Welsummer (beautiful and terracotta eggs)
and then maybe something like a leghorn for white eggs, or a lavendar araucana for blue eggs

or, Wyandottes are amazing...

So many breeds out there to choose from. We have a lavendar araucana for the blue eggs, shes a lovely little hen and very friendly, like to sit on dd's lap! Also black rock and columbian blacktail, both healthy good layers, a light sussex whose bigger and the boss and a maran who is currently raising chicks for us, shes raising leghorns and welsummers, and apparently the leghorn will be tamer if raised from a chick and well handled. Also have a hybrid khahi egg layer whose very timid. I have friends with orpingtons who are lovely fluffy birds but have sacrificed egg production for feathers! I do like the fact that we have different birds who lay different eggs, therefore I always know whose laid what and how well they are laying, so if one stops I know to check her out-my maran injured her foot last year and stopped laying. Its also means when you give eggs to friends you can name which chicken they came from which people (especially children) always like!

Hey Sorky, has your coop arrived yet??

I would think about egg colour too and also the fact that not all breeds have the characters they are supposed to.

We didn't really consider the above at first and although I wanted a blue egg layer, we were put off cream legbars due to their supposed flighty personalities (they have leghorn in them) so didn't get one. Especially as our garden has a 3ft fence on one side. Then I changed my mind and got one and she is one of my friendliest hens and her eggs are beautiful, but smaller than our other hens' eggs.

We also have a cochin and she is stunning and hilarious to watch, but lays hardly any eggs. Plus, she eats a lot. However, we have nine hens altogether, and the others make up for her lack of laying, so we don't mind. We barely get enough eggs as it is though (usually 6 a day, one of ours isn't laying yet she's too young, we have a family of five) so if we only had 3-4 birds I probably couldn't justify keeping her in a way. I honestly think she eats almost as much as the other eight put together!

Also, I have heard that Favorolles are easily bullied if kept in mixed breed flocks, so that might affect your decision.

I would find a decent or few decent breeders near to you and go and have a look at their set ups and birds and see what you like. (we didn't like Cochins or Arauanas until we saw them, for example)

I have a cochin, an orpington and a light sussex. They all make good pets and have great natures. The sussex is the most cheeky and loves to come into the house all the time. The cochin doesn't lay very well and the orpington's eggs are tiny in comparison to the size of her.

Where are you going to get your chickens from sorky? I live in the northeast too.

Do you Ilovehens?

Where did you by your chooks from? My parents have bought theirs from a local farmer out by Barnard Castle iirc. They bought hybrids though, not sure I want those really

Hen house has been dispatched and is on it's way, Goodish.
Even Dh agreed it the prettiest hen house he'd ever seen

I just know I'm going to love my chickens.....when I get them....after I've chosen them

Question: If you were me and going away for a week in late September, would you delay getting the chickens until October? Or will they have settled in well enough to leave them with someone popping in to let them out, feed them etc?
Dh is leaning towards getting them when we get back.

2 months away nearly? I'd get them now.
We got ours mid/late Jul and went away late Aug.

It's just arrived!!

Should I build it myself or leave it to Dh....no brainer!!

We're agreed, we're buying the chickens before holidays at end of September. I'd rather have them in and settled before the Autumn/Winter arrives.

Just got to find somewhere that sells them.