Opinons on this chicken house please -

[Hangingbellyofbabylon]

We're looking at our first chicken house - I am very taken with this doodlehouse. Main reason being I want plastic as it is easier to clean and want to keep on top of red mites. It is cheaper than the other plastic houses out there and I'm not bothered about lack of run as dh is building a large run sectioning off part of the garden.

So what do you chicken experts think? Do you think the design looks good and would the chickens feel safe and comfy? Any advice or other suggestions most welcome. [csmile]

Looks great. They just need somewhere to perch and somewhere to lay their eggs. Great to have a big run for them. I loved our hens. Would love to have them again. My friend has hens roaming in her garden with ginea pigs and a big rabbit and the hens choose to sleep in the lower level of the gineas hutch with the gineas upstairs! and never use their 'eggloo'!

thanks mumsiepie - I'm really starting to look forward to this now, it's something we've been thinking about for years so have to now sit on my hands and not get ahead of myself as dh has to have the run all in place before I start looking at birdies.

Lovely design, but I wouldn't bet on it being mite-proof. Other than the fact that you can take it apart fully and hose it down, the design looks to have quiet a look of nooks and crannies that red mite will just love to hide in.

Hens are great to have around, I'm sure you'll really enjoy having them.

Looks great. I am now thinking I need a 4th chicken house .

We looked at the doodlehouse when we decided to switch to a plastic house. At that stage they did not do 100% plastic houses, some of the interior was particleboard which ruled them out, but we also noticed the amount of crevices compared to other designs.

I think they are designed more to appeal to the back garden types who like bunting and bell tents I'm afraid, rather than being as practical as they make out.

We spent a little more (well alot more in the end as we plumped for an automatic door closer option ) and got one of these www.chickencoopsdirect.com/eco-chicken-lodge.htm
It was a doddle to put together and really hasnt got anywhere easy for mites to hide. Cleaning used to take me an hour and now its 20 mins.

Oh and its suggested hen numbers are also very accurate, in fact, very generous to the hens! I keep 4 fully grown hens - 1 light sussex, 1 copper Maran, 1 Cream Legbar and a cuckoo Maran Bantam and they have tonnes of room on their 2 perches - I could easily put 2 more birds in but I couldn't keep up with the eggs!