Hi there, don't think I've posted here before, could I have your lovely advice please

[TrinityIsAFuckingRhino]

I'm preparing to get chickens again

I was looking at this house for them

does this seem ok?

and if it is, do I put it together myself? of does it come made?

chicken bump

We bought one similar to that, but smaller, and it did come as a flat-pack.

thanks pixel, was it a complete nightmare to put together?

Well normally I would help with a flatpack (am better at reading the instructions than dh) but the chicken house was a Christmas present so I made myself scarce and let him get on with it. . It didn't take him too long though so I assume it was fairly straightforward. Lots of the more fiddly pieces like the slots for the partitions and perches to go in were already attached, and the roof was ready asphalted.

Plus he was building it by himself out in the freezing cold and there was very little swearing. Always a good sign!
The only bit I had to help with was holding the roof open while he did the hinges. HTH

Well that sounds manageable

Personally I'd always go for one that is at least 18" off the ground. With one that is that low to the ground, it has the potential to harbour rats.

It does say that it comes flatpacked, and I have a sneaking suspicion that you will need to paint it yourself.

There's also no apparent easy access to the pain part of the coop. Although there is a droppings board, there will always be stubborn bits of grime that aren't neatly in the droppings board, or the need to remove a sick / dead chicken, or a mite infestation that is far harder to deal with when you can't get inside the coop!

It also seems very cheap (too cheap?) unless coop prices have come down dramatically in the last few years since I looked at them.

Now I'm panicking. I bought it but haven't put it up yet. We're just finishing off the pen first.

Mine's almost the same but has a different roof, it has hinges so lifts up for cleaning. The wood appears to be treated for weather too, although we will keep an eye on it and maintain as necessary (the run has a roof anyway and it's by a wall so not too exposed). I must admit I only tried to use the pull-out tray once and it was rubbish, I just go in through the roof now, plus I've read that exposing the inside to the sun when poss is good for killing mites.

So don't panic, if you are putting it together yourself you must be able to adapt it so you can remove the roof, or part of the roof?

Also we've stood it on some broken paving slabs (50p each from garden centre) to make it a bit higher off the ground.