That's the coop not the chicken!
Has anyone tried one of these? The wooden one that I cobbled together years ago is slowly collapsing in on itself and so its time to get something else before the winter.
I'm tempted by the plastic ones mainly because of the supposed ease of cleaning and fewer mite problems. I need something for a dozen hens so the Eglu is really a bit too fancy and expensive. The Solway or Brinsea coops look much more practical.
Are they the answer to mite control as the makers would have you believe?
Thanks for any help
John
Plastic Chicken Coop
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What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning Werner Heisenberg
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What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning Werner Heisenberg
I am a man and the world is my urinal
I know it's a while since you posted, but this may be of help to others (I assume your old house has completely disintegrated by now!). I used to run a chicken business and sold the Solway houses, as well as wooden ones (cheap chinese imports) and Eglus. The Eglus were fantastic, especially for the novice, but as you say are not really practicable or affordable for 12 hens. The Solway houses were good in that they did not rot and were relatively easy to clean - not as easy as the eglus as you take off the roof to clean it so getting stuff out of the corners could be challenging. But we never had any problems with mite in the demo models that our pet hens used. I worried that being black they would overheat in the summer but they didn't, and I like the ample ventilation. Doors operated well in all conditions and the whole thing was sturdy and fox/dog proof.
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PLUMPUDDING
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I've been considering replacing my old wooden hen hut with a plastic one, but have been put off as they look a bit flimsy and not very well insulated. Don't they get a bit chilly in winter?
I worried about this. We had about a dozen self appointed pet hens (ones that for various reasons didn't enjoy life in the big flocks) that lived in our display area, and could choose any of the houses to roost in. We went through the hardest weather I have EVER experienced in November/December 2010, and they all favoured the plastic houses, the Eglu was most popular to the point of being dangerously overcrowded, the hens that couldn't squeeze in there went to the Solway house. Both houses were sturdy and well made - I need to get some backyard hens and would like to go down this route, but suspect a more cobbled together solution will need to be found, being skint.