Advice for new chicken coop

[muck lover]

I am seriously considering getting chickens. I’ve been reading about red mite and my skin is crawling.
Can anyone advise on the best coop to minimise red mite infestations? Plastic as opposed to wood? Is there a big advantage to plastic? I understand I will be cleaning regularly regardless.
The plastic coops seem extraordinarily expensive.
I am thinking four hens, maybe five.

[veggiechicken]

I can only speak from my experience and I'm sure we have many different views on what's best - as with everything.
When I started keeping chooks and had absolutly no idea what i was doing, i had a purpose built wooden shed/coop made, about 6 x 8, maybe bigger, with external nestboxes, so I could lift the lid and remove the eggs. My 6 chooks rattled around in it, it was far too big, and a nightmare to clean out as the floor area was so big.
If there was a red mite incident, every overlapping joint on the walls had to be treated.

A year or so back, with chook numbers down to 3, I bought a plastic dog kennel, made a door to fit it, and its made life so much easier. It can be hosed down, dismantled in minutes, easy to scrub and I wouldn't go back to wood now.

Its not big enough for more than 3 chooks IMO and I don't know anything about "proper" plastic coops - never even seen an eglu - they don't appeal to me at all.

Photos of mine at https://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gr...ml#post1577004

I bought the largest of these. Plastic Dog Kennel | Great deals at zooplus!

Its good because the side wall lifts out completely for cleaning, or can be left "ajar" for extra ventilation.
My door was made from the front window panel of some sort of Hifi/computer and a piece of plastic grid from a wormery.

[4Shoes]

Must say VC that the Dog kennel is a good idea.... will keep it in mind for a broody.

Muck Lover...

Remember that chicken produce most of their dropping at night whilst they roost, so this is where most work will be re cleaning. Best if you can remove the roosts and anything else to leave an empty shed when cleaning.

It seems to come down to personal choice and what you can lay your hands on.

Plastic houses are easier to clean because in most cases they can be take apart, power wash down, disinfect etc. The down side is that some people don't like the look and you can't clean them with a blow torch. Dry really fast, so can clean out the shed in an afternoon.

Wooden Chicken Houses are harder to clean, but if you put lino on the Dropping Tray (under the roost)... Thingy.. Makes it so much easier. Red mite will get into every crook and cranny , so needs to be well made to handle the cleaning. Coal Tar Creosote is one of the best methods to keep red mite at bay, but not on general sale to the public so for both plastic and wood will have to use other products.
One advantage of wood is that you can use a blow torch to quickly clean most surfaces in an emergency.

One cheaper option might be to buy a well made - full height garden shed. Put is a couple of nest boxes and perches above. Cut hole for ventilation and jobs a good one.

[nickdub]

I don't keep chickens myself (yet), but I do do a fair bit of DIY woodwork. Have you considering making one out of plywood sheets, with a metal covering for the roof ? It shouldn't be too hard to come up with something with very few joints/corners, and could be designed to come completely to pieces by only undoing 4 or 5 bolts.

[muck lover]

I really must get on with it. I’ve been promising myself chickens for years now and with retirement around the corner I think the time has come.
I had planned to make a good large run myself and buy the chicken house. Hopefully red mite wont get the better of me. I just hate the thought of them. I do love the idea of eggs and lovely chicken muck though.

[veggiechicken]

Have a think about how many chooks you need - as in, how many eggs do you use. Its easy to get carried away " Just another chook, they're so cute"............I started with 6 and there were two of us. I had enough eggs to supply my Mum, Brother, neighbours. Six was too many for me.
I work on the premise that each chook will lay 5-6 eggs a week in summer, so 3 hens give me 15-18 eggs. That's plenty for me and still lots to give away.
Don't forget that each "extra" chook needs feeding, cleaning up after and space to roost and roam.
Once you've decided how many eggs you need, then plan your coop and run to fit.

[muck lover]

I currently use about three or four dozen eggs per week. We are eggstremely fond of them in my house. One egg fan due to go away to uni in England next year but the others could still hoover up loads of eggs.
I can’t think of a way you can cook an egg that I don’t like.
I think five hens wouldn’t be too many.

[4Shoes]

I don't keep chickens myself (yet), but I do do a fair bit of DIY woodwork. Have you considering making one out of plywood sheets, with a metal covering for the roof ? It shouldn't be too hard to come up with something with very few joints/corners, and could be designed to come completely to pieces by only undoing 4 or 5 bolts.

The little blighters get in between the seams...
The oil based products seeps into the joints and kill them...
Only problem without proper safety gear, the products also harm people. .

Silicon ....
Bead silicon round any batten used to hold house together....
or Angle brackets.

Nowhere to hide.

I really must get on with it. I’ve been promising myself chickens for years now and with retirement around the corner I think the time has come.
I had planned to make a good large run myself and buy the chicken house. Hopefully red mite wont get the better of me. I just hate the thought of them. I do love the idea of eggs and lovely chicken muck though.

Don't let red mite put you off....

Think of all the other things 1st

[Bacchus]

We have 6 hens - nominally they are my daughters (who's 10) - and we barely have enough each week as she keeps selling them to family and neighbours (at £1 per half dozen) She even has her own labels made out! We are planning to get 2 more - the coup (wooden) could hold 10 or so I think.

The main problem we have is that the outer, fox-proof, cage is fairly big so not easy to move and even though it's half covered with tarpaulin the ground can get wet and mud they generate from scraping is amazing. We put lots of straw down (thankfully free) but still, we are considering letting them wander out of the run for a while. It would be more interesting for them.

So something to consider is:
1. Do you want an enclosed run of some type to keep the foxes out. If so
a. will it be small enough to move easily so they get new ground to scrape or
b. will it be a more permanent fixture and then you "de-mud" in some other way.

Happy henning

EDIT Fane Vally agricultural supplies - just up from the small Tesco's sells layers crumb for about £7.50 per 25kg bag.

[mrsbusy]

Total Mite Kill and a pressure spray from Aldi and a disposable face mask.
Be very careful if you buy second hand wooden coop.
I have both wooden and plastic - a second hand wooden coop, a second hand Eglu cube, an Eglu Go-Up, and a purpose built pent shed and run. I needed to change from an Eglu Cube because me rheumatics were not appreciating grovelling on the floor with a hen under one arm trying to get out of the run - okay the cube bit is raised up. And you can get stand up runs for Eglus too - it is worth looking at their website but buy second hand. So I now have a shed that I can stand up in, can easily minister to my hens when they are roosting. I got my Eglu's second hand on eBay; also Gumtree is very good - but still not cheap. I really liked the cube and if you are not bothered by getting in the run on hands and knees go for it. The cube is meant to hold up to 10 hens but I reckon they would have to be bantams or small breed - think I had 8 max and they were utility type. The Go-Up will hold 3 hens and I have kept it for a broody which worked well.
Someone gave me a wooden hen house - it is very pretty and altho I power washed and scrubbed and painted it all out - having dismantled every bit...the red mite infestation was invisibly there! I had to spray it with the total mite kill and OMG the red mites came out of the paintwork all right. I had to repeat the treatment 3 times with an interval to get the juveniles/unhatched - just like you treat kids for headlice - and then it was good to go-so I always keep Red Mite Kill on the top shelf and check the ends of perches constantly. When I started I thought diatomaceous earth would do the trick - it is certainly what a lot of people advise - but I found the mites just laughed at it.
The new wooden shed was treated with creosote substitute by the supplier - so far not had any mites in it but only had it 1 year. The cube also got red mite infestation - the roost bars have lots of little channels underneath and the mites were hiding there - so careful inspection required but easy enough to treat. I also found the wooden coop easy to treat.
So I guess it is whatever suits you best. If you go for say an Eglu second hand, you can always sell it on and get probably what you paid for it - but wooden ones go for very little.

[Gillykat]

I'm planning on getting some chickens this year too and have been reading anything and everything....and must admit the stuff about red mite had MY skin crawling too But this seemed to be the only negative! Everything else seemed to be positive Scooping poop doesn't bother me at all as I've had animals all my life...and with chooks I just think of all the lovely fertiliser for my compost heap!

Where do red mites come from in the first place?

I turn 50 in March and hubby Neil said last week that as I couldn't have a puppy (working hours not suitable) then he'd been looking into getting some poles, netting and buying me a chicken coop I cannot decide on what breed or type to get either Part of me is thinking 3-4 bantams (silkies, pekins possibly) or 3 larger hens ('normal' sized LOL). Found a good supplier *Durham Hens* who breed various types and vaccinate them etc and also take chickens for holidays when the owners go away. I think Neil's regretting saying I could have some as I do have a tendancy to fully research things first.

[4Shoes]

I'm looking at Utility breeds. Light Sussex /RIR / Vorwerk / Scotts Gray. Needs to have bare legs and
weather tolerant (unless they are in a covered run)
Feathers and mud do not mix, and they will always find the mud!!

[Gillykat]

...and they will always find the mud!!

I had a dog like that!!!

Yes, the feathered feet and muddy winters DID cross my mind. Neil is going to build a really big run anyway (20+ feet long) but they WILL be free range a lot of the time as well. I should pop down to Durham Hens one day and have a chat with the staff and go and look at a few different breeds and varieties

[veggiechicken]

Gilly, you mentioned Silkies? They look cute but I don't think they're very good layers. The one I had wasn't - but he turned out to be a cockerel. Fluffy had been dumped in the woods and it took me 2 days to catch him. A few days later he started to crow. Apparently they are also very difficult to sex until they're about 6 months old!
Do your research first, before deciding on the breed. Do you want them for eggs or to look cute?

[Gillykat]

A bit of both as I absolutely HATE the way eggs are produced....even free range? Can I totally trust the producers to have happy hens and their welfare at heart? At least if they are my birds I know they're well looked after and have a good life.....and I get to have some fun pets at the same time

At first, as Neil is not a big fan of eggs, I thought I'd go for a breed/variety that lays 'ok' amounts and won't have me swamped in eggs but I've been looking at a lot of recipes and I think I'll have no problems using eggs up....and I have a couple of lovely gardener customers who come into our shop who've given me plants in the past who I've jokingly said will be finding boxes of eggs on their doorstep if my ladies go mad with their laying! Starting to think a 'normal-sized' hen is what I'll be going for....with Silkies and Pekins it wasn't the low amount of eggs which had me faltering but everyone saying just how broody they keep going! Neil said well just give them some eggs to hatch....until I said knowing our luck 90% would be cockerels and would HE be prepared to dispatch, pluck and eat them?
And then there's ex-batts too....the only thing which worries me about getting them is if they're constantly ill because of being used so intensively as egg-machines Yet all the years we've been fostering cats for our friend we have always gone for the old knackered ones.....why stop at just cats?

I'm over-thinking everything, aren't I? *as usual!* Just get the darned chickens Gill!!!! We're probably talking about late May/June before I can get my girls anyway as we need to finish pulling down the polytunnel (before it falls down itself!) and then Neil can build a run and I can get a coop sorted.....and my veg seedlings can get a bit of growth going!