Anyone got a Carefree Coop?

Marigold

Marigold

Moderator
PKF Supporter
Joined
Apr 30, 2011
Messages
8,130
Reaction score
192
Location
Hampshire, U.K.
Found these on the Brinsea website - they look quite nice - has anyone got one? What do you think?

http://www.carefreecoops.co.uk/

for prices etc you have to go to retailers eg Country Fayre at

http://www.hen-houses.co.uk/index.php?_a=viewCat&catId=13
 
I saw them at the Stafford Show. They're pleasing on the eye, but the two sides meet at the top, with one slightly longer than the other. I really couldn't see what would stop rain being blown straight in. Also the nest pans - one size doesn't fit all. My girls like to get comfy before laying my breakfast for me! And although it's mainly plastic I was surprised by how many places red mite would have to hide in.

I wasn't very impressed.

I have Green Frog coops and haven't had any mite problems so far! :)
 
I must say anything made by Brinsea will be manufactured with great attention to detail. Their customer service is second to none...I am up there this week so will have a nose at them, might try and swing a test run with one?? :D
 
Looked at the blurb on the web page Marigold. I agree entirely with CPL -not impressed at all. Looks like a first year design student exercise for manufacturability, with no idea or consideration of the practicalities of using it, both human and chicken. Misleading claims of Carbon footprint for the material -most people would think that ALL the plastic content is recycled, but that is a manufacturing impossibility. About 25% maximum is recycled, rest is new. Wood has a zero Carbon Footprint because it is renewable. How do you get the poo out every morning? It must leak like a sieve with that roof design? Be interesting to hear what Dan Hibbert thinks about them. On the plus side, it is a nice shape and colour and could eventually evolve into something good.
 
When I saw them at Stafford, I was quite impressed (didn't spot the rain problem on the roof! :D ) but I did wonder if Green Frog were making them on Brinsea's behalf! Either that or they both have the same supplier!

I've got a Green Frog - lovely coop. Known as the Canary Coop because of it's colour, but what a doddle to clean!
 
I think the ramp's got slots in it, rather than being solid - I don't like that idea either, it would be easy for one of the girls to injure a toe.

I've just sent an e-mail to them with several questions. I'll be interested in their answers! :)
 
You would have thought Brinsea would have had more sense than get involved in this type of housing.

Nothing works better than timber if it's built correctly and made to keep poultry in and NOT for the eye candy brigade that think it's cool to have a 'trendy coop' to show off to their friends.

90% of all poultry housing on the market is rubbish. designed by idiots for idiots.

Get yourself an old poultry book and look up Sussex arks and get one built along those lines. Tried and tested for generations of poultry keepers.
 
Well Castle Farm, someone after my own heart! Problem is the garden furniture and shed manufacturers have jumped on the bandwagon, copying another design from the same origin -none of them keep poultry obviously. Although I must add I do think some of the plastic coops are well built given the material constraints, certainly not this particular one though. Will look up Sussex arks in my books when I've fixed the next bit of wallpaper.
 
I've had a look in an old book at Sussex ark, but am at a loss to know why you would need a door in the roof? At least that is what is mentioned in my book - and yes I did read it more than once to be sure that that is what it said! :D Anyone got some good diagrams of the Sussex ark they would be willing to scan? My one is a just a pen and ink drawing which is very indistinct. Says it has a slatted floor, is 2 x 1 x 1 foot rising to 5 foot at the eaves.
Comments?
 
I've looked in my few old books and there isn't even a reference to Sussex Arks, just disgrams of the Author's coops. I do remember a photograph of one in Practical Poultry article perhaps 6 months back though. Looked really heavy to move.
 
I do know that Brinsea consulted lots of leading poultry suppliers on this one before finalising the design and a lot of their experience was incorporated into the end product. They have also done tests on rainwater leaking in with hosepipes and they are satisfied that they don't leak. So it looks like this one should be received very favourably. Also our experience of Brinsea has been extremely positive certainly very professional and reliable.
 
hi saw this carefree coop in a magazine they are all the same these plastic coops cold in winter too hot in summer they have a higher carbon foot print than wood bad design over priced and those who sell them are money motivated and do not care about chickensall the best foxy
 
Hi Charliefox. I agree about the carbon footprint -the recycled plastic claims don't tell you that it is only a small percentage of the overall plastc use. But aren't most coops on the market, wood particularly, badly designed and made for profit? The big advantage plastic has is ease of cleaning it. However I still prefer wooden coops, simply because I can build, repair and modify them to suit.
 
charliefox said:
hi saw this carefree coop in a magazine they are all the same these plastic coops cold in winter too hot in summer they have a higher carbon foot print than wood bad design over priced and those who sell them are money motivated and do not care about chickensall the best foxy
Click to expand...

I beg to differ on all these counts, rather a sweeping statement I feel. I have used an Omlet Classic and at present have a Green Frog, and neither of them has been 'cold in winter and hot in summer.' In fact the place I got my Green Frog from did tests measuring the interior temperature of a Green Frog on a summer's day when it was out in the heat, and found it was several degrees cooler inside than out in the sun. Omlet coops are particularly well-insulated, with double walls. Both makes were well-designed and fit for purpose, bearing in mind that everyone has slightly different ideas about what they would ideally like incorporated in a coop.
I also disagree about the carbon footprint. Claiming that wood is necessarily better in this respect fails to take into account the facts that typically, a wooden coop won't last as long as plastic, (which will go on for ever,) so a wooden coop will need replacing two or three times during the life of a good plastic one, thus trebling the footprint. Being difficult to take apart, (unlike plastic) they will probably be disposed of by burning because infested with ineradicable redmite, causing extra emissions. and of course they will need treating every year with highly toxic creosote or other chemicals, to preserve the wood and try to prevent redmite infestation.
Anyone who sells anything for a living is 'money-motivated' in that they want to stay in business, but this will only happen if a manufacturer offers good design and service in relation to what is required by the customer. This applies to all producers of chicken coops, wood or plastic, and it appears that there are more cheap, unsuitable wooden coops on the market than plastic ones at present. It's a matter of personal preference which you choose, and there are some lovely wooden ones available, but to get quality you need to pay the right price, and in this respect the two types are comparable I think.
 
I agree Marigold that paying the right price gets you the right quality. Not sure about the longevity of plastic coops though against wood. We have two wooden sheds which have been well maintained and they are over 20 years old now. I bought one years ago from a builder who used it as his office all his working life -he bought it second hand so it was over 50 years old when I got it. Thing about plastic is not 'will it fail?' but 'when will it fail?' Ozone, uV and temperature variations are all bad. But long term exposure to those plus cleaning chemicals and it's anyones guess. When reports start to come out of the early ones splitting, as they are quite recent innovations, there will be a lot of people going back to wood I think.

I was the Plastics and Rubber Consultant for LDV for several years and have been associated with plastics in design for about 30 years. I chose to use wood for coops I build, which must tell you something about my faith in plastic longevity. I did have a plastic car though!
 
that sounds like some one who is involved with selling plastic coops but inretrospect a lady reported her plastic omlet coop froze up last year and she was unable to let the hens out also how do you stop plastic coops from condencing up, as hens give off heat when roosting and this combined with moisture can cause respiratory problems.all the best foxy
 
Hi Foxy. These subjects of condensation and ventillation were well and truly thrashed out in posts some months ago. Think the summary is chickens can stand the cold and need more ventillation anyway to stop condensation forming. Plastic coops are worse for condensation because they can't breath like wood. But gloss painted wood or plywood is just as bad as plastic. So open the vents up and wipe the insides if you need to to stop it getting damp. Oh, and Aubiose bedding is much better at staying dry than wood shavings and try not to let your chickens get wet just before they go to bed either.
 
I have spoken with a few manufacturers of plastic coops and had a chat with Green Frog Designs when they first launched a couple of years ago.

Their coops are indeed made from 100% recycled plastic. From memory (and it was a few years ago now) they use offcuts of plastic that are waste from medical grade plastic that was collected, melted down and recycled.

As for condensation, it's worth pointing out here that the conditions required are seldom met inside a chicken coop. Yes, you need warmer air inside and moisture in the air however you also need a cold surface for it to condense.
Put a tin sheet roof on a coop and the metal will conduct the cold pretty quickly as the temperature drops outside and there's more risk but chicken coops should be well ventillated and this problem isn't usually encountered.

Add to this the fact that plastic is a very good insulator, I don't think you'd see any condensation. :-)05

I had a look at the Carefree Coops website. Their coops look well thought out. My experience of Brinsea has been very positive over the years so I'd personally say, these look like a pretty good houses, even though I haven't seen them in the flesh. :-)17
 
Hello, glad i finally found this thread! I saw it a couple of months back when i had my coop on pre order so thought best to return to tell you all about it as i received it a week ago.

It is FANTASTIC! The quality of it shocked it and was better than i expected (and i expected a lot)

My chickens took to it straight away and seem to be very happy in it. I have the only suitable for 6-8 chickens, churchill i think its called and it is very roomy for them.

Aswell as it performing on the practical side, it looks fab in my garden.

Any questions about it, feel free to ask! :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top