Housing - your opinions please

[Anonymous]

After scouring the internet for what seems like AGES (there's nothing in my area where I can go and look and examine housing) I have found this website http://www.woldstimberbuildings.co.uk/poultry_housing.html

In my opinion it looks really good quality and also nice looking. That is just my opinion though and seeing as I have NO experience whatsoever with regards to chickens it could be a cardboard box for all I know

I was just wondering if you would take the trouble to browse the website and maybe give me your experienced opinion on these as to whether you think they look suitable, good quality etc. I would be ever-so-grateful for your help.

Thank you.

Donna. x

 

[Tim]

Looks pretty good to me Donna. 19mm timber is pretty thick and it's all tanalised (pressure treated) to stop the wood from rotting. I also notice they supply a few other stores so they must be a reasonable size operation.

I have a house from Flyte so Fancy that is very good quality that I can recommend too - you may want to compare them for price. Ann Weymouth (the owner) has always been very reasonable with me when I've asked for modifications to their standard unit. I had my house raised a little to allow the chooks to shelter underneath for shade / protection from the rain which changed the run and other bits as a result.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Donna,
I'm definitely not as experienced as other members on here,but,I did go to the site and closely examined their penthouse henhouse.Are you going to keep your chicks enclosed in their run,or,out to free range in your garden?
I have a smaller henhouse than the penthouse one,a similar design and I think the one on the site you found is better.The perches are positioned above the nest boxes,which if you don't want your chickens to sleep in their nestboxes helps to discourage this.The perches are the same height from the floor,which means that lower hens in the flock shouldn't be on a lower perch and possible alone at night missing out on warmth.Onduline roofs are meant to better as mites dont have a layer of felt on a wooden roof to snuggle under.It does look like a quality product,I didn't find the prices,so don't know how expensive they are,but maybe you fall into their free delivery area of 75 miles,which would be a bonus to bear in mind.
The only thing i would question is the run being big enough for 6 chickens if you are intending to keep them in all the time.I am no good at area though,so although I read the dimensions of the run,I couldn't visualise how big it is .
Before I got my chooks,reading on poultry forums quite a few ppl who had purchased arks(from reputable sources)but did need to keep their hens in,found it hassle moving the arks.As chickens do scratch the ground,they were destroying the ground so the ppl were moving them every 1-2 days.This put me off buying an ark type hen house,although one that has the sleeping/nesting above the run area I think is a better idea than having it all on the same level.
Before buying your house,I would suggest deciding which breed or hybrid you're going to get.For example,feathering on feet like Pekins and Sablepoot Bantams means they don't srape,scratch and damage flowerbeds,lawns as much as clean legged birds.Also,Snifter did see my hen house,and made some very helpfull suggestions for me,one being that my perches in the one house are bantam sized,not large fowl sized.So I've changed the perches,because I'd bought a hen house,I'd assumed they would be fine,so my fault .