Impressed by these coops.

[chrismahon]

At Staffordshire Show a new player entered the domestic coop market. I was rather impressed by them so thought it worth showing them to you and discussing good and the few small down points. Turns out they are just down the road from me (at the moment) and have a decent site http://www.stablesworkshop.co.uk.

I met the builder and his son. They are rather over-engineered and 'twee' for me but will make a pretty addition to a garden setting. Importantly it appears the builder has experience of keeping chickens to end up with such a practical design.

Good points. Extremely well built, good quality timber, all screw fixing. Nice looking, fully functional. Having looked at the web site they are very reasonably priced. Loads of colour options and mobilty options -2 wheels and handles fitted for £45 I think! One version has a removeable nest box -two latches and lift ( very good idea I may utilise later).

Bad points. Small for stated numbers of hens and too small for pedigree large fowl (like Orpingtons)-just like most other coops on the market. Basically consider the minimum number as the maximum. Nest box to coop seal may leak in driving rain but is acceptable I think. Difficult to match a run up to them, it would need a simple 'tunnel' arrangement. Wooden roof needs regular treatment but being low is easy to do. Being very low cleaning out may need a kneeling mat. Small points really.

If I had the money I would get some of these -the wheeled version. For the money I don't believe you can do better.

 

[Sue]

They look good Chris. From the website they look well made and good quality and, as you say, a very reasonable price. Don't know how much the carriage charges would be on top of this though. From my, so far brief, experience of wooden v plastic (Green Frog) though, I would always go for plastic in the future. It's so easy to keep clean. It only takes about 1 1/2 hours to take apart, thoroughly clean/disinfect and put back together. I just dry it with an old towel. It's easy access for daily cleaning as well and if I did get red mite in it then it would be very easy to get rid of (I think). Whereas my wooden house can't be taken apart and is much more difficult to clean even though it has a large door and I can actually sit in it to clean it! Because it's wood there are so many nooks and crannies that can't be accessed. This is my personal preference and everyone has their own ideas of what they prefer. Having said all that, my Frog is under cover and not open to the elements, so my views many be different if it were in the middle of a field or something.

 

[chrismahon]

There was a Company making Stockboard coops there. Only 6 mm thick and probably leaked all over in a gale. There was another wooden coop manufacturer, a bit cheaper than Stables but absolute rubbish.

If I went fixed position coops I think a good quality plastic is the way Sue. But whichever way I try to look at them they are always a bit ugly to me and being fairly easy on the eye is I suppose important. Regularly mobile coops have to be either wood or very small plastic for the weight -we're not getting any younger after all. Perhaps there is some room in the market for a 'hybrid'. Partially plastic skinned inside but wood outside. There was something along those lines in PP last year. There is no single answer to building a coop. Whichever design you look at there are compromises, the important thing is not to have any miserable failures in any aspect, like the latches won't, the wood splits and the door falls off!

 

[Marigold]

Interesting debate here- round the loop we go again! I agree entirely with Sue about the advantages of plastic, I was glad you said that, Sue, because my first impression, on looking at the pics, was how heavy, unwieldy and generally oldfashioned they looked. I agree that if you want wood for some starnge reason, or have to go for it, you need to pay the price for good quality. I also agree that poor quality plastic isn't going to cut the mustard, but good plastic coops have all the advantages of good wooden ones, plus a lot of extras, and none of the disadvantages, in my experience of both Omlet and Green Frog. Cost doesn't come into it, as good-quality plastic is about the same price as good-quality wood nowadays, and costs will no doubt go on moving downwards as production and market share increases. As for appearance, I really can't see what's not to like about my dark green and black Green Frog, or my avocado Eglu, compared with 'traditional' designs which sometimes look either clunky, or twee, or both. And if you like something to brighten your garden, as many do, there's nothing wrong with some of the other colours available in plastic, and you never need to paint them or mess about with toxic chemical treatments thereafter.

 

[foxy]

We are now in the process of making our own henhouses, high of the ground, large side opening for cleaning, all solid tongue and groove but floor and nestboxes we are now thinking of stockboard or eco-board. Going to have a go first at replacing the floor on some of out existing houses.

I like those in the link, but we have up to 11 houses to manage at a time. For us they need to be bigger, easier to clean and with better access.

The Stables Workshop are gorgeous to look at and love how solid they are, for someone with just a few hens in the garden they would be fine. The bigger ones wouldn't suit us with the door being sited on the side, and hard to clean by the looks of them for us.

 

[Sue]

I agree with you Marigold, I love the look of my green and black Green Frog. In my opinion it's much nicer to look at than my wooden house. If I was starting again then I would definitely only have Green Frog houses and build an enclosed run around them (like I have with one of my runs now). It would have been much cheaper than buying my wooden house with the attached run. Although this one is extremely well build and I am pleased with it, as a stand alone house the Green Frog is the nicest I've seen.

 

[Marigold]

Do they make duck houses, Sue?

 

[Margaid]

Can you remember who was making the Stokboard coops Chris? I thought the Solway coops were 9mm, although the mini coop has a 6mm roof. I'm going to check tomorrow with Solway and ring Ecosheet about edge banding and fixings so I'll post what I find in this thread and the Stokboard v Ecosheet v Ply thread.

 

[chrismahon]

The Company selling the coops was www.heritageandsons.co.uk. I'm sure I've seen them before so they might be selling Solway coops? I didn't like the fixing links at all which were made from Stokboard as well. I only stopped because they had a sample of EcoSheet on display.

 

[Sue]

Do they make duck houses, Sue?

Yes they do make duck houses, but only one and this is for 2 large ducks or 4 small ducks. Would be a good size for me if I get any ducks!!!

 

[Sue]

The other thing about the Green Frog is that the actual house looks much better than it does on the website. Do you agree Marigold?

 

[Margaid]

That's the firm I went to visit Chris. They are Solway coops. I didn't like the fixings or the perch but they're quite easy to change for something better. I would put wooden perches in, using the holes already there. I think I would put some sort of seal around the perch - a piece of EPDM maybe as we have offcuts from having a roof done. OH says the perch could be machined to fit the hole but I think it would get stuck if the wood swelled up in the rain. I'm going to check the thickness with Solway - I asked Paul Heritage this evening and he thought they were 9mm which means the board is fairly dense. I need to look at Green Frog so maybe I'll try and get to the 3 Counties at Malvern next weekend. Uh, maybe not, it's further than I thought and can't afford the time

 

[Margaid]

There's no substitute for actually seeing the thing is there Sue. I'm having difficulty finding a stockist within a reasonable distance - the nearest is Congleton in Cheshire.

 

[Marigold]

Anyone in the area of Whitchurch Hants is welcome to come and see my Green Frog and Eglu Classic. Maybe, if you want to see a particular coop, you could post a request for local members to show you?

 

[Margaid]

I'll do that Marigold - if you were Whitchurch Shropshire I'd be round as soon as it stops raining!

 

[foxy]

This time of year, there are a lot of Agricultural shows, small holders exhibitions etc..which often have a good selection from the major and local poultry housing suppliers. I do love browsing through them, it is good to see a few and compare directly. Although in this weather today I am not inclined to go anywhere!

 

[Margaid]

By the way Marigold they also do a Goose house which will take 8 ducks.

 

[Chickens247]

Hi, guys thought I should add something to this thread as I purchased one of the Stables Workshop (www.stablesworkshop.co.uk) hen houses nearly two years ago, not long after they seemingly started out. The one i got was one of the larger 'Paddock Houses' a 35 bird version it has been excellent.

bigger ones wouldn't suit us with the door being sited on the side, and hard to clean by the looks of them for us.

Errrr.... Foxy? it's the bigger one I have and there is no door on the side! I appreciate they are not as easy to clean as walk-in coops etc but virtually the whole roof opens and the nest box unit (of which the 35 birder has 2) lifts off totally to allow access to nearly the whole width of the body as well as the nest box side and lid opening and the internal bits lifting out - in my opinion they are exceptionally easy to clean.

Nest box to coop seal may leak in driving rain but is acceptable I think.....*snip*....... Wooden roof needs regular treatment but being low is easy to do. Being very low cleaning out may need a kneeling mat. Small points really.

I admit mine stands in a relatively sheltered position but it has stood up to driving rain and snow much better than other coops I've had over the years; no leaks, no damage and as far as I can tell no real signs of wear & tear at all.

Small for stated numbers of hens and too small for pedigree large fowl (like Orpingtons)-just like most other coops on the market. Basically consider the minimum number as the maximum.

It's my understanding that they don't quote minimum numbers... the numbers they give are maximums! PLEASE DON'T OVERCROWD HENS!!!

I feels I need to say this now.... No, I don't have shares in this company!

One negative point i do have is really my own fault, I should have paid the extra for wheels on mine, because they are so well made they are very heavy! Even on skids I tried moving mine once and have not tried again since!

Hope thats been of interest to people, I'm sure I won't have converted the fans of plastic though!

 

[Margaid]

Their website is not as clear as it could be about sizing - the home page has what looks like a minimum to maximum number of hens for 2 out of the 4 designs. I had a quick look at the site as a result of Chris's first post and rejected them. As a result of your post Chickens247 I had a better look, and if you click on the design, then click on size info it's much more informative.

It's always a shame when a good product is let down by a poorly designed website.

 

[foxy]

Welcome to the forum Chickens247

You are obviously passionate about your housing, and granted they are beautiful houses, an attractive and thoughtful design. They appear well made which is refreshing to see 17

However, I like a side opening entrance for cleaning, as I said before this is just my own personal preference.

Hi, guys thought I should add something to this thread as I purchased one of the Stables Workshop (http://www.stablesworkshop.co.uk) hen houses nearly two years ago, not long after they seemingly started out. The one i got was one of the larger 'Paddock Houses' a 35 bird version it has been excellent.

bigger ones wouldn't suit us with the door being sited on the side, and hard to clean by the looks of them for us.

Errrr.... Foxy? it's the bigger one I have and there is no door on the side! I appreciate they are not as easy to clean as walk-in coops etc but virtually the whole roof opens and the nest box unit (of which the 35 birder has 2) lifts off totally to allow access to nearly the whole width of the body as well as the nest box side and lid opening and the internal bits lifting out - in my o pinion they are exceptionally easy to clean.