Timber or Plastic?

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When I first decided I was going to get into chicken keeping, I did a fair amount of research into the housing available.

The upside to the plastic type of coops were appealing - easier to keep clean, lesser chance of red mite infestation etc but in the end, I opted for a traditional, joiner built, timber one. Simply because of the amount of extra space available to each chook in the nest box area. At least they could all have an individual place to sleep and lay.

I'm wondering how many actually have one of these plastic coops and how practical you've found them? Are your ladies queuing up to use the one nest box between four of them? Perhaps they take it in shifts? Perhaps they operate a rota system? I can just imagine a rota pinned up on the wall and lots of squabbling about who's next in line! :D

Seriously, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on this type of housing and if you've found it suitable for your needs.

Shirley
 
Plastic every time for me,Shirley, and the disadvantages of space and layout that you list are to do with the design of the coop, not the materials its made from. Mine is a Green Frog Medium Chicken Lodge and it has plenty of room for the 6 hens it advertises, with two good-sized nestboxes. They need one box between 3-4 birds and theres no queueing with two boxes between 6. Space to sleep is determined by the length of roosting bars available, and should offer about 9ins per bird, as you don't want to let them sleep in the nestboxes.
There are many threads on here about coop design and various materials if you wanted to use the Search facility.
 
And I would choose traditional wood everytime! :D

I have a lot of birds though, and have a series of large sheds with a kennel set up each kennel opens onto pasture for them. I don't think there are any manufacturers that are producing plastic housing in the dimensions that I would require. Most of my birds are rather large and do need a lot of internal space to ensure their wellbeing.
 
I too have gone for wood so no experience with plastic at all. It is the design more than the material that is more important, I think. If you need to make any alterations or adjustments, it is easier than with plastic and we have a history of dealing with wood.
I would willingly try a plastic coop if one came my way. Until then it's sheds, sheds and more sheds !
 
I like wood (although not tried plastic). Not had issues with mite, but they do require more maintainance (waterproofing etc). Design is all, not what it's made from. It also depends on whether you have a fixed run, or move the run round the garden.
 
French ones in this area are stone and tile to protect them from Summer temperatures. Ours are wood and felt and sheltered by trees. They are moved regularly onto new ground and are light enough to do that whilst fully assembled. They are also treated with creosote inside to protect from red mite. They are regularly modified to suit their use at the time, which is the advantage of wood, but only if you have the equipment to do it. They need painting regularly to protect them or they rot. They need creosoting every year which takes time to dry so the chickens need to go into a spare coop. They can be home-made with relatively simple equipment but will still end up costing about half of a comparable new ready-made coop. They have a 'traditional' appearance and can be whatever colour you want. Plywood suffers from mould growth and condensation

Plastic is heavy so moving them is a case of dismantling completely, much less inviting to red mite, far more difficult to modify/ extend or improve. Self coloured and no maintenance. They can suffer from condensation but don't get the mould growth I've seen on plywood (we have to gloss paint all the plywood in the coops). Lifespan is unknown -we have a wooden shed that we bought with us and have just erected that is over 40 years old. I will be surprised if a plastic coop does half that. But they do hold their price so depreciate little.

So to summarise. If you have no DIY skills and equipment and have limited time and no spare coop go plastic. But get a good one as some have design faults with respect to ventilation and water ingress. Green frog seems to get decent reviews.
 
i have always had wood and yep got attacked by red mite but that was my fault for not keeping on top of things , but i also converted one of those plastic large garden storage bins { seen a few people on line do it } and although they are easy to clean the red mite loved them so it doesnt really matter what housing you have plastic or wood if your going to get mites then you will get them but i do believe wood is nicer and warmer and cheaper .
 
Marigold said:
you don't want to let them sleep in the nestboxes
Click to expand...

I don't? :-)11

All right, I think I'm about to find out that I'm a complete idiot and I don't even know the basics. Fire away everyone, why don't I want my chooks to sleep in the nest boxes? They all head there at lights out and stay there till the morning (as far as I'm aware).

Am I doing something wrong?

Shirley
 
Chickens have evolved to perch in trees. They have a special grip reflex in their feet, so that when they perch the muscles of their claws grip round the perch so they can go to sleep without falling off. So its natural for them to do this. Whilst they sleep, they poo a lot, especially in winter when theyre roosting for up to 15 hours, and on a perch this just drops down to the ground (if in a tree) or on to the floor of your coop, so you can just open the back and scoop it out easily next morning, without the chickens coming into contact with it at all. If you let them sleep in the nestbox, they sit on their poo all night, breathing in the ammonia fumes, which is not good for them. Also you have to clean out the nestbox every day, and if you don't get there early enough, the eggs will be dirty and unhygienic.

Its easy to train them to perch if they don't seem to be doing it naturally. Just put a large plastic flowerpot in each nestbox at teatime every day, and remove it early next morning to let them in to lay. If they've never learned to perch (young birds are often raised in sheds with no perches, and ex- batts won't have had perches in their cages) you may need to go down after roosting time and lift them on to the perches for a night or two. They will soon learn to perch and when you see they're doing it every night of their own accord, you can stop the flowerpot drill and then you will have nice clean nestboxes and eggs.
 
Simply because they make such a mess in them which dirties the eggs.
 
Okay guys, just so I have this correct....

Not allowing them to use the nest boxes to sleep in, is just so that we don't have to clean it? Or am I reading this wrong?

My lot seem to love sleeping in their individual boxes at night and I have no problem with lifting the poo out every morning so am I doing something wrong for their health?

Sorry to labour the point but I just need to know I'm doing the best I can for them. They have eight perches of varying heights within the coop too and most of them seem to be used at some point- although it's hard to tell when it's dark.

Shirley
 
Just gone out to check and they are all sound asleep in their own nestboxes, I'm reluctant to change something that seems to be working for them.

If someone can give me a good health reason why I shouldn't allow this to happen - I'd be happy to listen.

Shirley
 
Shirley said:
Just gone out to check and they are all sound asleep in their own nestboxes, I'm reluctant to change something that seems to be working for them.

If someone can give me a good health reason why I shouldn't allow this to happen - I'd be happy to listen.

Shirley
Click to expand...
As I've understood it, you want to prevent the chickens from sleeping in the nest boxes in order to keep the eggs from getting dirty (and thereby increasing their shelf life).
 
Sorry Sara, no that's not my point.

I have no objection at all to my chooks sleeping in their nestboxes but there seems to be an objection here and I'm unsure what that objection is based on. I was just trying to clarify why that was.

Personally, I don't give a hoot about 'dirty' eggs. I don't eat shells. :)

Shirley
 
personally i let the birds sleep were they want some use the perches some use the nest boxes only takes about 1 min to clean the house out each morning each person and the way they keep their chocks is so different once your birds are shut away at night let them do as they please .we have all been down that road of being newbies and yes it is scary but in time you learn by your own mistakes , at first i covered my boxes with a plank of wood which was ideal as the boxes then stayed clean but the wood got to dirty so i threw it away and never replaced it i have never used built in boxes anyway if the house comes with them as i find them to small so i make them or use plastic boxes as they can be pulled out washed then put back in once dry .
 
Shirley said:
Sorry Sara, no that's not my point.

I have no objection at all to my chooks sleeping in their nestboxes but there seems to be an objection here and I'm unsure what that objection is based on. I was just trying to clarify why that was.

Personally, I don't give a hoot about 'dirty' eggs. I don't eat shells. :)

Shirley
Click to expand...

Eggshells are highly porous, that's how a developing chick breathes when being incubated, and why its essential only to use clean eggs in an incubator because bacteria can get in through the shell and contaminate the contents. Whether you mind eating dirty eggs, having them in your fridge, or cleaning out dirty nestboxes, is of course entirely up to you, though if you do wash the eggs, be sure to do so in warm water as if you use cold water the bacteria are more likely to penetrate the shell. It's more a question of your own kitchen hygiene than the chickens health. This Is why you are not allowed to sell dirty eggs or those which have been washed, as they may be contaminated. The DEFRA regulations about what and how to feed chickens are about preventing possible infection travelling from the kitchen to the coop - it seems to me that the issue of clean eggs is about possible infection moving in the opposite direction!
If they all sleep in the nestboxes, what's the rest of the coop for? For the sake of a few day's training you could easily get them to do what comes naturally. It just doesn't seem very nice to me, to think of them all sitting in their own excrement every night and then laying eggs in the same area next day - a bit like having a toilet in the middle of the kitchen......
 
Ventilation in a nest box isn't very good -certainly not in ours with curtains, so possible respiratory problems. Great place for mite and lice to breed as well -not far to travel to the next meal. Dirty eggs do it for me Shirley -with the extra cost of the bedding.

Wooden coops need a lot of money spent on them to keep them in good condition. Roll of 10 metres decent felt £30, Cuprinol shades £12 for a litre, Cuprinol shed treatment (the good stuff solvent based) £25 for 5 litres, creosote £40 for 25 litres. Plus brushes and cleaning. Nails and stuff. So if plastic seems a bit too expensive initially think of the ongoing costs.
 
Thank you Marigold but I don't incubate chicks so your first point is moot.

My chooks are not kept in unhygienic conditions and frankly I resent the implication that they are. Their nest boxes are cleaned out every morning when I collect their eggs and every nest box is thoroughly cleaned and disinfected on a weekly basis. If there is a teensy bit of poo on an egg, I simply wipe it off - I'm not precious about it nor have I become ill after many weeks eating the delicious eggs produced from my ex-batt girls, whose diet and exercise is improving on a daily basis.

I'm not inclined to interfere with the routine they have settled into, in fact, I'm quite happy they seem so comfortable. Their egg production is still high, they are re-growing their feathers and are happily putting on lots of weight.

I see no reason to interfere and I certainly don't intend to stop them sleeping in their nest boxes. If they want to perch instead they will, that facility is available to them.

Your input is taken on board but I'm inclined to disregard it at this time as I am your rudeness.

Shirley


Marigold said:
Shirley said:
Sorry Sara, no that's not my point.

I have no objection at all to my chooks sleeping in their nestboxes but there seems to be an objection here and I'm unsure what that objection is based on. I was just trying to clarify why that was.

Personally, I don't give a hoot about 'dirty' eggs. I don't eat shells. :)

Shirley
Click to expand...

Eggshells are highly porous, that's how a developing chick breathes when being incubated, and why its essential only to use clean eggs in an incubator because bacteria can get in through the shell and contaminate the contents. Whether you mind eating dirty eggs, having them in your fridge, or cleaning out dirty nestboxes, is of course entirely up to you, though if you do wash the eggs, be sure to do so in warm water as if you use cold water the bacteria are more likely to penetrate the shell. It's more a question of your own kitchen hygiene than the chickens health. This Is why you are not allowed to sell dirty eggs or those which have been washed, as they may be contaminated. The DEFRA regulations about what and how to feed chickens are about preventing possible infection travelling from the kitchen to the coop - it seems to me that the issue of clean eggs is about possible infection moving in the opposite direction!
If they all sleep in the nestboxes, what's the rest of the coop for? For the sake of a few day's training you could easily get them to do what comes naturally. It just doesn't seem very nice to me, to think of them all sitting in their own excrement every night and then laying eggs in the same area next day - a bit like having a toilet in the middle of the kitchen......
Click to expand...
 
Reading Marigold's post, I think the reference to incubation was just to illustrate that egg shells are porous either way and that infection can enter the egg via the shell.
 
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