Which Henhouse?

[Bramax]

Hi
We are planning to get 4-6 hybrid chickens. They will be kept in our garden, so we want a reasonable looking henhouse. Have been looking online, at the cheaper henhouses (around £150), but they seem to have bad reviews. We don't want to spend a fortune, but we are not confident enough to build our own. Please can anyone recommend a sturdy, weatherproof "off the shelf" type henhouse. We are prepared to pay more for a henhouse if we know it is going to last.

Also, what are the main features a hen house for 4-6 birds should have?

 

[podstable]

Go for the sturdiest you can afford---you could easily waste £150 on one of the garden centre type /Chinese houses that will need replacing after 1 winter. An old but sturdy one might be a better buy--mine mainly came from e bay/local paper etc--but if you get a used one it will need thorough treating for red mite/Creosote even if you cant see any they will be there somewhere. Needs--easy access for cleaning /treating wood and mite,secure against fox/badger etc, ventilation, perches , nest boxes,water proof . Some sort of secure run -even if they are free ranging you need to be able to shut them in a run at times for added security. A tip--if you look on e bay try looking up the search with the wrong spelling of coop (eg Coupe / coup) then loads of people miss them ! Have fun! Ros

 

[chuckchuck]

Hi
From My experience the best hen house would be a small shed from b&q!!
You can buy perches on ebay or even make them your self and egg boxes are easy to make..
I bought lovely coop of ebay and within a few months started leaking!! tray wouldnt slot back in or anything. All wire come of run and everything not good
hope this helps

 

[Sue]

Just do an internet search for hen houses or variations on this. My experience was that the best ones were via the internet, there was nowhere local to me to buy a good one. I had to buy a second house because of an emergency to separate some hens and paid £150 for it, it's not really any good - difficult to clean out, the wood doesn't fit together properly, lots of areas that are hard to get to to clean and the nest box lid has broken already! So, what I'm saying is you need to spend more than this to get a decent house, especially if you are looking for a run to go with it.

 

[Chuck]

Small shed converted is a good solution. It can always revert back if you give up the chickens.