Where to buy chicken coup ?

touch*my*food*feel*myfork

I am determind to get chickens this spring (been talking about it for last two years), but have been unable to find anywhere stocking coups locally as would really like to go and have a look at a range of them to decide what to buy.

Anyone know anywhere in herts, beds or bucks which stock several to look at

many thanks for your time.

beaujolais-nouveau

touch*my*food*feel*myfork wrote: »

I am determind to get chickens this spring (been talking about it for last two years), but have been unable to find anywhere stocking coups locally as would really like to go and have a look at a range of them to decide what to buy..

You could consider buying an eglu plus run (from http://www.omlet.co.uk/, or second-hand on eBay). If you have a lot of money to spend, you could buy a run and everything from http://www.aviaries4u.co.uk/ or http://www.flytesofancy.co.uk/ , both of which are highly recommended by people who have bought from them. One important thing to be aware of is: although wooden hen houses look cute and traditional, if you get a red mite infestation (from droppings of wild birds) it is almost impossible to eradicate from a wooden hen house. Eglus are a dream to keep clean, come in several colours and look pretty funky.

You will need a few other things to keep your chickens healthy and happy - eg poultry spice, red mite powder, bumper bits, Stalosan, etc etc - but there is lots of help and advice on the Omlet forum http://club.omlet.co.uk/forum/

I bought my eglus and first two hens from Omlet.

tigerlily

A chicken coup.......fantastic idea!! Chickens overthrowing the government, I guess they could do no worse then those at the top now!! ;-)

Lotus-eater

beaujolais-nouveau wrote: »

One important thing to be aware of is: although wooden hen houses look cute and traditional, if you get a red mite infestation (from droppings of wild birds) it is almost impossible to eradicate from a wooden hen house.

Rubbish! Good cleaning and disinfecting now and again should see you alright. If you do get an infestation, just keep the hens out, spray with a relevant spray and keep the doors closed for a couple of hours, let it air out and you should be ok for another year at least.

beaujolais-nouveau wrote: »

Eglus are a dream to keep clean, come in several colours and look pretty funky.

Yep and £350 for a few bits of plastic. I think whether you like it or not is down to taste, I can't stand them tbh, I find them a bit of a middle class fad. I suppose there is nothing wrong with that, just don't want to be there myself.

I also think they are pretty small and if you wanted to get more than two hens, you would have to buy something else.

Saying that, in a small garden and if you only wanted two hens, didn't want to expand your flock and you didn't mind paying the money for it, it might be a good solution.

Never going to exactly give you good value for money eggs though

touch*my*food*feel*myfork

thanks for the comments
while i do like the eglu i could not justify that sort of expense - my husbands car cost less that that!!!

I have seen several online, but just want to find somewhere i can actually go and look at them

Umski

How about building one? I started mine at the weekend :j Am on the waiting list for 3 ex-batts :beer: I reckon I can bring it in for <£100 with run too

As for where to go and look for pre-builts - most pet places have similar ones for guinea pigs/rabbits etc...maybe a local farm supply shop?

Lotus-eater

Agree with Umski, the cheapest ones can be a bit nasty. If you have the skill build it yourself, how you want it to be. Its not difficult, just a few rules you have to know.

beaujolais-nouveau

Lotus-eater wrote: »

Rubbish! Good cleaning and disinfecting now and again should see you alright. If you do get an infestation, just keep the hens out, spray with a relevant spray and keep the doors closed for a couple of hours, let it air out and you should be ok for another year at least.

To adopt your eloquent turn of phrase - rubbish.

Lotus-eater wrote: »

Yep and £350 for a few bits of plastic. I think whether you like it or not is down to taste, I can't stand them tbh, I find them a bit of a middle class fad. I suppose there is nothing wrong with that, just don't want to be there myself.

The OP will quickly become aware that the world is divided into people who like eglus and people with a wildly irrational hatred for them. Fad or not, Omlet is doing extremely well out of it and currently have no direct market competitor.

Lotus-eater wrote: »

I also think they are pretty small and if you wanted to get more than two hens, you would have to buy something else.

Wrong again. An eglu is fine for up to four standard breeds, and if you want more there is the "cube". Incidentally, the first thing a lot of new eglu-owners say when the first eglu arrives is: isn't it big! I know I did - the pictures on the web site don't convey its size.

Lotus-eater wrote: »

Saying that, in a small garden and if you only wanted two hens, didn't want to expand your flock and you didn't mind paying the money for it, it might be a good solution.

Keeping hens is addictive. They have tremendous characters, and like any creature that you are looking after you want to do your best for them. I started with two and am about to expand my flock to four or five.

Lotus-eater wrote: »

Never going to exactly give you good value for money eggs though

Two answers to that. First, an egg that was laid 10 minutes ago and which has travelled all of 100 yards from nest box to your breakfast plate tastes amazing. You will never, never, never want to eat another old supermarket egg again (eggs in the supermarket can be up to two weeks old). Second, come 2012 when battery hen-keeping becomes illegal, eggs may suddenly become luxury items; and you should probably put a padlock on your chicken run now, to get used to locking them away from tea-leaves.

beaujolais-nouveau

Umski wrote: »

I reckon I can bring it in for <£100 with run too

I hope that the materials you use will withstand foxes. The small run I built cost me over £100 in materials alone.

beaujolais-nouveau

touch*my*food*feel*myfork wrote: »

thanks for the comments
while i do like the eglu i could not justify that sort of expense - my husbands car cost less that that!!!

I have seen several online, but just want to find somewhere i can actually go and look at them

I understand that but do take advice on whether what you choose will withstand fox attack. There is a coop and run advertised on a well-known gardening programme web site at the moment that would be a push-over for a fox. Foxes climb, burrow, and bite through low-grade wire mesh and wood.

MaximumImpact

I have a home built run which is pictured below.....It cost me less to build than an Eglu and quite frankly is better to look at than some gopping piece of plastic. I have never suffered from foxes breaking into it and in fact have only seen a fox once at night which my geese alerted me to. As for it being mite riddled, I have never heard such tosh in my life....Also, don't expect to ever break even when you keep your own eggs as the cost of food, bedding and medication will outweigh any money you may make on eggs. I keep around 10 hens at any one time, along with geese and ducks and barely make enough to pay for their food and meds.

I hope that the materials you use will withstand foxes. The small run I built cost me over £100 in materials alone.

Where on earth do you buy your materials, it cost me £150 to build the whole hen house????