Best chicken coop ever?

[British Red]

I know that chicken coops aren't perhaps the most bushcrafty things in the world - but they are right there in homesteading!

The most common question e get asked is "what coop should I buy?". Up until now we've never found one to recommend, The wooden ones we bought were hugely disappointing - most after a couple or three years need parts replacing and after five are like "Triggers Broom". I've made our last two coops but not everyone has time or space to do that so we have been looking for a quality coop of a decent size to recommend.

Recently we came across Nestera (they used to be Green Frog Designs). Their coops are UK made from 100% recycled plastic - and are fully recyclable at end of life. They are properly robust - so much so that Nestera offer a 25 year warranty on them - we haven't found any other firm that offers anything close to that, So we approached them to see if they would let us have a coop for a year to test - with our only promise being an honest review - good or bad. They agreed!

Today we published the review - they really are very impressive so if you are thinking of getting a new chicken coop, do take a look. Theres a discount code in the video too

 

[Mesquite]

Sounds like it's a hit with you Hugh.

Out of curiousity where there any cons with it?

 

[British Red]

Sounds like it's a hit with you Hugh.

Out of curiousity where there any cons with it?

Assembly was super simple BUT a couple of pieces ( e.g. the door) have to go in the right way round and it wasn't clear from the instructions which was which.

My only other minor complaint would be the perches. They run side to side and my preference is front to back. Plus, because we will use it as a broody coop, we will need to remove the perches which, on this coop, means making a couple of blanking plates for the holes that they pass through.

Honestly though the assembly instructions are better than most and the perch issue is only because we are breeders

 

[grizzlyj]

Thank you for the review.
I had been looking at similar plastic coops but maybe have yet to decide if keeping any is a good thing. Your videos may be pushing me over the edge
You mention the fitting of their suggested door opener, does that fit in with the open on timer close on daylight you suggested on another video? And is as durable etc as others? The extreme one says suitable for "extreme" weather but looks the same as the other models, I wonder if there is additional sealing?

 

[British Red]

Thank you for the review.
I had been looking at similar plastic coops but maybe have yet to decide if keeping any is a good thing. Your videos may be pushing me over the edge
You mention the fitting of their suggested door opener, does that fit in with the open on timer close on daylight you suggested on another video? And is as durable etc as others? The extreme one says suitable for "extreme" weather but looks the same as the other models, I wonder if there is additional sealing?

Hi!

ChickenGuard is the make I was referring to when I discussed "mix and match" settings in a previous review. Functionally they are probably the richest - you can configure opening and closing seperately in any combination of manual, light and timer. You can calibrate the light setting that you want and have manual override.

The main difference with the Extreme model is that it has a larger motor than can lift 4kg whereas the other units lift a maximum of 1kg ( which is fine for the Nestera)

We have had ChickenGuard for a long time and are still using one of their original grey boxes. Each new model has design improvement.

The only durability issue we have noticed was failing motors in one series, but they were replaced under the 3 year warranty without question.

ChickenGuard are sending us one of the model that they supply to Nestera for an upcoming video and a 15% discount code for our subscribers (ECL15) so if anyone wants one, hopefully that saves them a few Bob

 

[grizzlyj]

Hiya how long have I got to make a purchase before your code runs out!?!

Also, you have mentioned the meat eating aspect of too many cockerels, I can't see anything on aiming to do that on your channel? Would you consider a video on doing that? So from nothing, setting up for a family supply level of eggs and having maybe two dozen chooks in the freezer per year? How do you divide up living accommodation or will they do that? So I'd need a main coop (large Nestera or is that too small?) year round, and a small one (maybe a rabbit hutch?) to transfer a broody hen to as required? What do I need to do and when in the UK with chickens the size of your Buffs maybe? Finger crossed

 

[British Red]

Hiya how long have I got to make a purchase before your code runs out!?!

Also, you have mentioned the meat eating aspect of too many cockerels, I can't see anything on aiming to do that on your channel? Would you consider a video on doing that? So from nothing, setting up for a family supply level of eggs and having maybe two dozen chooks in the freezer per year? How do you divide up living accommodation or will they do that? So I'd need a main coop (large Nestera or is that too small?) year round, and a small one (maybe a rabbit hutch?) to transfer a broody hen to as required? What do I need to do and when in the UK with chickens the size of your Buffs maybe? Finger crossed

Great questions all.

So the code will last a while but apparently coops are selling fast this year ( probably after lockdown and people worried about food security) so I wouldn't wait very long.

For twenty cockerels you are going to have to hatch forty chicks. To get forty hatching, you will want five clutches in a year. A broody Orpington will cover 12-14 eggs but you won't get 100% hatch rate - say two thirds of your own eggs, less if you buy in fertilised eggs.

A Nestera for your main coop would be ideal. You would need a breeding flock of 6 to 8 Orpington hens, a cockerel and perhaps a couple of Legbars for eggs when all your Orps are broody.

Each broody would need a coop big enough to hold her plus 8-10 growing chicks ( likely to be full sized at cull time in the Autumn). The broody will return to the main coop when the chicks are 8-12 weeks but we think 16 - 26 weeks is the time Orpingtons are table ready. Other breeds mature faster ,( e.g. commercial broilers) but rarely brood or lay eggs - the Orpingtons are great for self sufficiency.

At the end you wind up with 20 Pol hens that you can sell. This should cover all running costs and, over time, pay off the investment in coops etc. We sell hens at £45 each. Do the maths.

You also get eggs and a freezer full of top quality chickens that haven't cost anything.

Hope that helps?

 

[grizzlyj]

Awesome thank you
Selling chooks round here I would think wouldn't work as quite a few folks have too many and give aways are common.
So twenty for the freezer in total, needing 2-3 clutches then maybe?
Each broody needing her own coop how big? You say a large Nestera for that in your vid, is that very luxurious or necessary!?!
Plus fenced off own run or all mixed together?
Would four plus a cockerel sustain that, so can two be broody and two still lay?
If I did have four plus cockerel in total, with two split off broodies, would the remaining two plus cockerel in a large Nestera be too chilly?

 

[British Red]

Awesome thank you
Selling chooks round here I would think wouldn't work as quite a few folks have too many and give aways are common.
So twenty for the freezer in total, needing 2-3 clutches then maybe?
Each broody needing her own coop how big? You say a large Nestera for that in your vid, is that very luxurious or necessary!?!
Plus fenced off own run or all mixed together?
Would four plus a cockerel sustain that, so can two be broody and two still lay?
If I did have four plus cockerel in total, with two split off broodies, would the remaining two plus cockerel in a large Nestera be too chilly?

As for selling, there are chickens and there are chickens. Pure bred Orpingtons people to n the UK will travel for. We have had several customers travel 150 miles - some more.

The thing with a broody coop is that if you want 8 chickens out of it, it has to be big enough to accommodate 8 full grown chickens plus the broody. It doesn't have to be a fancy coop but it needs to be big enough. A run is preferable while the hen is brooding because it gives her outside space for eating, drinking and pooping but stops other hens bothering her and trying to lay in her nest ( and they will).

I build simple boxes of T&G with doors front and back and a simple run for broodies.

Broody coop and run by English Countrylife, on Flickr

Broody coop by English Countrylife, on Flickr

24 hours after hatch we remove the run so the chicks can socialise with the flock.

 

[grizzlyj]

I can see you have very posh chickens, but the Isle of Lewis is a bit far removed from a viable market like that I think
Your pics are exactly the answer I was looking for. I owe you a beer or two

 

[British Red]

I can see you have very posh chickens, but the Isle of Lewis is a bit far removed from a viable market like that I think
Your pics are exactly the answer I was looking for. I owe you a beer or two

No problems. Those broody coops aren't ideal as a main coop but fine for short term brooding. It's lots of fun, very eco friendly and indeed financially worth while producing your own food. I hope you get the same satisfaction that we do!

 

[swyn]

There were plans available a while ago showing how to build a chicken house using two 8’x4’ plywood sheets.
Fifteen years ago I worked on building a chicken house using this method.
This is still a good chicken house although the original Onduline roof has been replaced with wriggly tin.
We are reducing the numbers of our Marans this year by not letting broody hens sit.
We got close to having to register the flock with DEATHRA and that was not what we wanted to do.
They are currently corralled behind Heras fencing as they are not allowed to free range right now due to avian bird flu in intensively reared birds and don’t start me on that one!
S

 

[British Red]

There were plans available a while ago showing how to build a chicken house using two 8’x4’ plywood sheets.
Fifteen years ago I worked on building a chicken house using this method.
This is still a good chicken house although the original Onduline roof has been replaced with wriggly tin.
We are reducing the numbers of our Marans this year by not letting broody hens sit.
We got close to having to register the flock with DEATHRA and that was not what we wanted to do.
They are currently corralled behind Heras fencing as they are not allowed to free range right now due to avian bird flu in intensively reared birds and don’t start me on that one!
S

I've made plywood coops and, honestly, I'm not a fan. It delaminated. Even marine grade. I've made one that I cut mouldings to cover all the end grain and it's doing okay but not ideal.

With home made coops I've taken to using 10mm tanalised tongue and groove. 9mm ply lined roof and floor.

Tongue and groove coop Titan opener by English Countrylife, on Flickr

The thing is, to build a good sized wooden coop is now costing me £250 plus and I WILL need to treat it and do remedial work. Is that really cheaper than something maintenance free for 25 years? Time will tell.

We, being breeders, have to be DEFRA registered of course. HPAI is really hurting our business.

 

[swyn]

I've made plywood coops and, honestly, I'm not a fan. It delaminated. Even marine grade. I've made one that I cut mouldings to cover all the end grain and it's doing okay but not ideal.

With home made coops I've taken to using 10mm tanalised tongue and groove. 9mm ply lined roof and floor.

Tongue and groove coop Titan opener by English Countrylife, on Flickr

The thing is, to build a good sized wooden coop is now costing me £250 plus and I WILL need to treat it and do remedial work. Is that really cheaper than something maintenance free for 25 years? Time will tell.

We, being breeders, have to be DEFRA registered of course. HPAI is really hurting our business.

We have two houses v similar to the one in your pic but we made stands for them which were used when we raised Muscovy ducks. The stands are now used as a carrot bed and a cold frame.
The houses came from a lady who made superb poultry buildings but went to the wall a few years back which was a great shame.
My wife religiously paints the roofs with barn paint but eventually I suppose they will have wriggly tin on top
I make ‘kit’ buildings occasionally and this pic shows a duck shelter that I made as an exercise in small A frame construction. I acquired a stack of wriggly tin ‘pan tile’ so use this for roofs.

 

[British Red]

Wriggly tin is awesome stuff. I had offcuts from the barn re-roof that I used. The modern plastic covered stuff. It's like new ten years later.

 

[swyn]

In the past I made kit form/flat pack units. If they were softwood they were transported to the local treatment plant and placed in their vat.

The result was all joints being fully treated.
Some garden furniture so preserved is now 40 years old. And would you believe made from Sycamore! Top of the British timber the Risborough Laboratories(TRADA) experimented with when testing early pressure treatments.
A chicken house carefully packed in kit form will not cost that much. Transport is the biggest cost. Four trips.

As an example I once made x 80 off 7’ five bar gates as pairs in kit form. I worked out the treatment cost per gate at that time and it came in at £0.35p per 7’ gate.
Today I suppose the cost per unit would be more than £1, but kit form and timber treatment go well together.
S

 

[swyn]

What’s the box and hook over the portcullis door?
Is this an automated opener.
My wife opens up at 05.00 every day. Her clock doesn’t change nor do the hens clocks or clucks
S

 

[British Red]

That unit is a Titan auto opener

We also use Omlet and ChickenGuard units

 

[swyn]

That unit is a Titan auto opener

We also use Omlet and ChickenGuard units

Thanks.
S

 

[British Red]

In the past I made kit form/flat pack units. If they were softwood they were transported to the local treatment plant and placed in their vat.

The result was all joints being fully treated.
Some garden furniture so preserved is now 40 years old. And would you believe made from Sycamore! Top of the British timber the Risborough Laboratories(TRADA) experimented with when testing early pressure treatments.
A chicken house carefully packed in kit form will not cost that much. Transport is the biggest cost. Four trips.

As an example I once made x 80 off 7’ five bar gates as pairs in kit form. I worked out the treatment cost per gate at that time and it came in at £0.35p per 7’ gate.
Today I suppose the cost per unit would be more than £1, but kit form and timber treatment go well together.
S

That's really interesting. The commercial kits I have bought have been absolutely dreadful. The roofs have been lined with 3mm interior grade ply, floors made from sub 1mm galvanized steel, non stainless fastenings, t&g about 3mm that warps, twists and rots. If treatment is so cheap it beggars belief that manufacturers don't do it properly. I've not had one last more than a few years without needing re-making.

There are certainly manufacturers of wooden coops that make what seems to be a quality product out there. Smith's Sectional spring to mind

The Chase Chicken Coop and Run - Smiths Sectional Buildings

The Chase is a quality wooden chicken coop with run for 10 hens or 14 bantam sized. Part of our small chicken coop range but has a sizeable walk in run area.

www.smithssectionalbuildings.co.uk

Their prices though reflect that. These £200 Amazon jobs though really are a false economy!