Ocho 8 Farm
Songster
25 year warranty !! Wow!
No worries about red mites either and easy to clean. Sounds great !
Sponsored Post Nestera Coop Giveaway! Total worth $1595
- Thread starter Nifty-Chicken
- Start date
No worries about red mites either and easy to clean. Sounds great !
I can't enter this competition being in the UK. I would if I could because there are so many positive things to consider about recycled plastic coops that the coop companies don't emphasise enough.
The most important of the three options is Easy Cleaning. If you can keep a coop properly clean then it doesn't matter much if the red mites move in, they're easy to get rid of.
While the 25 year warranty seems appealing it's a marketing strategy rather than a useful warranty. What one doesn't want is to have to return the coop. The chickens won't like not having a home, or bits of their home missing while a replacement is delivered.
Red mites will still attempt to take up residence in a plastic coop; I've had two attempted invasions so far, both dealt with thanks to being able to get at every joint and not having open wooden grain where the mites can hide, or tongue and groove joints which are impossible to clean properly.
I hope the following is okay on this thread?
This isn't a Nestera coop. Nestera coops are better made and address some of the problems I've had with the model in the pictures. There are a number of makes of recycled plastic coops on the market in the UK and Europe.
I do have some suggestions that I believe could improve the Nestera coops and thus their market share.
1) put a window in the coop. I fitted this one to the door. It allows the keeper to look in without opening the coop and provides enough light to make going to roost a little less of a scrum because the chickens have enough light to see.
2)The adjustable vents seem like a good idea (on this coop they were fitted in a completely unsuitable position) but the vent gaps are large enough to let a weasel/stoat/Mink in.
Ideally one wants the air vents close to the top of the roof. Simple holes or slots under the roof line are a much better design. If the roof overhang is right the slots/holes would be weatherproof enough. Even in the UK coops need more ventilation than the manufacturers allow for. One square foot per bird is just plain silly for coops like this but carefully sited vents that promote air flow above the chickens is quite feasible with a bit of thought.
This is still work in progress with this coop.
3)Any coop that has nest boxes hanging off the main coop has this problem; while they may be fine for laying eggs in they are a disaster for a sitting hen hoping to hatch eggs. The obvious problem is they are exposed on six sides to the elements. The less obvious problem, but easily remedied, is the floor. A sitting hen can protect her eggs with her body from the sides and top but a thin plastic floor gets cold and unless there are a good few inches of bedding underneath her (unlikely given the hen scratches out a hollow in the bedding) the eggs in contact with the floor get cold spots.
A double skinned floor, preferably with insulation in the gap would solve this without major redesign. A sitting/hatching nest box as an accessory would be another option.
4) increase the height of the coop stand to 50cm or more and make a provision for a roost bar just off the ground at the base of the stand. Chickens will use the space under the coop as a shelter from the elements. When faced with torrential rain unless the ground under the coop drains extremely well the chickens end up standing in water. A roost bar would solve this problem. As you can see in the picture below Henry (Light Sussex) doesn't have enough room under the coop to stand and extend his neck to crow. The height of the stand shown is 50cm.
5) Provide strong attachment points at the base of the coop, one at each corner where a ground anchor can be attached. If a coop is light enough to carry with reasonable ease, it's light enough to be blown over in a strong gust of wind.
6) Design and produce a solid plastic canopy for the runs that reaches around three quarters of the way down the vertical sides.
7) The main problem I see with getting people to choose a recycled plastic coop over the more traditional wood flat pack or even home built coops is the size.
To make bigger coops may mean thicker plastic for floors and/or structural bracing which adds complexity and weight to the design and that means the coops will cost more. An 18 mm thick base for example will allow for a wider span between support points, but that is going to add a lot of weight to the coop and is going to be more expensive.
One way around this would be to develop a systen where two or more of the standard coops could be joined together. I've been looking into this with the coop I have. End to end joining seems favourite, the main problem being keeping the join watertight.
A few notes for prospective buyers of any recycled plastic coop.
I've had mine for a year now and it's had some truely horrendous treatment. It's been rolled, dragged, bashed and abused. It didn't even notice. They are incredible robust. Mine is mainly constructed from 8mm plastic. I believe the Nestera coops are built with 9mm plastic so should be even stronger.
Some people have mentioned that they prefer wood because it's easily fixed with a few nails or wood screws and have doubts about being able to alter/repair a plastic coop.
Plastic (at least the type of recycled plastic used for these coops) has a few advantages compared to wood.
You can tap a fine thread into plastic given enough thickness. The window in the coop I've shown is fixed to the coop with 4mm engineering screws. Unlike wood, the fixing holes will not rot due to the ingress of water.
Plastics can be glued. One does have to use the right type of glue for the plastic but modern plastic glues give a strong bond.
Best of all in my opinion plastics can take rivits. Rivit guns are cheap and widely available.
All the work/butchering I've done to the coop has been done with hand tools. Hacksaws for cutting lines and ordinary metal drill bits for the holes.
Here in the UK one can buy plastic sheet of various thicknesses. It's expensive, but so is decent timber. The thinner sheets, say 3mm can be bent to form curved surfaces, something not easily done with wood.
One disadvantage I have found with the plasic coop I have is if the ventilation/insulation isn't right condensation will be evident to the point it drips from the roof and the walls.
I solved this by buying and fitting a heavyweight tarpaulin over the curved roof and improving the air flow. This provided just enough of an air gap between the solid roof and the underside of the tarpaulin to act much like double glazing. A lot will depend on how many chickens one keeps in the coop and the way the ventilation is arranged. The break point for my coop was around ten chickens. Sorting out the air flow is an ongoing project. Currently with five chickens in the coop the interior remains dry.
This leads me to my final point which is a constant question regarding any coop; how many chickens can I keep in it?
One large rooster.
15 hens.
If you want 4 square feet in the coop, 1 large rooster and 4 hens.
If your chickens are let out every morning into a decent sized run and only use the coop to roost and lay eggs in, then one is better off judging the coops working capacity by space on the roost bars and the conditon of the interior of the coop. If you clean the coop daily and there is no condensation on the roof and walls the chickens all crowding in overnight should not be a problem.
Finally I hope Nestera finds a market for their coops in the USA. I've built a lot of coops over the years and despite my propensity for "adjusting" the recycled plastic coop I have, I have no intention of ever building another wooden coop.
A coop one can keep clean and free from parasites is the best type of coop for the keeper and the chickens.
The most important of the three options is Easy Cleaning. If you can keep a coop properly clean then it doesn't matter much if the red mites move in, they're easy to get rid of.
While the 25 year warranty seems appealing it's a marketing strategy rather than a useful warranty. What one doesn't want is to have to return the coop. The chickens won't like not having a home, or bits of their home missing while a replacement is delivered.
Red mites will still attempt to take up residence in a plastic coop; I've had two attempted invasions so far, both dealt with thanks to being able to get at every joint and not having open wooden grain where the mites can hide, or tongue and groove joints which are impossible to clean properly.
I hope the following is okay on this thread?
This isn't a Nestera coop. Nestera coops are better made and address some of the problems I've had with the model in the pictures. There are a number of makes of recycled plastic coops on the market in the UK and Europe.
I do have some suggestions that I believe could improve the Nestera coops and thus their market share.
1) put a window in the coop. I fitted this one to the door. It allows the keeper to look in without opening the coop and provides enough light to make going to roost a little less of a scrum because the chickens have enough light to see.
2)The adjustable vents seem like a good idea (on this coop they were fitted in a completely unsuitable position) but the vent gaps are large enough to let a weasel/stoat/Mink in.
Ideally one wants the air vents close to the top of the roof. Simple holes or slots under the roof line are a much better design. If the roof overhang is right the slots/holes would be weatherproof enough. Even in the UK coops need more ventilation than the manufacturers allow for. One square foot per bird is just plain silly for coops like this but carefully sited vents that promote air flow above the chickens is quite feasible with a bit of thought.
This is still work in progress with this coop.
3)Any coop that has nest boxes hanging off the main coop has this problem; while they may be fine for laying eggs in they are a disaster for a sitting hen hoping to hatch eggs. The obvious problem is they are exposed on six sides to the elements. The less obvious problem, but easily remedied, is the floor. A sitting hen can protect her eggs with her body from the sides and top but a thin plastic floor gets cold and unless there are a good few inches of bedding underneath her (unlikely given the hen scratches out a hollow in the bedding) the eggs in contact with the floor get cold spots.
A double skinned floor, preferably with insulation in the gap would solve this without major redesign. A sitting/hatching nest box as an accessory would be another option.
4) increase the height of the coop stand to 50cm or more and make a provision for a roost bar just off the ground at the base of the stand. Chickens will use the space under the coop as a shelter from the elements. When faced with torrential rain unless the ground under the coop drains extremely well the chickens end up standing in water. A roost bar would solve this problem. As you can see in the picture below Henry (Light Sussex) doesn't have enough room under the coop to stand and extend his neck to crow. The height of the stand shown is 50cm.
5) Provide strong attachment points at the base of the coop, one at each corner where a ground anchor can be attached. If a coop is light enough to carry with reasonable ease, it's light enough to be blown over in a strong gust of wind.
6) Design and produce a solid plastic canopy for the runs that reaches around three quarters of the way down the vertical sides.
7) The main problem I see with getting people to choose a recycled plastic coop over the more traditional wood flat pack or even home built coops is the size.
To make bigger coops may mean thicker plastic for floors and/or structural bracing which adds complexity and weight to the design and that means the coops will cost more. An 18 mm thick base for example will allow for a wider span between support points, but that is going to add a lot of weight to the coop and is going to be more expensive.
One way around this would be to develop a systen where two or more of the standard coops could be joined together. I've been looking into this with the coop I have. End to end joining seems favourite, the main problem being keeping the join watertight.
A few notes for prospective buyers of any recycled plastic coop.
I've had mine for a year now and it's had some truely horrendous treatment. It's been rolled, dragged, bashed and abused. It didn't even notice. They are incredible robust. Mine is mainly constructed from 8mm plastic. I believe the Nestera coops are built with 9mm plastic so should be even stronger.
Some people have mentioned that they prefer wood because it's easily fixed with a few nails or wood screws and have doubts about being able to alter/repair a plastic coop.
Plastic (at least the type of recycled plastic used for these coops) has a few advantages compared to wood.
You can tap a fine thread into plastic given enough thickness. The window in the coop I've shown is fixed to the coop with 4mm engineering screws. Unlike wood, the fixing holes will not rot due to the ingress of water.
Plastics can be glued. One does have to use the right type of glue for the plastic but modern plastic glues give a strong bond.
Best of all in my opinion plastics can take rivits. Rivit guns are cheap and widely available.
All the work/butchering I've done to the coop has been done with hand tools. Hacksaws for cutting lines and ordinary metal drill bits for the holes.
Here in the UK one can buy plastic sheet of various thicknesses. It's expensive, but so is decent timber. The thinner sheets, say 3mm can be bent to form curved surfaces, something not easily done with wood.
One disadvantage I have found with the plasic coop I have is if the ventilation/insulation isn't right condensation will be evident to the point it drips from the roof and the walls.
I solved this by buying and fitting a heavyweight tarpaulin over the curved roof and improving the air flow. This provided just enough of an air gap between the solid roof and the underside of the tarpaulin to act much like double glazing. A lot will depend on how many chickens one keeps in the coop and the way the ventilation is arranged. The break point for my coop was around ten chickens. Sorting out the air flow is an ongoing project. Currently with five chickens in the coop the interior remains dry.
This leads me to my final point which is a constant question regarding any coop; how many chickens can I keep in it?
One large rooster.
15 hens.
If you want 4 square feet in the coop, 1 large rooster and 4 hens.
If your chickens are let out every morning into a decent sized run and only use the coop to roost and lay eggs in, then one is better off judging the coops working capacity by space on the roost bars and the conditon of the interior of the coop. If you clean the coop daily and there is no condensation on the roof and walls the chickens all crowding in overnight should not be a problem.
Finally I hope Nestera finds a market for their coops in the USA. I've built a lot of coops over the years and despite my propensity for "adjusting" the recycled plastic coop I have, I have no intention of ever building another wooden coop.
A coop one can keep clean and free from parasites is the best type of coop for the keeper and the chickens.
Last edited:
Ease of cleaning. The fact that it can be hosed off is great.
Really love the possibility of it being mure resistant, ease of cleaning is a huge plus too!
HenHouse Henry
Songster
I am a big fan of recycled materials, and being a senior citizen I like that it can be easily moved. Perfect for the city hens. A great warranty is almost unheard of.
MarkRainbolt
Songster
Well to pick just one or two things that I like would not just do. From what I have read online about this coop it is the TOP OF THE LINE for manufactured coops!!!!
I really do like every aspect of the coop from design to ease of cleaning. You all should be very PROUD!!!
Sincerely,
Mark Rainbolt
I really do like every aspect of the coop from design to ease of cleaning. You all should be very PROUD!!!
Sincerely,
Mark Rainbolt
B - The 25-year warranty. There are other features I like better, such as the automatic door opener (with the 25-year warranty), portability, recycled materials, sturdy construction of the pen (do I see an apron there?), and possibility of gifting it to my 10-yo grandson who wants to raise his own chickens but his father is too busy to build a coop.
Cordelia13
Hatching
- Jun 11, 2023
- 1
- 0
- 4
I love that it’s easy to clean and has a droppings tray.
Arielluxvia
Hatching
- Jun 11, 2023
- 2
- 1
- 5
Honestly just having a small side coop to separate some incase my hens hatch babies, or I am given new chickens. Having a nice place to separate them too would be amazing!
ShaunJ421
Songster
- Oct 7, 2021
- 136
- 378
- 111
Let me start off by asking this question... What is there not to like about this coop? They give us 3 features to choose from, to pick as our favorite. But there is so much more to like. If I had to rank the 3 in order...
1 - (B) 25 Year warranty. It shows they're meant to last and the company is willing to stand by their coop with a warranty unmatched by any other coop company. Being in business for 15 years in the UK and expanding their market to the US shows they're a quality company and will be around for the long haul. Not like some of these companies that don't give a warranty and the coop falls apart within a couple years. Leaving you stuck having to buy, or, *gasp* build a new coop. And everyone here knows chickens hate change.
2- (A) Easy to clean. The fact that they're made of plastic and easy to clean helps keep odor, flies, and so many other pests to a minimum. Keeping your birds happy and healthy. This is definitely a game changer.
3- (C) Red Mite Resistant. While I know red mites are a major issue, I ranked this third on my list, because keeping your coop clean will help keep pests like Red Mites to a minimum. Being easy to clean and made of plastic gives Red Mites less places to hide.
Now let's touch on features they didn't include for us to vote on. These are in no particular order. But definitely worth mentioning...
The fact that it's made from recycled plastic. Keeping the plastic out of our oceans, landfills, incinerators, and more importantly out of our drinking water. Not only is it durable, but also environmentally friendly. Which is a big deal in our world today. Most pre-built coops are built from "fall-apart-icle board" and will last you a couple years tops. They will either need major repairs, or be replaced completely. Which isn't friendly on the wallet, or the environment.
The automatic chicken door opener. A must have for any chicken owner. Unless you enjoy waking up at the crack of dawn everyday to let the chickens out. I know I don't.
Attached nesting boxes, with time-saving easy egg retrieval. Made sturdy for all laying hens. And comfy for even the broodiest of hens.
The set of wheels to move the coop around your yard easily. To help control overturning from the chickens in any specific area of your yard. Which will also help better with insect control, weed control, and fertilizing more of the yard, helping grass grow better. People with stationary coops know exactly what I mean. Overturning in the same spot can cause not just more cleaning to do in the run. But prevents having a muddy run, which is never fun to deal with.
All of these features are what everyone wants in their coops. It's so hard to choose just one. I'd definitely love to have one of these coops in my back yard. With me being a new chicken owner, it would certainly help me expand my flock sooner. Building my original coop took so much time, and it's still an ongoing process. So not only is this a durable, easy to clean chicken coop. It'll save you the time and hassle of building your own.
1 - (B) 25 Year warranty. It shows they're meant to last and the company is willing to stand by their coop with a warranty unmatched by any other coop company. Being in business for 15 years in the UK and expanding their market to the US shows they're a quality company and will be around for the long haul. Not like some of these companies that don't give a warranty and the coop falls apart within a couple years. Leaving you stuck having to buy, or, *gasp* build a new coop. And everyone here knows chickens hate change.
2- (A) Easy to clean. The fact that they're made of plastic and easy to clean helps keep odor, flies, and so many other pests to a minimum. Keeping your birds happy and healthy. This is definitely a game changer.
3- (C) Red Mite Resistant. While I know red mites are a major issue, I ranked this third on my list, because keeping your coop clean will help keep pests like Red Mites to a minimum. Being easy to clean and made of plastic gives Red Mites less places to hide.
Now let's touch on features they didn't include for us to vote on. These are in no particular order. But definitely worth mentioning...
The fact that it's made from recycled plastic. Keeping the plastic out of our oceans, landfills, incinerators, and more importantly out of our drinking water. Not only is it durable, but also environmentally friendly. Which is a big deal in our world today. Most pre-built coops are built from "fall-apart-icle board" and will last you a couple years tops. They will either need major repairs, or be replaced completely. Which isn't friendly on the wallet, or the environment.
The automatic chicken door opener. A must have for any chicken owner. Unless you enjoy waking up at the crack of dawn everyday to let the chickens out. I know I don't.
Attached nesting boxes, with time-saving easy egg retrieval. Made sturdy for all laying hens. And comfy for even the broodiest of hens.
The set of wheels to move the coop around your yard easily. To help control overturning from the chickens in any specific area of your yard. Which will also help better with insect control, weed control, and fertilizing more of the yard, helping grass grow better. People with stationary coops know exactly what I mean. Overturning in the same spot can cause not just more cleaning to do in the run. But prevents having a muddy run, which is never fun to deal with.
All of these features are what everyone wants in their coops. It's so hard to choose just one. I'd definitely love to have one of these coops in my back yard. With me being a new chicken owner, it would certainly help me expand my flock sooner. Building my original coop took so much time, and it's still an ongoing process. So not only is this a durable, easy to clean chicken coop. It'll save you the time and hassle of building your own.
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