Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Shadrach]

and sometimes during it, and coming to the end of it too, here. Would this be Sylph's first proper moult?

It would.

 

[Shadrach]

Two hours in filthy weather. Pissing down with rain most of the time. A cold wind and a dark grey sky one could reach up and touch. We didn't get out much.
Sylph is moulting. She's off her food and trying to keep her distance from Mow and Glais.

Glais with his beak in the food as usual.

 

[Shadrach]

About this Nestera coop.
The door, it's way too wide at the bottom. This makes it difficult to graft on an alternative opening and virtually impossible to protect the opening cord from rats or even worse, something smart enough to work out if they put say a paw on the cord, the door will open enough to get a nose or paw in the gap that will appear.

The adjustable vents. A weasel or rat could get through these gaps. The Solway has a similar problem and I put mesh behind to prevent this. Perris mentioned that they took the rotating part off and covered the opening with hardware cloth, mainly because it's a great place for red mites to hide.
Nestera.

Solway.

The roosting bar. It wanders around in the mounting and protrudes into the nest box.

The nest box edge and depth.

All these patches of light are where things don't fit properly. There are lots on all sides. At the field there would be drafts howling through these gaps.
Notice in the top left hand corner where there's a gap between the underside of the roof and the wall. It's been too wet to take pictures but the ventilation arrangement would also allow a rat to get in.

The floor is shiny and slippery, a skid pan with muddy feet.

I'll take some more pictures showing the ventilation arrangement on a drier day.

 

[fuzzi]

About this Nestera coop.
The door, it's way too wide at the bottom. This makes it difficult to graft on an alternative opening and virtually impossible to protect the opening cord from rats or even worse, something smart enough to work out if they put say a paw on the cord, the door will open enough to get a nose or paw in the gap that will appear.
View attachment 4239248

The adjustable vents. A weasel or rat could get through these gaps. The Solway has a similar problem and I put mesh behind to prevent this. Perris mentioned that they took the rotating part off, mainly because it's a great place for red mites to hide.
Nestera.
View attachment 4239246
Solway.
View attachment 4239247

The roosting bar. It wanders around in the mounting and protrudes into the nest box.View attachment 4239242View attachment 4239243

The nest box edge and depth.
View attachment 4239244
All these patches of light are where things don't fit properly. There are lots on all sides. At the field there would be drafts howling through these gaps.
Notice in the top left hand corner where there's a gap between the underside of the roof and the wall. It's been too wet to take pictures but the ventilation arrangement would also allow a rat to get in.
View attachment 4239245
The floor is shiny and slippery, a skid pan with muddy feet.

I'll take some more pictures showing the ventilation arrangement on a drier day.

Well, that stinks. I'm sorry it's not working out.

 

[Shadrach]

Well, that stinks. I'm sorry it's not working out.

Bear in mind I had to make a few alterations to the Solway coop before I was happy with it and it still has a couple of problems so this isn't a bash Nestera post, it's more the people who design these coops have some great ideas but don't know shite about chicken keeping in the real world.

 

[BDutch]

the people who design these coops have some great ideas but don't know shite about chicken keeping in the real world.

Chicken keeping is different for everyone. Depends on the owner, the chickens size, temperament, the rodents, predators, climate and probably a lot more.
In general the prefab coops (plastic and wood) don't have an adequate size, ventilation and proper roosts. Therefore a coop (or shed) that can be adjusted for ones needs is the way to go if you don’t want to build from scratch.

For me the extra children’s playhouse I bought last year is okay because it was easy to make it safer and alter a few things. I only costed me about € 120. I like it that’s its made of wood. But I cant take it apart to wash it if I ever get red mites in it.

It would also be a nuisance if I had to clean the floor every day. Just adding more bedding weekly until its starts to smell. I have no food inside. Only a nipple bottle with water in case they are thirsty in the morning before the auto pop door to the run opens.