Choosing Poultry Housing - some hints and tips from Kintaline Poultry Centre, Argyll, Scotland UK

Christmas 2005 : WE WISH YOU A JOYOUS YULETIDE AND OUR VERY BEST WISHES FOR THE NEW YEAR. This is the time to reflect on the passing year and look forward to all the fun of the new one - whether you are venturing into poultry keeping for the first time take a look at our housing - or you are expanding your flocks Incubating your own is so much fun. The winter weather can take its toll Maybe you need to replace some equipment. Winter can bring out the predators - check out our fencing to protect your precious birds. Don't forget all those long dark evenings to catch up on your homework with books and videos , snuggled up to handmade cushions
Most of all enjoy your birds and other animals - its a great hobby and we send you our best wishes for 2006.

Help to guide you to choose the right poultry house @ henhouses.co.uk

2005

PRACTICAL, AFFORDABLE POULTRY HOUSING
as used at
Kintaline Poultry and Waterfowl Centre, SCOTLAND UK
NATIONWIDE DELIVERY
A Range of Poultry Housing Ideally Suited to the :-
Small holder ~ Poultry Fancier ~ Garden User
email: enquiries @ henhouses.co.uk

2005

ALL HOUSING

CHOOSING YOUR HOUSE

EQUIPMENT

ELECTRIC FENCING

BOOKS VIDEOS POSTERS

JACOB SHEEP FOR SALE

CHICKENS

DUCKS

EVERYTHING ELSE

We would like to extend our range but are VERY fussy about the design and the materials of the housing we sell.
If you make housing [or sell equipment] and are interested please get in touch with Jill - Email here

SOME HELPFUL HINTS TO CHOOSING THE RIGHT HOUSE FOR YOU AND YOUR BIRDS
WHY DO WE SELL THESE HOUSES? We have nearly 60 in use ourselves in all shapes and sizes. They have been here some years now and have taken a great deal of use. They are houses we can recommend because they work - for both ourselves and as importantly the birds. We looked at many manufacturers models - and still do. Very few we find are practical to use for one reason or another. Some are over designed and finished. While they do look adorable we have found that our chickens have never appreciated twiddly bits on their houses. Fussiness costs money to manufacture and invariably means the house is more difficult to use, clean or keep bug free. Many are simply not thought through. Access to the birds is almost impossible. Some do not even have a door [only a pophole] or expect you to be able to take most of the side off a house to collect up one bird without letting all the others go. Many use sheet timber as a great part of their construction. This simply is false economy. The quality of sheet timber is very variable. Rarely does it stand up to the vigours of the British climate for very long. With small mobile units that should be able to be moved around a garden easily the strength is not there to cope with this. Many have horizontal framing in lieu of good design. These are a haven for bugs and mites. Cheap models use that horror of horrors - ROOFING FELT ! on the roofs. It is extremely well known throughout the poultry world that this is heaven on earth for mites to breed, hibernate and establish a population sufficent to kill chickens and ducks. There is no place for roofing felt on a chicken coop or duck house. Access for the humans is often very difficult. You want to be able to get in to every part of the house easily.
A few guidelines to help you choose your house As a generalisation the larger breeds [like Orpingtons, Brahmas, Cochins do not like ramps nor jumping off heights as the birds all rumble out in the morning. This means the raised coops are not advised for them. In the raised chicken houses like the Windsor there is obviously less headroom than in the likes of the Westford. You do not want the very big breeds in here as they will have their heads too near the ventilation. This can cause health problems from draughts and moisture laden air across their heads. Birds do not like to be cramped. The square shape to all our houses means they have full room available to them when they are shut in - unlike the triangular shaped arks that all the birds we know dislike so much. The internal arrangement of these houses is such that the birds can move around freely. So many of the smaller houses we looked at had little thought about how the birds used the space nor how the humans did. Long triangular shapes only give space for one bird at a time. The first bird up has to shimmy along to allow the others in. If the first bird is a dominant one she can bully the others badly. These houses do not have the birds forced to one end - this can lead to subordinate birds sleeping on the floor which does them no good at all. These houses do not have the roosting bars incorporated in with the nestboxes [common where there really is not not enough space for everything in the house. This arrangement results that the nestboxes that are never clean so you have more work to maintain clean eggs, frequently the birds end up sleeping in them which can damage their keels.
LARGER BREEDS : If you are looking to keep the bigger breeds consider having a proportionately bigger house - the birds are a larger scale in all dimensions. We, in the north of Britain, also have to consider the fact that the use of the house may be greater: when it is hot it is very hot and if there is little natural shade the birds go inside; it can be very wet sometimes and for longish periods; and in the winter we have longer hours of dark. In many parts of Scotland the birds can be shut in from 3.30 pm to 9 am in the depths of the winter. A well constructed house will not be draughty so can be understocked with comfort to the birds. All these things mean that we use bigger houses for the birds than normally recommended. Also consider the height of the house for the larger birds: they need plenty of head room to be comfortable and also to provide good ventilation. You don't want their heads to be up in the area of the ventilation or you may get respiratory problems; the same applies to having too many birds in a house. It is a good idea to consider the larger nestboxes for the larger breeds to help the layers; if they consider the boxes too small they may start laying on the floor.
Vermin / Predators : if you have problems with rats etc consider a raised house. If you have mink or pine martin consider adding fine weldmesh between the roof batons and the Onduline on the fixed roof houses such as the Brentford, Westford etc - this will provide a barrier to the predator without disturbing the ventilation.
If you are going to be asking friends and neighbours to look after the birds periodically consider getting a run. This means that while they are caring for them the birds can be confined and so causing less worry as to their whereabouts. For the bigger houses you can also use this as the scratch area; giving the birds vegetable kitchen waste and garden weeds etc. Every so often this can be cleared out to provide compost for your garden / vegetable patch. The houses with a fixed run have an end release optional extra which means the birds can free range the rest of the time; this also saves you from moving the unit so often and allows your birds to share your life.
Poultry Housing Advice from the Poultry Club

WHAT BIRDS ARE YOU HOUSING - WHAT HOUSE DO YOU NEED ? - these are just my suggestions

single bird : i.e. stock male - broody hen / duck

a few young chicks / ducklings

breeding trios of small breeds

Weeford - house with optional free standing run
Lynford - house and integral run

up to 6 medium hens or laying ducks

breeding trios of medium birds

Swinford - house with optional free standing run

Aylesford - house and integral run

up to 6 large or tall breeds of ducks and chickens that need more height and room - for example: Orpingtons; Brahmas; Indian Runners

Oxford

up to 15 medium laying birds

plenty of space for up to 10 large breed poultry or waterfowl

perfect for small numbers of geese

a useful small free range unit

Westford - house with optional free standing run

needing to house birds up away from vermin

Grosvenor - three sizes from 6 - 24 birds complete with integral run

Windsor - three sizes from 6 - 24 birds; stand alone house

Stafford - one size for 8-10 birds and a larger for up to 20

for larger laying / breeding flocks; for geese and turkeys;

Brentford - two sizes available for up to 24 and up to 35 birds; optional free standing run available

small commercial free range flocks

Ranger - useful range of higher capacity houses with skids

wanting to contain birds and be able to move them easily?

Lynford - for broodys or breeding trios of small breeds

Aylesford - for up to 6 medium birds or breeding medium breeds

Grosvenor - various sizes from 6 -24 birds

ALL HOUSING

CHOOSING YOUR HOUSE

EQUIPMENT

ELECTRIC FENCING

BOOKS VIDEOS POSTERS

JACOB SHEEP FOR SALE

CHICKENS

DUCKS

EVERYTHING ELSE

Poultry Links
Chicken and Poultry Links
Chickens, Bantams and Waterfowl

PRODUCT
INFORMATION
Only
available
in the
United
Kingdom

Softwood construction using 'Tanalised' tongue and groove cladding and framing that is either 'Tanalised' or 'Fentex' protected.
All roofs are clad with 'Onduline' corrugated sheet made from bitumen saturated organic fibre, these are hinged for easy access and cleaning on all units except those provided entrance doors.
Roosting bars are fitted.
Access for all livestock is via a pop hole with a sliding door.
High level ventilation is provided on all units plus additional adjustable vent on larger units.
All units are supplied with a solid floor.
25mm square 16 gauge heavy mesh is used on all runs for strength and security
The finished colour of the units is 'nut' brown,
fixtures and fittings are galvanised or plated.
All units are sectional and delivered flat packed with screws provided for easy assembly.
All Prices include VAT [554 5831 27]
Nationwide Delivery
Carriage is charged extra (Surcharges apply to Scotland and non mainland locations)

TO BUY ANY OF THESE HOUSES PLEASE CONTACT JILL BY PHONE (01631 720223) OR EMAIL email:[email protected]
We do have a paper catalogue if you cannot print (control P) these pages but it does not have as much information as we can put on these web pages. For a copy of the 2003 colour catalogue please send 3 first class stamps to the address below
Please feel free to phone if you need any advice - we are always happy to help.
Contact address: Mrs J Bowis - Kintaline Poultry Centre, Benderloch, Oban, Argyll PA37 1QS visitors are welcome - a selection of these houses in use are always available to inspect;

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copyright text and photographs Jill Bowis 2000/2001/2002/2003/2004/2005 - if you want to use anything please include an obvious link to : www.henhouses.co.uk