The chickens have moved to their new palace recently! The old wooden coop was finally rotten beyond repair – I suppose this type of pre-fabricated wooden structure is not meant to last forever anyway. So a new one had to happen and I put much emphasis on durability and strength. This in mind while doing some research, I came across “Nestera ™” coops from the UK on the internet, read several different reviews and finally bought one. Here’s an overview.
The coops are made from recycled plastic, which the company emphasizes in bright light and come in a sturdy quality. They even give you a 25 years warranty on their products. What they also feature heavily is the reduction of red mites (de|en) in the coop (which can be real annoyance to every chicken keeper now and then), due to the smooth inside walls and low number of nooks and crannies were parasites might hide. To me, this was the second most important point and several internet reviews seem to confirm that. I’m very curious if this will work out and give me and the girls some more ease this summer.
Assembly is easy and done in about an hour, the hardest thing for me was to identify the correct element in the box and finding my reading glasses. Although solely consisting of flat elements, the interlocking design results in a robust and firm enough structure, but there’s one thing to have a keen eye on: The lodge should be placed on a feasibly level surface or grounding. Due to the fit-and-clip design and since plastic is not a stiff material, the structure’s body may warp a little and impede daily use and handling. Other than that: No issues to date.
I’ll wait for the course of the year now and see if it is any good for me – it’d be a shame if not, because it’s not a cheap thing to buy. Anyway, daily cleaning is much easier than before, everything is easily accessible and I’m so far very content. And the girls also quickly adapted to their new accommodation 🙂