Hatching Time - Chicken Grow out Pen, Layer Addition, 15" tall *REVIEW*
The “add to cart” feature does not work. We do Not sell this product from our website, go to HatchingTime.com to check their availability, get updated information and to make purchases.
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The “add to cart” feature does not work. We do Not sell this product from our website, go to HatchingTime.com to check their availability, get updated information and to make purchases.
Swipe left/right on the picture to go through photos on the mobile view.
Scroll down to see our personal review and opinion on this product.
The “add to cart” feature does not work. We do Not sell this product from our website, go to HatchingTime.com to check their availability, get updated information and to make purchases.
Swipe left/right on the picture to go through photos on the mobile view.
Scroll down to see our personal review and opinion on this product.
Hatching Time – 15 Inch Units (Brooder, Grow Out & Nesting)
Rating: ★★★★
Recommended: Yes
Pros –
Easy to pressure wash and clean out
Easy clean poop trays
Great for someone who is unable to build something
Fairly easy to put together
Great customer support
Every individual part can be purchased on company website
Cons –
Watering nipples
Water storage tank is too shallow
Food trough can separate and cause gap
No food trough cover
Directions are not enough, online videos need to be watched
My Experience
Water Storage (for single and double layer units) - The storage tank has a large footprint but it’s only a couple inches tall so it’s very shallow. This is a terrible design for a gravity fed system! A significant amount of water is below the gravity spout. It needs to have a smaller footprint with a taller tank so the water does not run out so fast. The 3-layer plus units come with a larger tank and can be purchased separately. That larger tank should just be standard for all units. You can make your own for much less money too.
Water, Vertical Nipples – I prefer the horizontal nipples instead of vertical.
Food Cover – I love the food cover on Quail units and wish the Chicken units had them too!
Food Tray/Trough – You need to check it frequently to make sure it’s snugged up against the cage. We didn’t notice a little gap between food trough and cage until we saw baby chicks running around outside the cage. Again, they were too cold for too long and not all survived. It only happed once but it’s something to note. I now check it everyday. If it happends again, we’ll drill holes in trough and cage to tie them together like we did with the covers.
Size of Food Trough – I learned the hard way that the trough size is specific to the cage height. I have 9.5 inch units and a 15 inch unit. They are Not interchangeable, which I think they should be or be a different color. I accidentally broke the trough holder on my 9.5 inch cage when trying to put the 15 inch feed trough on it. They look almost identical. It was very frustrating. I then put all my feed trays side by side and noticed there’s a size difference. My mistake and I now know but it was an irritating lesson to learn.
Overall
With all that said, I do still recommend the Hatching Time cages. I give it three out of five stars. I just wish I knew all the above prior to purchase so I could be prepared for the potential issues. I hope my review saves you all the frustration I went through. We only use the Hatching Time cages for Brooders and Quarantine units, not as housing. This is because I’m personally not a fan of raising the birds indoors. Our birds go from the brooder to an outdoor mobile tractor cage.