Chicken Coop 6 Hens

ccraft

In the Brooder
Mar 13, 2017
20
4
24
Hello,
Anyone know of a good PRE FAB Chicken Coop for 6 Hens? All the ones I am seeing have awful reviews. They are cute, but other than that....
 
Good question. I don't have an answer, and you are right, most look cute and seem cheap but are flimsy and fall apart and are not adequate for chicken raising. But they are all over the internet. Someone is making a profit off of a product that is woefully inadequate in most cases. I looked and looked, and finally I gave up and found a carpenter who built mine. Much better choice. I am not very handy with tools.

Further, a worse problem with many of those coops is that they advertise enough space for X number chickens when truth is that the space is barely adequate for one half of X number. False advertising and very pervasive.

Flimsy is bad if you have predator issues. I have every known predator, including grizzly. Even a racoon can do considerable (!) damage.

Even the carpenter was going to use chicken wire. I had to disabuse him of this notion and got him to use hardware cloth instead, and I purchased better hasps than he used, and carabiners, and made him install them. It is all good now.
 
Thanks for the tip!
And Yes I would require hardware mesh and I heard caribiners work great for latches as well. Instead of reconstructing someone else's garbage I like the idea of hiring a builder. for $300-$400 I am sure I can something.
 
Hello,
Anyone know of a good PRE FAB Chicken Coop for 6 Hens? All the ones I am seeing have awful reviews. They are cute, but other than that....

I bought one of the little prefabs for my bantam cochin and showgirl silkie and I agree it is flimsy and I wouldn't want a full size bird in it. I plan to build a second coop this summer. I just needed something quick.
 
Thanks for the tip!
And Yes I would require hardware mesh and I heard caribiners work great for latches as well. Instead of reconstructing someone else's garbage I like the idea of hiring a builder. for $300-$400 I am sure I can something.
I built a 10x10 coop w/run for a friend of mine last summer. It was basically a 10x10 x8 feet tall cube with hardware cloth on all six sides and a covered protected roosting area in one corner. It is very basic and cost a little over $400 (Canadian $) in materials to build and took me two full days (with no help) to construct it. If I was to hire myself out to do this work (instead of volunteering) I would want at least $200 so that would make for a $600 chicken coop. I'm not sure I would want to pay that much but there it is, that is what is costs.
 
I also bought a prefab coop with a "run". Biggest waste of $220 ever!
I researched really well on what makes a good brooder box, and the first 4-6 weeks of caring for my babies.
Unfortunately I completely jumped the gun when I decided on their "forever home".
My girls are now about 10 weeks old and I am having to start from scratch on a new coop for them.
DO NOT BUY A PREFAB COOP!! I don't care how cute it is or even if the reviews are great. Just. Don't. Do. It!!!!
 
My husband ended up making one. It was frustrating and some trial and error, but we know it is big enough, and we know it is predatory proof.
The entire bottom half if hard wire cloth. We use caribeaners to latch the openings. We free range during the day so the run it rarely used, but sometimes they like to go in there and perch. The inside is basically a box. With three thick branches for perching.
 

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Only advice I can give is to make it yourself. Yeah, I rolled my eyes too when someone said that to me. I'm not very handy and time is always an issue but I did it and couldn't be happier. Of course it was 3 times the cost of a prefab but hopefully it will last much longer. I looked on here for inspiration and now if I could get the girls to go in the hen house at night instead of trying to sleep on the run floor all would be good.
 

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