Who has had good luck with buying a coop online?

sezjasper said:

I bought my first coop from cconly and it was the same one (cc-18 series) except I bought it with three runs instead of one. It looks exactly the same except when I bought mine, the roof sections were not shingled--so that is a big improvement over last year. I house four hens in it. Overall I am very pleased with it, but with a few exceptions:

The roosts are lower than the nest boxes, and there's no way to raise them. There are spaces inside for four roosts (came with four) but I only use two of them. My hens are STILL sleeping in the nest boxes, probably because they are the highest point in the coop...so it's a constant battle to keep the poop out of the nest boxes.

The picture shows the nest box opening from the outside with a brass support thing to keep the lid up while you are cleaning or collecting eggs. My daughter and I never could figure out how to attach it correctly so that the roof would close. Eventually I gave up and now I use a bungee cord to hold the roof open while I clean. It's a pain.

The wood was treated but it does say to repeat the treating every year. I have no problem with that, but I don't think the initial treating that they do was very good. I've found the wood swells slightly in high humidity and it's made a few of the locks hard to line up (even though they lined up perfectly on assembly).

All things considered, I'm not sorry I bought the coop. This spring, I am planning a shed-to-coop conversion and getting some more chicks

I plan to transfer my four hens to the shed coop when it's done, and by that time, the chicks will be ready to go outside. They will go into the cconly coop until I can fully integrate them with my hens. I may also end up using the coop for silkies

and it should work well for them because I hear they need / prefer a very low roost. So I will still be using the coop for years to come!

Hope this helps, and hope you enjoy your journey into the wonderful world of chickens as much as I have!! It's the single best thing I've ever done for myself or for my family. We love them

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Melileesun said:

My budget for a coop is $400 (Max!). I see a lot of coops on-line at hayneedle.com, chickensaloon.com, ebay, and craigslist. I'm looking to house 2-4 hens and have a little run for days that I can't let them out, although I do plan on letting them free range most days. Unfortunately my handy skills are nil and my husband can hardly put a nail in the wall so we are left to buying our coop.

Things I definitely want in a coop are: modern look with treated wood, a slide out tray, easy for cleaning, nesting box, very secure (lots of predators here in Austin), good ventilation for hot summers, and easy access to collect eggs. So I have seen many coops on-line that look like they fit the bill, however I am skeptical. Are they really big enough and predator proof? So, I'm wondering has anyone had good experience buying on-line, is there a specific coop that you love and would recommend. My budget really has to be $400 tops. Looking forward to hearing your advice and experiences.

I will be getting my chicks from my local feed store next week, thinking about a couple of buff opringtons and adding a blue laced wyandotte in a few weeks when they come in.

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