New to chickens - Coops - Better to build or buy?

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bubbalous

bubbalous

Hatching
5 Years
Feb 10, 2014
7
7
9
Clover, SC
Hello to all,
We moved out to the country last year, and are almost 1 year in with our Guinea hens, but we were planning on starting with about 8-10 chickens this spring. Our Guineas currently roost up in one of the horse stalls of our barn, but we would rather the chickens had their own coop (or the guineas could move in with them - that would be fine, we kind of want our barn back). I was wondering if anyone had strong opinions on building versus buying a coop, and what size would be right for about 10 chickens (I've read it's a recommended 4 sf per bird). Building one seems daunting to get it right. Anyone know of a good place to get a larger coop without breaking the bank near Charlotte NC?
Thanks!!!
 
Alright
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great to have you joining the flock
frow.gif
 
Hello :frow and Welcome To BYC! Maybe try posting in your state thread to see what people close to you are doing so far as coops etc go https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/91762/north-carolina Like you said, the usual recommended space is 4sq/f per chicken in the coop, but bigger is generally better, chickens tend to be happier/ get along with each other better with more room, and for some reason people usually wind up wanting more chickens anyhow... With building vs buying, usually you can build a much better coop than you can buy for the same price, you might see if there is anyone local who builds small buildings that would do a coop, check out the BYC Coops section for ideas ...
 
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Those prebuilt sheds make great chicken coops. And they usually come as kits and are easy to put together. My hubby and I slapped one up a few years ago in a couple days, flooring, roofing and all. But I would also take a look at our coop section for some ideas. There are some really nice coops you can purchase, but you can definitely build them cheaper yourself. If you don't go over board and have 2 weeks, you can put together a pretty nice coop. My hubby and I built ours in 2 weeks, a 6x8 coop with an 8x12 attached run. Used sand for flooring and a simple design.

Good luck in all your poultry adventures!
 
Like TwoCrows said, if you buy one of those pre-made sheds they work pretty well, but of course you will have to do some modifying to turn it into a coop and make it predator-proof. If you buy a pre-built chicken coop, chances are you are going to pay an insane amount of money. Plus, I have never seen a pre-built chicken coop before that fits more than 6 hens, and even then they are giving 1 1/2 sq ft per bird so you could really only fit two or three birds inside one of those anyways. In my area, a pre-built coop like that would go for about $500.00. I prefer building my own coops, hat way you can built according to what suits you best. You can predator-proof it based on what critters you have in your area, build it to accommodate the amount of chickens you want, etc'. Sorry I don't know how to copy a link, but if you click on the "coops" button at the top of the page by the BYC logo, you can see a ton of coops people have built, and some have building instructions with them. A popular one people use as a guide for their coops is the "Wichita Coop" but there are plenty others on there too. Good luck in getting started on chickens and :welcome !!!
 

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