Producer's Pride Sentinel Coop reviews?

[Raubkatze]

Looking for reviews on this coop.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/producers-pride-mini-defender-coop-mdc001​

I am starting over with having chickens after losing my flock 10-ish years ago. At that time I kept them in old hound-runs in a barn, but those got ripped out by an overly ambitious ex.

I’m planning to start and probably stay fairly small. 3-6 birds max. I haven’t decided on breeds yet. I’m not so much looking for egg laying as I’m looking for natural bug control and I just miss having chickens.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Looking for reviews on this coop.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/producers-pride-mini-defender-coop-mdc001​

I am starting over with having chickens after losing my flock 10-ish years ago. At that time I kept them in old hound-runs in a barn, but those got ripped out by an overly ambitious ex.

I’m planning to start and probably stay fairly small. 3-6 birds max. I haven’t decided on breeds yet. I’m not so much looking for egg laying as I’m looking for natural bug control and I just miss having chickens.

If you're doing bantams, that would probably work. I have 3 of them. Definitely not perfect, but they're good enough if you keep an eye on them. Much more stable than the wooden ones

 

[Sefirothe]

I went and checked them in person when I was first getting into chickens.

They are tiny. Doll house sized.

The hardware for the door closures on the display were already pulling out of the wood.

 

[DonyaQuick]

I have one of these because it was the only thing I could get quickly for a couple chicks that couldn't integrate into my main flock. The coop is TINY as others have said.

Good things: for me it was good for growing out a couple chicks and later for integrating a single hen with a larger flock while keeping her protected. Basically I found it good for temporary usage. Personally I think it would even be cramped for bantams long term unless it was only a sleeping space for a couple birds. Adding a predator skirt is pretty easy if you use metal zip ties to connect the hardware cloth to the bottom rails. Cleaning the coop interior is also pretty easy with a long-handled litter scoop via the back lift-up door and the smaller side doors.

Bad things: inner roost is awkwardly placed depending on the exact size of the birds, the area under the coop is hard to clean and is prone to accumulating a lot of bedding, and the setup isn't light enough to easily move it aside for regular cleaning. There's very little room for a traditional feeder and waterer, which can also be hard to access depending on where they have to be placed to avoid the birds kicking them over. Ventillation is minimal, and predator proofing beyond a skirt is not entirely easy. The latches it comes with are not predator proof; adding better ones is harder than with a wooden coop because you have to be more careful about where you drill the holes, and bolts are required in many places rather than screws. The vents on mine weirdly aren't in the pictures on the site - there are typically two vents, one on each side above the doors. Those vents unfortunately will let rain in when open (which they should always be) unless you add a curved vent cover. If those vents are now absent in the design you'd need to add some in that triangular area. above the side doors. The pop door also doesn't latch and is difficult to open as-is; I replaced it with an Omlet auto door on mine I didn' thave to reach through and fish around.

I also have one other prefab, a Superior Construction XL - being walk-in makes a huge difference for run cleanability.

 

[Raubkatze]

I went and checked them in person when I was first getting into chickens.

They are tiny. Doll house sized.

The hardware for the door closures on the display were already pulling out of the wood.

View attachment 3711563

Oh wow, that size difference is startling. Do you have any thoughts on the one in your picture next to it? Neither my husband or I are handy, so we are going to be relying on prefab for our coop.

 

[BobStuart]

I went and checked them in person when I was first getting into chickens.

They are tiny. Doll house sized.

The hardware for the door closures on the display were already pulling out of the wood.

View attachment 3711563

That’s ridiculous, the only difference between the 2 is the height.

 

[Brooks_]

Oh wow, that size difference is startling

Not really. See below.

Do you have any thoughts on the one in your picture next to it?

Chickens don't stack. The height makes it look better.

Neither my husband or I are handy, so we are going to be relying on prefab for our coop.

Your money would be better spent to a handyman building to these general specs:

For each adult standard size chicken-
4sf of coop
10sf of run space
1lf of roost
1/4 to 1/3 nest box +1
1sf of permanent ventilation - above their heads while roosting

Those are general guides. More is almost always better.

 

[aart]

At that time I kept them in old hound-runs in a barn, but those got ripped out by an overly ambitious ex.

Do you still have the barn?
Almost any prefab would be brutal in our climate.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Oh wow, that size difference is startling. Do you have any thoughts on the one in your picture next to it? Neither my husband or I are handy, so we are going to be relying on prefab for our coop.

Are you planning to free range? Two of my sentinels have more birds than they should, but they're free ranged all day every day

 

[Raubkatze]

Are you planning to free range? Two of my sentinels have more birds than they should, but they're free ranged all day every day

Yes, planning on them being free range as much as possible.