Who has had good luck with buying a coop online?

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
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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
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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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I do like the one on eBay, and I love the price too! I've never purchased on eBay before so I feel nervous about it. The dimensions seem right, the price is right and it has everything else on my want list. I just don't know the quality, but it would be a starting point. If I need to make modifications to it I think I could handle it.
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We are getting ready to order the cc 18 r2 h or the r3h... I am glad you like yours sezjasper. Our 1st chicks come may 13,14 or 15... Hey sezjasper, you are in Eldersburg, MD... we are in Severna Park, outside of Annapolis.
 
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My son & I made our coop for our little flock of Bantams. I had a drill, a hand saw, hammers & nails. At the very end one of my sons friends took pity on us & gave us an electric saw thingie with one of those circular blades.

I found a 4x4x4.5 ' wooden packing crate on CL for free, and the wood is 2x6's!! I bought hardware cloth, staples & staple gun, the tin for the roof, hinges & latches, & a sheet of plywood to make the shutters & door out of. I might have spent $75.

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We ended up with this one. It arrives in June... We will. build a bigger run next year... The chickies will free range in the yard anyway. I will let you know how we like it.
 
For various reasons, I'm also going to be buying a kit. I was going to buy a pawhut deluxe coop off amazon. But I am really liking those cconly kits! I think I may go ahead and upgrade to the CC-18-R2-H design. By the time I buy shingles and spend the time beefing up the Pawhut coop/adding on run space, I will have spent about as much as the cconly coop!

Let me know how you like your kits as you get them! Are you painting or adding any further weatherproofing?
 
I am going to waterseal mine when it gets here... I think it will be worth the time. I think the one you want may be backordered till July ... check before you make a decision... that's what happened to us. I am happier with the one we ended up with since our 3 chicks have grown to 5... let me know how yours turns out too...

I am glad you aren't ordering the Pawhut version... I haven't heard great things about those
 
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