I am so glad I ran across this today. My heart was sore because a new member showed up talking about a prefab coop. Lots of members jumped on and told them what a terrible mistake they had made. I also bought a prefab coop (as recommended in the Chickens for Dummies book by some of the moderators at BYC!). It's not going to be terrible, but it certainly is not big enough for 6 chickens much less the 8 they rate it for!
Your article gives me hope and some excellent ideas for perhaps building or modifying stuff to make my chickens a better home. Thank you for the honesty, the careful pictures, the detail and the tips. So helpful!