any advice on chicken coop please

manderzpants

In the Brooder
9 Years
Jun 15, 2010
72
1
31
plymouth
http://www.mypetchicken.com/catalog/Chicken-Coops/The-Foursquare-Coop-with-Run-3-4-chickens-p720.aspx

i
was thinking about buying that chicken coop. i am new here and to raising chickens. i would like to get about 4 orpington chickens and i was hoping this would be a nice coop for them. it has a low ramp, as i read orpingtons don't like steep or long ramps and it looks fairly secure and with a decent size run. does anyone here have this model or seen it in person? i was wondering if the wire provided with it is hardware cloth and if the locks have holes for padlocks to go thru, as i am VERY concerned about the safety of my birds. i am also planning on burying hardware cloth and using paving stones or something to make sure nothing can dig under and get in. basically i'm trying to build fort knox here but without spending a huge load of cash. any advice would be appreciated! thanks!
 
From the description at mypetchicken.com:

Predator protection
With smart, predator-proof latches on all three doors and 1/2" x 1/2" galvanized hardware cloth on the sides of the run, this coop is safe from predators. Just close the handy sliding door from the coop to the run at dusk to prevent burrowing predators from gaining access. Or, attach your own hardware cloth to the bottom so you don't have to worry about closing the door at night!
 
if these are made by the same company as I think they those boards are stapled on and not even nailed
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. Dh went to buy one that wasn't even a year old from someone that wanted something bigger....they ended up being from the same "neighborhood" and the guy gave it to dh for free. So glad he did cuz on the way home the vibration in the trailer caused some of the boards to fall off, some even blew away
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. I "fixed" it by lining the staples up with the holes and pushing them back in, wouldn't think they could keep a predator out very well...
 
Quote:
That's what I was thinking, too. If these are the same ones manufactured under the name "Ware," then they're not much.
 
The coop plus shipping is $449. With some patience you can find enough "free" materials to build a much more secure coop for much less than that. I just noticed today a pretty good pallet by the dumpster at my office. Not all of the wood is great but the cracked stuff makes great fire wood.
 
There wa s a thread here just a day or two ago addressing the issues with these coops. Here's the link: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=355518&p=1

From what I've heard and read, they are not a very good investment in terms of long life of the coop, and seem to be so poorly put together as to be possibly a safety risk to your birds in terms of predators. Some have suggested ways to bolster them with braces, screws and such. Personally, I wouldn't spend money on something built this way. Also, these are the stated interior dimensions of the coop: "Interior dimensions, house: 20.5" wide x 26" deep x 26" tall". That's less than 4 square feet = enough space for one full sized chicken. The outside run is also inadequate for 4 chickens as they should have approx. 10 square feet of space per bird. I think for the money you'd be spending there have got to be better alternatives. Check the coop section of the forum, there are lots of creative ideas there. Whatever your decision, good luck!
 
thanks everyone for the responses! i have read the other thread that was linked and it looks like i won't be able to find a decent coop at a cheap price then eh? okay, so yeah building one....but i've never built anything before. i mean, i'm not an idiot but idk if i would be able to build an entire coop from scratch. yeah i could buy the design online, but i don't know the first thing about building something. should i start researching woodshop?
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Quote:
Hey, check out my BYC page for my coop I built from scratch with plans from my head after reading everything I could. It's over 15 years old now and just as sound as when I built it. I’m not a carpenter, but I can use a hammer, nails, saw, measuring tape ---measure twice, cut once, and adjusted my plans to fit what I could find salvage---my windows were salvaged---then I learned how to reglaze window glass. My bricks were salvaged---then I learned how to mix mortar-----I was a little slow on learning to use a level when doing brickwork, but a relative spent some time laughing at my attempt, then helped me get the final course level. My hammer and thumbs got acquainted more then once------I then learned how to relieve a blood blister under a thumbnail. I didn't know how I was going to pivot up my roost, but I learned that too!
 

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