Any reviews here for this Pawhut coop?

[LittleMissPurdy]

Thank you LittleMissPurdy! We are going shopping today for hardware cloth, washers and screws for strengthening of our little dollhouse thanks to your advice and wahmommy's too.

You all have been so helpful. I can't wait for it to get here! (more crowing attempts today if I wasn't laughing so hard I would be weeping )

Take some Pics when your done setting-up...I am planning on taking lots w/ all the alterations we have planned. Good Luck & Have a Great New Year!!

 

[SunnySkies]

I bought this coop as an experiment and because I needed a coop asap but didn't have time to build one from scratch.

Easy to put together. Shipping was way fast...I could not have built one by myself in the couple of days it took to get to me. I put it together and had chickens in it within 3 hours of its arrival. I did it by myself with my lightweight power drill.

I do not like the pull out floor for the bottom of the coop. I like a good amount of litter in there, and it makes it difficult to pull the drawer out.

I added a latch to the doors. I didn't want to trust to a small bolt type latch.

I love how the birds can go out in all weather and not get wet. I have my Silkies in it, and I have been able to let them out in our snowstorms, while my others couldn't.

It is small. Like I would not have more than 2-3 large birds in it. I feel like my 6-8 bantam Silkies are crowded, especially innthe run when i have a feeder and waterer in there. I move mine every few days and use t posts to build a small portable run and open the run door to triple the run size (my compromise between what is safe for the Silkies and what I want my birds to do, which is free range). I took e roosts out and the Silkies pile. But I can move it by myself; the version I have came with wheels. They don't work, but I can easily pick up one end and slide it over to fresh grass.

The ramp will easily pop off if you aren't careful moving it, and I have managed to lose the screw for the pop door handle, and so it's wired in there. Litter gets in the groove for the pop door and will block it from shutting entirely if you aren't careful, but I suspect that could happen to any door with a groove/slide mechanism.

I have had no trouble with digging predators going at it. It stays in our back yard and under spotlights though.

I've been pretty happy with it, enough to think about buying a second as a quarantine coop. My Silkies haven't figured out the ramp, so I'm building (slowly) a ramp less tractor for them and then will use this as a grow out coop for chicks.

 

[LittleMissPurdy]

*Sunny- Thank you for reminding me!!..I'm also going to add more to the doors for security, there are alot of raccoons and such where I'm moving to & I know they are sly w/ nimble fingers!, I'm using sand inside, will work alot better than wood chips for the pull-out tray. We all got to use whatever we are more comfortable with

. I agree with you on the run/coop size..it is on the small side & when you add the food & water, things will get cramped. We are planning to add more-run onto it- covered(makes things soo much cleaner/less mess)!! . Also, I've seen some real nice designs for "mobile- runs" or "play-pens" as I like to call them...can be moved around the yard and they are completely covered, so you don't have to worry about "sky-predation", which I will also have alot of at the new location. I think this coop is a decent one to start with, not too much for a first investment & the options to add on and convert are very do-able,IMO..

...Have a Great New Year!!

 

[SunnySkies]

I forgot to mention mine survived Sandy with no damage, along with a couple snowstorms already this season. It has fared better than the coop I built to get us started, which has suffered warping at the edge.

I did add waterproofing by using spray-on waterproofing I bought at Ace Hardware.

 

[chicken dude]

this is not big enough if the chickens are regular size and not bantams. my chicken house for my three americaunas is 10 ft X 3 ft just in the outside part and they can tear the ground up in about 4 days. 4 ft by three ft in the inside part. another thing the food and water MUST be out from under the roosting stick. I guess my chickens poop at night and that was one thing I learned first about chickens. The nesting box MUST also be out from under the roosting stick for the same reason. poop.

 

[chicken dude]

this is not big enough if the chickens are regular size and not bantams. my chicken house for my three americaunas is 10 ft X 3 ft just in the outside part and they can tear the ground up in about 4 days. 4 ft by three ft in the inside part. another thing the food and water MUST be out from under the roosting stick. I guess my chickens poop at night and that was one thing I learned first about chickens. The nesting box MUST also be out from under the roosting stick for the same reason. poop.

 

[LittleMissPurdy]

I forgot to mention mine survived Sandy with no damage, along with a couple snowstorms already this season. It has fared better than the coop I built to get us started, which has suffered warping at the edge.
I did add waterproofing by using spray-on waterproofing I bought at Ace Hardware.

That is awesome!!, glad to here you didn't have to repair anything. As to the water -proofing spray, what is the products name? Also, is your coop directly in the elements or do have it under any kind of "roof". We are putting ours under a "lean-to" type roof for added protection for the coop and us

, when egg collecting/cleaning etc...Besides the litter issue, have you had any other problems/issues with your coop? Thank you- Danielle

 

[SunnySkies]

I can't remember the name, but it was Ace Hardware's brand. It sprayed on like spray paint. Any waterproofer will work. They are not waterproofed. I think the smell is anti-insect spray applied to keep insects from China from entering the US. It dissipated quickly once I moved the coop outside.

Mine sits right out in the elements. I don't even cover with a tarp, and the inside stays nice and dry. Wood seems to be holding up just fine, and like I said, better than the one I built. The plywood back door on that one got wet at the edge, where the layers come together, and they are warping. I'll have to replace the door come spring.

I suppose something like this could suffer damage in shipping, like anything else. I ordered window blinds once, and they got so damaged the UPS guy refused to leave them. I think my coop came via FedEx. I bought it on eBay using a make offer scenario and got a very good price on it. It came in two large and heavy boxes. I put it together in the garage and my 8 year old and I moved it to the grass later.

The instructions to put it together are terrible. I laid everything out and just used common sense and the line drawings. It was simple.

 

[LittleMissPurdy]

I can't remember the name, but it was Ace Hardware's brand. It sprayed on like spray paint. Any waterproofer will work. They are not waterproofed. I think the smell is anti-insect spray applied to keep insects from China from entering the US. It dissipated quickly once I moved the coop outside.
Mine sits right out in the elements. I don't even cover with a tarp, and the inside stays nice and dry. Wood seems to be holding up just fine, and like I said, better than the one I built. The plywood back door on that one got wet at the edge, where the layers come together, and they are warping. I'll have to replace the door come spring.
I suppose something like this could suffer damage in shipping, like anything else. I ordered window blinds once, and they got so damaged the UPS guy refused to leave them. I think my coop came via FedEx. I bought it on eBay using a make offer scenario and got a very good price on it. It came in two large and heavy boxes. I put it together in the garage and my 8 year old and I moved it to the grass later.
The instructions to put it together are terrible. I laid everything out and just used common sense and the line drawings. It was simple.

The coop arrived the same way yours did. Two lrg. boxes & terrible directions haha, got to love those picture diagrams! they need to work on that & also label the bolt/screw bags! It would make things easier for the consumer. The pull-out tray was actually broken when I got my boxes, don't even know how that was possible because it was in the middle of everything and you would think something else should have been cracked/scratched..nope-just that thing, real bad broke. We called the company-service dept. they were very nice. The only complaint, it took awhile to get it to me-4wks. I am glad that I didn't need it to put it all together. Anyway, all is well now! Thanks for the water-prof. info.will be checking that out, even though we will have it protected(roof), My thinking, you can't over-prof/protect something..

 

[wahmommy]

Quote:
you always want the nest boxes lower than the roosts...