Buyer Beware!!!...Chicken Coops NW

[Smuch]

Hello! I'm one of the new chicken keepers on the block. I felt compelled to join the conversation because of my recent experience with a producer of chicken coop kits, Chicken Coops NW/My Urban Farmers. We purchased a "Resort" style coop back in February and it was delivered April 5th. Because our chicks weren't old enough for the coop, my husband assembled it April 28 and that's when the problems began.

The coop is darling, but the wood is extremely lightweight and soft. The hardware is something you'd find holding the Barbie Dreamhouse together and when my husband tried to use more substantial hardware, the wood split. Every rung on the ramp came off because each was secured with tiny finishing nails. Our roof is splitting and coming apart also. I recently cleaned the coop for the first time and the triangles that hold the backdoor from caving into the coop completely broke off. I shouldn't have been surprised to find that the wood triangles were just centimeters thick and secured with glue and teeny tiny nails like the majority of the coop.

I've contacted the company on 4 different occasions about all the issues we are having with the coop and at first, the excuse was that parts came loose during shipping and then when I sent photos to back up my complaints, it was improper installation. My husband intentionally installed the bottom back panel of the run "inside out" for ease of installation for the feeder/water I purchased.

The last time I emailed I stated that I wanted a refund and that I wanted them to actually publish my honest review on their website. There are 20ish reviews and all positive for a reason. They won't publish the ones that say they put out crappy coops!!

The reply from my email said that I missed the 30 day window for returns and that they could replace the parts. This is a joke because it would be of no benefit to do so because the whole things is soft and falling apart!

Our coop budget is spent and I'm sad that we are stuck with this coop. We've only had chickens in it for about a month now so I can only imagine what it will be like in a year. Spread the word because ChickenCoopsNW certainly does not want you or anyone to know the truth about their kits!! Don't waste your money too!!

 

[Smuch]

Thank you for that post. I was about to purchase a new coop and I'm so glad I saw your information or I would have bought from that company. I've had chickens for about 4 1/2 years and my flock keeps growing and I need another two or three houses. I will look somewhere else. I've gotten coops from people in the area by using craigslist and a friend's husband built one for me. It's hard to find the best and neither I nor my husband
is good with tools but I will try to have a friend help me with construction or (as someone suggested) modify a storage shed. Thank you so much--you saved me a few hundred dollars. BTW--I had essentially the same experience with Omlet products on a chicken run we had a horrible time putting together and my negative review didn't get published either.
Grrr.

 

[ArlingtonChick]

Check their Yelp profile (under My Urban Farmer and Marysville, WA)-- a customer has pictures of mold with her review.

 

[ArlingtonChick]

I just discovered that Chicken Coops NW are getting their coops from China after all. I found the import records online:

https://panjiva.com/Alan-Hyatt/35477066

http://www.usportexaminer.com/company/alan-hyatt/394768.php

https://starwellpet.en.alibaba.com/ (Some of the pictures here should look familiar! Also, look at how much the Chinese company is selling the coops for.)

 

[chaidarling]

So glad I found this thread. I've been looking at many different prefab coops and weighing my options for building my own. I think you just made my decision for me

 

[Bobby Basham]

So glad I found this thread. I've been looking at many different prefab coops and weighing my options for building my own. I think you just made my decision for me

My goodness, just think of what one can do with $600. That leaves me enough to build a brooder AND a coop, including paint, sealant and caulking. All of these over-priced, substandard quality items being sold out there doesn't make sense and it's to entice those first time chicken owners. I can understand folks wanting to get into chickens and want a "quick fix" for housing and brooding, but this is crazy.

Folks have busy schedules, and those pre-fab things may work for you...temporarily. But, if you've got the time and know your way around a few power tools, then do it yourself. It will be built to your specs for your application.

I swear PLYWOOD is my best friend. I used three sheets of plywood, hinges and hardware cloth and came up with this brooder...it's 4ft x 6ft x 24 inches tall...

I did paint the interior with a Latex paint and stained the exterior. All I have to do is put casters on the left end, tilt it up and roll it against the wall when not in use. Use your creativity and imagination. Maybe you saw a cute pre-fab coop on line, but take that general design and create your own, eliminating and improving upon the original flaws.

Everybody doesn't have $600 to sling around like it's pocket change, so look at all your options and you'll be amazed. The old folks used to say, "There's more than one way to skin a cat." No offense to cat owners 'cause I love them, too.

 

[DucksAndGardens]

I wanted to post about my experience with Chicken Coops NW. I bought my coop last year from them in June. I wanted a coop that could house up to 20 chickens so I ordered one of their newest models. I live locally so I could go pick it up. I was supposed to pick it up in August but the time came and went and they still hadn't let me know my coop was ready. When I contacted them they said that they didn't have it ready yet but they could give me a different coop that was similar to the one I ordered. It had an attached run so I figured ok fine, the one I ordered didn't have the attached run but since they are switching it out I figured it would be ok. Well it turns out what I got was just the smaller coop with no attached run and yet I still had paid more for the larger coop. When I spoke with them about the smaller coop size and no run attached Alan told me that since I didn't order a coop with a run they would just provide the coop replacement. I mentioned that the coop is supposed to hold 20 chickens and the one I got won't and he said "oh sure it will we have 20 hens in our coop". There's no way 20 hens can sleep comfortably in this thing.

Ok so since I couldn't get my money back and I needed a coop I took it home and started assembling it. The wood is super thin and cheap and in fact I had to buy some pieces of wood to replace pieces that actually cracked when I was screwing the pieces together. Also there were cracks where pieces didn't fit together correctly. Overall the coop was fragile and would never survive a pacific northwest winter. The droppings board, the sheet metal bottom fell out one side and I had to use screws to secure it in. Now my chickens use it but there was no way I could have just let them stay in it over winter the way it was. I bought a 10'X10' greenhouse and put the coop inside the greenhouse so that the rain and snow wouldn't actually fall on the coop itself. If I hadn't put this coop inside the greenhouse my chickens would have died in this coop because even without being exposed directly to the elements the wood swelled and cracked and was definitely not weather proof. I should have used my $500 and tried to make my own. I'm going to use this one I have now as a template to build my own this summer so I guess it's good for something but seriously, save your money and build your own.

 

[Bobby Basham]

Unfortunately, I already did, but glad you got away from the crooks! I am taking it up with my credit card company and it doesn't seem to matter that I made the purchase back in early February. How did you get their address?!!

Maybe some of the retailers are hoping/assuming that the average consumer isn't aware that they can take their complaints and issues to their credit card companies. If you pay cash, then you're out of luck unless you go to the Attorney General's Office or BBB. I would air their dirty laundry, reach out to many folks as you can by word of mouth, online etc., group together and file a complaint and make it known.

These retailers know they are selling crap, but are taking a chance on their reputations and advantage of first-time buyers, and need to make that buck. The educated consumer is going to go after THEM, not the original manufacturer in China, for selling that crap in the first place.

If you only want a structure for a few hens, then by all means, invest in some power tools since they aren't expensive. A nice circular saw, jig saw, cordless drill (and tape measure) etc., and they will come in handy for future projects down the road.

If you can get some free wood/pallets, you're good to go. Icing on the cake would be some hinges, small roll of hardware cloth.

I guess what it boils down to is, if you're a first time chicken owner, do your homework on chickens' needs, and compare them to the pre-fab crap (check their measurements and they are way too small), and seek advice from experienced chicken folks before you use that credit card or pay cash. The common consensus here is that they are way too small for specified capacity and their flimsy, shoddy workmanship leaves a lot to be desired, but their designs are cute. Hundreds of dollars can go a long way if you can re-purpose some used materials and come out better in the long run.

I feel bad for those who had to go through such an ordeal, and pre-fab is not the way to go unless you know of some reputable builders who actually know what they're doing. Best of luck and hope all can get their issues resolved. --BB

 

[NewchickNanna]

I had the same experience with another company. Not the return part, but in that the wood is cheap, they said it would hold 4 standard size chickens (it will barely hold2), and I doubt it will hold up through the rest of the winter. My chicks haven’t even made it outside yet. I just figured it will be too much trouble to dissasmble it to try to send it back, so I am working on enclosing a dog pen we no longer use and putting the coop inside of it. I will use the old dog house as an extension of the coop, and the chicks will have the whole dog run as their area. I have learned my lesson and won’t try to purchase anything like this without seeing and touching it first.

 

[Bobby Basham]

I had the same experience with another company. Not the return part, but in that the wood is cheap, they said it would hold 4 standard size chickens (it will barely hold2), and I doubt it will hold up through the rest of the winter. My chicks haven’t even made it outside yet. I just figured it will be too much trouble to dissasmble it to try to send it back, so I am working on enclosing a dog pen we no longer use and putting the coop inside of it. I will use the old dog house as an extension of the coop, and the chicks will have the whole dog run as their area. I have learned my lesson and won’t try to purchase anything like this without seeing and touching it first.

You're lucky to have an old dog house AND an old dog pen to work with. Tweak the house somehow to make it work with that crappy coop. Maybe look at the coop pics section on this website and come up with something of your own.

Sorry for your loss, and it is indeed a loss, not totally, but make some lemonade out of those lemons and warn others about what you had to deal with.