Can anyone recommend a good store bought coop?

[Pork Pie]

Good point, CT. It’s also possible someone selected a coop with all kinds of gingerbread. Some are going to be a lot more expensive to build than others. But getting a quote is a really good idea.

Found the post i mentioned. Here goes...

"Good morning Lexie!
I'm a local carpenter, 20 years of experience. And I have to say, we don't come cheap. Prefab coops, which at first seem prohibitively expensive, can be a lot more cost effective than a skilled carpenter. Now, I could build you the cutest **** coop you've ever seen, but depending on travel time and weekend schedules, for side work I have to charge $35-$50/hr to make it worth my time. And then there's material costs... You could fine someone cheaper, someone young and hungry, but you'll still be looking at $20-25/hr, so a day's labor could easily cost you $200.
Your best bet, honestly, is to find the cheapest pre-fab SHED from HomeDepot, and then just cut in a pop door, put in some nest boxes and some roosts. Don't buy the pre-fab coops, those things are cheaply made, over-priced, and are way to small. The one in the pic you posted will never keep that many hens comfortably. Manufacturers might list it as ideal for 4-6 hens, but they are wrong. The more room you can give your girls, the happier they will be. Keep in mind chickens can be absolutely wretched creatures, if they get bored or feel confined they will eat the weakest alive. I'm not kidding.
Buy a shed, and get some fencing, give them as much room as you can possibly manage. Several hundred square feet.
I promise you I'm not trying to be mean, just set reasonable expectations. I see in some books people will suggest you can need 1 sq ft per hen in the coop, and only 2 sq ft in the run! I have 3 sq / hen in the coop, and 50 sq / hen in the run, and that's BARELY enough, I wish I had gone bigger... Always go bigger. Same thing I tell people when designing decks, go big or go home. I've seen countless people say they wish they'd built their deck bigger, but i've never, ever seen someone say they wish they'd built it smaller.
Better yet, if you can at all allow it, let them run free in your yard. Your slug/snail/grasshopper problem will vanish, and it's so much fun to watch their antics!
Feel free to message me if you have any questions".

 

[Howard E]

I'd tend to agree with those who say the pre-fab store built coops are not so good. Most are built by folks who have seen various "modern era" coops, and think they can do as well.....they are right.......they build a nice little structure that looks like what they think a coop should look like, but with no real experience raising birds themselves, so are clueless about what the parameters should be to make it a functional structure. I looked at these type options and eventually concluded I'd be better off building my own, so that is what I"m doing. But I have a place and the ability to do that. You have said you don't.....and worse, you already have the birds, or else they are on the way. So you need help and need it quick.

A couple examples from your area:

http://asheville.craigslist.org/fod/5516985912.html

10 to 14 chickens??? Where did that number come from? That looks to be about 4' x 6' (on the outside.......inside would be more like 3' 5" x 5' 5").......so really 18.5 interior SF / 4 = 4.6 birds. No doubt has a surplus of nest boxes.......maybe 6 when only 1 or at most 2 are needed, and as long as all the vents and windows are left open, may have enough ventilation.

But......park that inside a good sized kennel to add a run and it might work for you. Where to get the kennel? Again, Craigslist to the rescue. A kennel from chain link fence (say 6' high) in the range of 8' x 16" on foundation of paving stones or railroad ties would work and would be quick and easy to setup.

Then there is this option:

http://knoxville.craigslist.org/grd/5459443056.html

That is about what you can expect to pay for someone to buy and assemble that many materials. Regrettably, most do not do it right. Could do the same materials with a simpler and easier to build design and get a more functional building. My mantra for this is "form follows function". Cute is OK, if it gets tacked on to the end. The mistake most of these builders make.......and the problem seems to be universal.......is they start with cute and let that drive the design. Big mistake as cute is not what matters to the birds.

BTW, in the world of "old school"........designs from 50 to 100 years ago........about the very smallest design I have found is 5' x 7' and another at 6' x 8'. That was considered the minimum size for a backyard coop by those who really knew what they were doing. The old timers would probably find the designs of today laughable, which they are.

 

[Ridgerunner]

CT, not to argue with you, but have you priced those sheds. By the way, that’s often one of my recommendations, look at those sheds. I did a quick pricing through Home Depot for a 6’ x 8’ with one window, two vents, a treated wood floor, painted, and assembled on your property for you. It came to $1608. That did not include foundation. I’m sure if you talk to people you could negotiate this down some, but a handyman could build a pretty nice basic coop for this kind of money, especially one of those small elevated coops with a small run for suburbia. That price did not include run, pop door, roosts, or nests.

Of course you can drop that cost substantially by transporting it, assembling it, and painting it yourself. I had my sons, 10 and 12 tears old assemble and paint an 8x10 shed themselves, reading the plans and hammering every nail, including putting on a shingle roof. With just a little knowledge and a few tools they are not that hard to do. But I’m trying to match the Original Posters requirements, they don’t want to do anything for themselves.

Building a coop for yourself, getting one of these sheds and doing it yourself, or getting something off of Craigslist (either materials or a building) are pretty good options for many of us, but not everyone is going to do that themselves.

I did a quick scan of just the shed kits themselves, a 6x8 might go for $450 to $600 as a kit for you to assemble, maybe no windows and no ventilation. You’d have to check each kit itself to see what is included.

 

[Pork Pie]

CT, not to argue with you, but have you priced those sheds. By the way, that’s often one of my recommendations, look at those sheds. I did a quick pricing through Home Depot for a 6’ x 8’ with one window, two vents, a treated wood floor, painted, and assembled on your property for you. It came to $1608. That did not include foundation. I’m sure if you talk to people you could negotiate this down some, but a handyman could build a pretty nice basic coop for this kind of money, especially one of those small elevated coops with a small run for suburbia. That price did not include run, pop door, roosts, or nests.

Of course you can drop that cost substantially by transporting it, assembling it, and painting it yourself. I had my sons, 10 and 12 tears old assemble and paint an 8x10 shed themselves, reading the plans and hammering every nail, including putting on a shingle roof. With just a little knowledge and a few tools they are not that hard to do. But I’m trying to match the Original Posters requirements, they don’t want to do anything for themselves.

Building a coop for yourself, getting one of these sheds and doing it yourself, or getting something off of Craigslist (either materials or a building) are pretty good options for many of us, but not everyone is going to do that themselves.

I did a quick scan of just the shed kits themselves, a 6x8 might go for $450 to $600 as a kit for you to assemble, maybe no windows and no ventilation. You’d have to check each kit itself to see what is included.

I'm a little confused here. All I did was merely cut and paste (hence the quotation marks) what a member posted - it's not my opinion, I was simply sharing the view of someone who happens to be in that line of work. Of course that's his view, but surely sharing views or opinions is no bad thing? It's great for the OP that you feel differently and I have no doubt that your view is based on considerable experience which I greatly respect. I apologise if I was not sufficiently clear in my post about the text being from the post of another member.
Best wishes
CT

 

[Ridgerunner]

No, CT you were perfectly clear it was another opinion, and a good opinion from someone who sounds like he knows what he is talking about. I never want to shut down opinion on here. That would be no fun at all.

If you are willing to do the work yourself those sheds are a good option. To me it’s not that hard to assemble the shed, put in ventilation, a roost, nests, a pop door, maybe even a window. I think the sheds are a great idea. But for someone with no experience and who doesn’t have the tools that can be pretty intimidating.

The smallest shed I found was a 6x8 but they probably have a tool shed that is smaller and could work. The OP just has four birds, Silkies and Polish, probably bantams. They don’t need much. A good building off of Craigslist is not a bad way to go either but you still need roosts, nests, ventilation, and such. If they are not going do it themselves they will have to pay someone or buy a case of beer and get some friends with some expertise and tools to help.