So, I've purchased a few coop designs, mostly before finding BYC. Here is what I found. Not sure if there is a coop plan review section, but if there is, I can put this thing over. This is based on Chicken Tractors only:
Catawba Coop: Pretty Easy Plans, but it did not turn out the way we wanted. Probably best suited for Bantams or smaller breeds. I think most of our issues came from poor choice in materials, despite painting the coop. It turned out to only be a temp home, until we got a stationary coop built. Would not recommend this one for people without strength. It was fairly cumbersome for my wife and I...we're both young (20s and early 30s). It is a good design, but if you built it, I would suggest putting hinges on the doors instead of the wooden stopper things. Those were just too hard and unweilding. Overall, I'd give it 3.5 stars out of 5. (you like my completely arbitrary rating scheme?)
Building a Chicken Coop.com: You get a lot, like 80 pager or something. You get a lot of coop "suggestions", but not much in the way of actual measurements or anything. Have not been able to get a refund yet. Overall, this is the most disappointing coop plan we purchased. 2 stars.
The Garden Coop: Most complete and detailed plan yet. Had I not already discovered the Catawba coop and built it, I probably wish this were my first chicken tractor. I think overall the design is better. I'm partial, since I'm only 2 hours up the road from the designer, so the weather conditions are similar....LOTS of rain and wind. Unfortunately, our plans quickly diverged (needed something with wheels instead of skids), and within 10 minutes of asking for a refund, it was given (that's probably not the norm...just happened to be on email the same time). Overall, 4.5 stars.
Catawba Coop: Pretty Easy Plans, but it did not turn out the way we wanted. Probably best suited for Bantams or smaller breeds. I think most of our issues came from poor choice in materials, despite painting the coop. It turned out to only be a temp home, until we got a stationary coop built. Would not recommend this one for people without strength. It was fairly cumbersome for my wife and I...we're both young (20s and early 30s). It is a good design, but if you built it, I would suggest putting hinges on the doors instead of the wooden stopper things. Those were just too hard and unweilding. Overall, I'd give it 3.5 stars out of 5. (you like my completely arbitrary rating scheme?)
Building a Chicken Coop.com: You get a lot, like 80 pager or something. You get a lot of coop "suggestions", but not much in the way of actual measurements or anything. Have not been able to get a refund yet. Overall, this is the most disappointing coop plan we purchased. 2 stars.
The Garden Coop: Most complete and detailed plan yet. Had I not already discovered the Catawba coop and built it, I probably wish this were my first chicken tractor. I think overall the design is better. I'm partial, since I'm only 2 hours up the road from the designer, so the weather conditions are similar....LOTS of rain and wind. Unfortunately, our plans quickly diverged (needed something with wheels instead of skids), and within 10 minutes of asking for a refund, it was given (that's probably not the norm...just happened to be on email the same time). Overall, 4.5 stars.
