Chicken Coop Survey???

[DecaCoups]

I would be interested in conducting a survey of members and visitors to Backyard Chickens website. My primary interest is finding out what it is that people are looking for when they are considering building or acquiring a chicken coop or having built that coop what they wish they would have incorporated that theirs doesn't have or what they spent extra money for that they didn't really need. Not having given the survey a lot of thought, here are some sample questions that might appear:

Have you ever built a chicken coop?

Do you currently keep chickens?

If you already built your coop:

How much would you estimate it cost you to build it?
What percentage of the materials did you have on hand or obtain for free?
How many full sized birds will your coop comfortably hold?
How much more money did you spend on building your coop than you thought?
Less than $50 $50-$100 $100-$150 $150-$200 $200-$300 $300 or more
What feature do you wish you had that you didn't include?

Are you considering building or buying a chicken coop?
Did you come to Backyard Chickens' site to research chicken coops?

Do you want to keep Bantams or full size Hens?
Bantams Full Sized Hens

How many chickens do you want?
3-4 5-6 7-8 9-10 11-12 13 or more

Please rate from 1-5 the following features you are looking for with 1 representing Highest Importance and 5 representing Lowest Importance:
Ease of Cleaning
Windows
Ventilation
Mobility of the Coop
Run Option
Varmint Protection
Automated Pop Door
Durability
Attractiveness of the Coop
Ability to Enter the Coop - ie a people door
Low Cost of Coop

etc....

I would make the survey results available on BYC's site however the administrators would like

I am interested in any comments users might have with respect to answers the survey should seek to obtain as well as any input users or the administrators of this website would have on whether this can be accomplished. Thanks.

 

[Kikiriki]

No responses? Hmmm...

From my time here, I think there is a lot of diversity in housing choices. Some people use recycled stuff, some pull out all the stops, some want mobility, some want or need extreme safety, and even people who have no money or skills (like me! ) admire the really beautiful coops of others, or the really clever designs...

What do you hope to learn from a survey? Are you interested in selling coops?

 

[Avianman]

technically, this is a survey asking if I want to take a survey. That has me torn, because if I say "no", then I am in effect doing what I didn't want to do. But if I answer "yes", then it is obvious, since I answered anything at all.


"So I can clearly not choose the wine in front of me..."

Id take a survey, sure.


I guess I just did.

 

[RoostersCrow HensDeliver!]

I think the coops vary so much because of the differing needs of flock owners. My first coop needed to be able to move easily as I have the opportunity to free range to flock on large grass pastures so the Trailer Coop was built from the frame up. I have recently built my Shed Coop as a breeder/brooder coop closer to the house so it is stationary and has access to electricity.
Have you ever built a chicken coop?
yes, 2
Do you currently keep chickens?
yes, 2 flocks
If you already built your coop:

How much would you estimate it cost you to build it?
It ALWAYS costs more than you estimate.
My 7 1/2ft X 21ft trailer coop cost $1,300.00 approximately Not including the electric net fence that costs $189 and the charger cost $60
My 8ft X 8ft shed/breeder coop cost $700.00 approximately (basic shed kit and I added windows,vents, dutch doors, enclosed fenced runs ect..)
What percentage of the materials did you have on hand or obtain for free?
Most of materials were purchased for both coops, although I got the metal roofing for free for the Trailer Coop and had some 2X4s laying around.
How many full sized birds will your coop comfortably hold?
Trailer Coop - 60 adult Large Fowl or 100 juvenile Large Fowl
Shed Coop - 8 Adult Large Fowl breeders and brooder section for ? chicks
How much more money did you spend on building your coop than you thought?
Less than $50 $50-$100 $100-$150 $150-$200 $200-$300 $300 or more
What feature do you wish you had that you didn't include?
Trailer Coop - waterproof floor (linoleum tore after 4 months to expose bare wood)

Did you come to Backyard Chickens' site to research chicken coops?
yes, I was looking for ideas for a coop that work for my situation
Please rate from 1-5 the following features you are looking for with 1 representing Highest Importance and 5 representing Lowest Importance:
2 Ease of Cleaning
2 Windows
1 Ventilation
2 Mobility of the Coop
1 Run Option
1 Varmint Protection
5 Automated Pop Door
2 Durability
3 Attractiveness of the Coop
1 Ability to Enter the Coop - ie a people door
5 Low Cost of Coop

 

[Kikiriki]

I would be interested in conducting a survey of members and visitors to Backyard Chickens website.  My primary interest is finding out what it is that people are looking for when they are considering building or acquiring a chicken coop or having built that coop what they wish they would have incorporated that theirs doesn't have or what they spent extra money for that they didn't really need.  Not having given the survey a lot of thought, here are some sample questions that might appear:

Have you ever built a chicken coop? Yes

Do you currently keep chickens? Yes

If you already built your coop:

    How much would you estimate it cost you to build it? $300, but only $100 was purchased for the project: the rest was leftovers from other things.
    What percentage of the materials did you have on hand or obtain for free? Everything but fencing.
    How many full sized birds will your coop comfortably hold? 4
    How much more money did you spend on building your coop than you thought?
         Less than $100-$150  
    What feature do you wish you had that you didn't include? Electricity

Are you considering building or buying a chicken coop? No
Did you come to Backyard Chickens' site to research chicken coops? Yes

Do you want to keep Bantams or full size Hens?
             Full Sized Hens                          

How many chickens do you want?
 3-4 

Please rate from 1-5 the following features you are looking for with 1 representing Highest Importance and 5 representing Lowest Importance:
          Ease of Cleaning 1
          Windows (my window is vent) 1
          Ventilation 1
          Mobility of the Coop 5
          Run Option 1
          Varmint Protection 1
          Automated Pop Door 5
          Durability 3
          Attractiveness of the Coop 3
          Ability to Enter the Coop - ie a people door 2 (technically, my run ahs the people size door and my coop inside the run has a cleaning access)
          Low Cost of Coop 1
         
etc....

I would make the survey results available on BYC's site however the administrators would like         

I am interested in any comments users might have with respect to answers the survey should seek to obtain as well as any input users or the administrators of this website would have on whether this can be accomplished.  Thanks.

 

[Dragonid]

Have you ever built a chicken coop?

Basic question, good start.

Quote: Basic question, good start.


Quote:
Give some parameters to "cost," otherwise this is a very open ended question. Such as "How much would you estimate it cost you to build it, to the nearest $10?[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]" or "...built it, to the nearest $10, including the value of your time?"[/FONT]


Pretty simple question, you already have the parameter of a % for this one.


You may need to specify how much space per bird as well as how many birds, rather than using a subjectiver term like "comfortable," such as "How many full sized birds will your coop hold, if 4 square feet per bird is allowed inside?". Otherwise, person A might look at a coop and say it holds 10 birds comfortably, because they think 4 sqft per bird is "comfortable" and person B might look at the same coop and say 40 birds, because they think 1sqft per bird is "comfortable".



You really don't want fixed numbers for this. Because fixed amounts can make a big difference when comparing them to different things; for example, when I am over cost by $500, if I expected it to cost $100 that's 400% over, and if I expected it to cost $5,000 that's only 10%. Use a percentage overrun as your parameter, "As a percentage of the amount you thought your coop would cost to build, how much over or under was the final cost?"



This is a very open ended question, but it may be necessary. Leaving this one open as it is can allow for ideas that you may not have otherwise considered yourself.


Quote: I can't tell what kind of answer this is supposed to get, it needs to be reworded. Is it supposed to be yes/no, or is it supposed to be a selection between building/buying?

Quote: Basic question, I'd put it near the beginning.

Quote: You're making a presumption here that I want hens, and this is a question about which size of hens I want. It needs to be reworded, and/or split into multiple questions. What about breeders, showers, fighters, meat birds etc.

Quote: This question presumes that the average response is going to be a small number. I think you'd be better off leaving it open, or offering a logarithmic scale of options.

Quote: The premise of the question is fine, but it needs clearer instructions. Is each item supposed to be rated, or is the respondant supposed to assign the numbers 1-5.

On an unrelated note, I really hate the way this forum's formatting handles quotes, while it is aesthetically pleasing, it is not convenient to use -- and as an inconvenient method, it interferes with clarity of communication.